Protesters in Ybor City drown out health care summit on Obama's proposal (FL)

[alfsauve]

Where you in the thick of it Haz?

Here's what MoveOn dot org had to say about Tampa.

All across the country, right-wing extremists are disrupting congressional
town-hall meetings with venomous attacks on President Obama's plans for
health care and clean energy.

  * Last night in Tampa, Florida, a town hall meeting erupted into
    violence, with the police being called to break up fist fights and
    shoving matches

Of course the irony in this is  that Pelosi says we're not true grass roots, but just astro-turf, SO (get this) MoveOn is going to hire professional organizers.  Talk about astro-weeds.

We've hired skilled grassroots organizers who are working with thousands of
local volunteers to show Congress that ordinary Americans continue to
support President Obama's agenda for change.

[twyacht]

Chicago Thug Tactics,

Next one I go to, if I feel threatened by some union thug, professional hired Move on crony, I will defend myself.. Since were not at Def-Con 1 yet, I'll just taze the bastards...

[tombogan03884]

http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_08_02-2009_08_08.shtml#1249677415

Democratic legislators are complaining vigorously about the push-back
   they are receiving on health reform during town hall meetings. House
   Majority Leader Pelosi [1]stated that reform opponents were âcarrying
   swastikas and symbols like that to a town meeting on healthcareâ and
   dismissed them as âAstroturfâ rather than a grassroots movement. An
   [2]editorial cartoon in the Washington Post similarly suggests that
   the protests are being orchestrated.

   Senator Reid [3]views protesters as a âfringe that is trying to mess
   up our meetings.â The White House Deputy Chief of Staff[4] has advised
   legislators if âIf you get hit, we will punch back twice as hard.â The
   Administration is[5] asking individuals who hear things that are
   âfishyâ to submit them by email
   . [6]Paul Krugman concedes that anti-privatization activistsâ who
   opposed social security reforms during the Bush Administration were
   âsometimes raucous and rude, [but] I canât find any examples of
   congressmen shouted down, congressmen hanged in effigy, congressmen
   surrounded and followed by taunting crowds." Krugman concludes this is
   âsomething new and uglyâ â and reforms opponents must be motivated at
   least in part by racism.

   Krugmanâs claim that protests of this sort are unprecedented is wrong.
   A virtually identical scenario played out in 1989. By an overwhelming
   margin, Congress had enacted the Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act in
   1988. The Act provided more extensive hospitalization benefits and
   prescription drug coverage, but it imposed the costs of that benefit
   on the elderly.

   Congress was soon flooded with angry letters and there were numerous
   confrontations with angry constituents when individual congressmen
   returned to their districts. As Andrea Mitchell observed on ABC News,
   âthe elderly are not against the new benefits â unlimited hospital
   care, new at-home benefits, prescription drug coverage; they just
   donât want to pay for them.â

   The turning point came on August 17, 1989, when Dan Rostenkowski,
   House Ways and Means Chairman and one of the most powerful men in
   Congress, found himself fleeing a crowd of irate senior citizens
   protesting the Catastrophic Coverage Act.

   Representative Rostenkowski had scheduled a meeting in his home
   district to hear constituent concerns and speak about the advantages
   of the Medicare catastrophic coverage act. A crowd of angry senior
   citizens waved signs protesting the fact they would have to pay more
   taxes to fund the covered benefit. People shouted âcoward,â ârecall,â
   and âimpeachâ after Representative Rostenkowski refused to speak with
   them and got in his car. One senior citizen (Leona Kozien) even jumped
   on the hood of Congressman Rostenkowskiâs car to stop him from
   leaving.

   The picture below was taken moments before Ms. Kozien jumped on the
   hood â she is the women in the rose-colored heart shaped glasses. (The
   picture appeared in Newsweek and the Chicago Sun Times, and was taken
   by Tom Cruze)

   Representative Rostenkowski got out of the car and ran a block, chased
   by the crowd. He was then picked up by his car and whisked away. The
   incident resulted in front page coverage nationwide. The TV news ran
   footage of Rostenkowski fleeing from his constituents. Rostenkowski
   [7]reportedly asked his press secretary whether the issue would go
   away in a few days, and was told âLet me put it this way Congressman.
   When you die, they will play this clip on television.â Three months
   later, the Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act was repealed.

   As with today, the media had little sympathy for the protesters. The
   New York Times editorialized that âthereâs little reason to sympathize
   with the aggrieved affluent elderly,â whose complaints were
   âshort-sighted and narrow-minded.â In the New Republic, one
   commentator condemned the âselfishnessâ of the âaffluent elderly,â and
   asked âso long as we continue to provide enormous subsidies to the
   affluent elderly, why shouldnât they help pay for the poor of their
   generation?â (You can read more, and find the sources for the enclosed
   in chapter four of [8]my book on Medicare.

   It is understandable that the Administration and Congressional
   Democrats are unhappy with push-back to their plans. But, August is
   proving to be rich in ironies. The Administration of a former teacher
   of constitutional law is unhappy that individuals are exercising their
   Constitutional right to petition the government for redress of
   grievances. The Administration of a former community organizer is
   complaining about community organizing. Congressional Democrats have
   long relied on community organizing (and union members), and are
   suddenly appalled at organized communities.

   And, perhaps the richest irony of all -- the organizer of the protest
   against Rostenkowski was Jan Schakowsky â then Director of the
   Illinois State Council of Senior Citizens â and currently Democratic
   representative from the Ninth Congressional District of Illinois, and
   chief deputy whip to Majority Leader Pelosi. You can read Schakowsky's
   account of the incident, her role, and her views on the importance of
   citizen involvement in government [9]here â at a lecture she gave at
   Northwesternâs Institute for Policy Research in 2002, entitled âWhy
   Citizen Activism Matters: The View From Washington.â

References

   Visible links
   1. http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2009/08/05/pelosi_town_hall_protesters_are_carrying_swastikas.html
   2. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/opinions/tomtoles/
   3. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0809/25891.html
   4. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0809/25891.html
   5. http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Facts-Are-Stubborn-Things
   6. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/07/opinion/07krugman.html?ref=opinion
   7. http://www.northwestern.edu/ipr/publications/schakowsky.pdf
   8.
http://www.amazon.com/Medicare-Meets-Mephistopheles-David-Hyman/dp/1930865902
   9. http://www.northwestern.edu/ipr/publications/schakowsky.pdf

   Hidden links:
  10. file://localhost/files/davidh-Kozien_Rostenkowski.png