Goon power
The new tradition of town hall thuggery
Goon power
Dick Polman, Inquirer National Political Columnist
I was in college when I first witnessed goon squads in action. Back in those distant days, left-wing radicals would storm into the auditorium and shout down conservative speakers with whom they disagreed. These assaults on free speech occurred all the time. Far more recently, in the autumn of 2003, I covered a Democratic rally in Los Angeles and found myself surrounded by screaming left-wing protesters who were determined to disrupt my street interview with Duff Sundheim, the California chairman of the Republican party. He had come to the rally to offer another point of view, and I wanted to get it into my notes. I wound up yelling back at the protesters and defending the Republican chairman's right to be heard. Sundheim was so startled at my outburst that he said to me, "Hey, man, I owe you a beer."
Lately, however, the angry right appears to have cornered the market on anti-democratic thuggery. The incidents mount with each passing day. With aid and encouragement from fake-grassroots corporate lobbying outfits, as well as from the Republican party, are making a mockery of the American town hall tradition. The way things normally work, congressmen on recess meet with constituents and engage in two-way dialogue; the way things have worked lately, choleric conservative citizens engage in a one-way dialogue, shouting down the congressmen and basically trashing the democratic format - not caring a damn for the fellow citizens in attendance who might actually be interested in hearing about the health care reform effort, however flawed it may be.
The right-wingers who drowned out congressman Lloyd Doggett in Texas, who shouted down congressman Tim Bishop on Long Island, who screamed insults at congressman John Dingell in Michigan, who forced congresswoman Kathy Castor to cut short her meeting in Florida, who heckled and harassed congressman Steve Kagen in Wisconsin, who shouted down congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick of Arizona so severely that she had to cancel the event during its opening minutes...these are people who actually think they are standing up for America, when, in truth, they are subverting the American tradition of free speech. Worse yet, sometimes they have no idea what they're talking about. At one Texas town hall meeting, the vocal protesters ranted against all forms of "socialized or government-run health care," yet when congressman Gene Green asked how many were Medicare recipients, half the hands went up.
Fear and ignorance is rampant, as always. What's noteworthy is how brilliantly that fear and ignorance is being harnessed by the corporate and political forces that have a big stake in the status quo. Witness, for instance, the organizational efforts of lobbyist-run Washington groups such as Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks (one of the FreedomWorks volunteers wrote the now-infamous memo that advises the goons to "rock the boat early...watch for an opportunity to yell out...the goal is to rattle him").
But my favorite is the faux-grassroots group called Conservatives for Patients' Rights, which, as it turns out, is run by Rick Scott, the former boss of a for-profit hospital chain who lost his job during a fraud probe that ultimately forced the chain to plead guilty to serious charges of overbilling and to pay $1.7 billion in fines. (Scott's group had publicized the Arizona town hall that had to be shelved during the opening minutes.)
Then we have the handiwork of the Republican party. The latest worthless remark by national chairman Michael Steele came in reference to a query this week about whether the GOP was encouraging or condoning the goon behavior. Absolutely not, said the chairman, "that’s not something deliberately coordinated by me or any one state party."
Actually, the Connecticut Republican party has been listing the times and dates of town halls. The Texas Republican party posted video of Lloyd Doggett's chaotic event, with nary a word of condemnation for the goon behavior. The Hillsborough County Republican party in Florida sent out emails encouraging people to pack the Kathy Castor event, and offered talking points (right-wing talk host Glenn Beck also publicized the event).
Then there are the Republican partisans who show up on false pretenses. At the Kagen event in Wisconsin, a vocal woman named Heather Bliss insisted that she was "just a mom from a few blocks away." A local TV affiliate (to its credit) decided to fact-check her claim. It turns out that, as recently as last year, "just a mom" Bliss was the vice chairwoman of the county Republican party, with ties to the Republican National Committee.
Obviously, there are legitimate grounds for questioning many aspects of the Democratic health reform effort, and not all town hall dissidents should be lumped with the goons. But it is nevertheless chilling to hear Pete Sessions, chairman of the National Republican Campaign Committee, declare that the days of civil town halls are "now over," while offering nary a rebuke to those who exhibit anti-democratic behavior. Nor should we expect him to. The Republican strategy is not to find the best road to health care reform via a two-way dialogue; it's about breaking Barack Obama and regaining power - and the goon squads are very useful.
The only reason that a tiny few of these events have turned ugly is when the thugs at SEIU(who have received legislative goodies from the Obama administration) showed up in force and blocked entrances and confronted those that disagree. You blast the CPR, but where's your condemnation of all the unions and interest groups (like Acorn) that have received favors from the WH? Leave it to Liberal-spin Pohlman to ignore the facts.— camtheman- You and the rest of your ilk do not get it. Most if not all of the people attending these townhall meetings are everyday people. You and the Obama regime try to marginalized these protests, even going so far as pelosi saying they have swastikas. I served our country honorably in order for people like her to call me names. Your holier than thou attitude is indicative of the elitist thinking held by all of you on the neo-liberal left. You herald moveon.org or acorn or union thugs or codepink or any of those type groups as just being patriotic and doing the right thing when in reality those groups are more of a threat to our freedom than any townhall protestor, for they want to prohibit our freedom of speech. Get over yourself! Find out what the people are really like, not just what you hear in talking points from MSNBC of that loon Gibbs.— jeandarc
- Why is it wrong for the repub party to post the times a dates of town hall meetings? Isn't the point to get people to go or why hold them? Pres. Obama's healthcare reform (his 2nd domestic priority, after the nonstimulus bill) is being defeated because the Pres. is letting the dems in the congress to write it! Pelosi-care is nothing but another big power grab by a democratic congress & our govt. that the American people didn't sign up for when the elected Mr. Obama! In America, the govt's job is to regulate private businesses, not compete with them & most of the country is, just left or just right (i would argue) of center. The Pres. doesn't need anybody from the repubs to pass this bill if he can get his own party to go along, which he can't because public opinion is squarely against him this time! I would like to see how the President reacts to a defeat. That is a true test of character! It should be interesting:)— NEPhilly
In my best C. Montgomery Burns voice I say "Exxxcellent". Keep writing DP, because your writing the left's suicide note. I don't see how calling the American people "goons" or "a mob" enhances Dem. politcians prospects of keeping their jobs. They'll be faced with a choice: Listen to the President, who can't fire them, or listen to the people, who can. What do you think those spineless jellyfish will do? This healthcare bill is dead, and everybody knows it. Oh, and speaking of anti-democratic, please feel free to forward this post to President Obama to put in his "fishy" file.— jmc- The real probelm with these disruptive folks is that they are the same people who shouted down anti war protestors for being un American. Had these same people come out againsty the war, and the TRILLIONS and TRILLIONS of dollars wasted by the Bush administration, I would have some respect for these folks. But the bottom line is that if they truley want to debate, then speak and let others speak. Their tactics are already starting to backfire just in time for Congress to pass some real healthcare reform!— chasing history
- So it's SEIU's fault that the Tampa town hall was disrupted by angry chants and endless heckling? Funny, I thought conservatives were all supposed to be about personal responsibility. I guess that just goes out the window when it comes to obnoxious behavior at public events.— anonymous
- I guess I was under the fales impression that community organizing was good, just as I was under the false impression that dissent is patriotic. Silly me.— jmc
- One of the reasons this issue has made people angry, is due to a long-standing perception that politicians in Washington have further distanced themselves their constituents. All the jokes made about the nature of politicians and DC over the years are a lighthearted example of an undercurrent of dissolution that the voting public has held towards their elected representatives at the Federal level. The very personal issue of healthcare struck a nerve with a lot of people when it became clear that Washington was trying to ram this bill through without listening to objections or compromises of citizens.— camtheman
- The sad part is we need to reform health care. But these people are acting like children at these meetings. Instead of having a productive conversation about reform they want no conversation. If there is an open discussion about health reform and the plan is bad everyone is going to see that. But just shutting down the town halls with finding out the facts is bad for the country.— cusoraider
- The sad part is we need to reform health care. But these people are acting like children at these meetings. Instead of having a productive conversation about reform they want no conversation. If there is an open discussion about health reform and the plan is bad everyone is going to see that. But just shutting down the town halls with finding out the facts is bad for the country.— cusoraider
- Chasing and anonymous, so I guess this type of dissent isn't patriotic like the anti-war protesters who blocked roads or compared Bush to Hitler? Get real. All the videos I have seen have at these townhall meetings have shown the speakers allowed to give their points, but unwilling to answer the questions. BTW...the left can continue to deflect attention, but it still does not account for questions related to the fundamental basics of how they will appropriately fund and run this boondoggle. You can run, but you cannot hide!— camtheman
- Please spare me the insulting claim that these are anything like “grassroots”, ordinary, informed and caring citizens who are showing up and miraculously/coincidentally making the identical shouts of disruption across the country. These fools are dupes – being used by the ridiculous right merely to oppose any Obama/Democratic policy they can. Anyone with a shred of integrity and can read, knows that these Thug/Mob tactics are well funded, highly organized and aggressively promoted on right wing radio and blogs. This is NOTHING like the protests that were conducted during the horror of the Bush years – if you think otherwise, please cite one example, please – just one. My guess will be the moronic and disqualified “ACORN” answer that seems to be the right’s only lame card trick they’ve got. As usual, the right is on the wrong side of the issue and of what the public overwhelmingly wants and needs. And they’re angry because they can’t win elections anymore? CLUELESS!!!— TwoLanes
- What about the Black Panthers who intimidated voters at a Phila polling place last November? Were they sent by the RNC?— justwondering
- Twolanes, so I guess you have proof that regular everyday 50 and 60 year old citizens are paid informants of talk-radio hosts and insurance companies. The only clueless (and delusional)one here is you buddy!!— camtheman
- The left is in control right now. All of your fascist comments just sound like children's whining. There are better ways to protest than the right has come up with, but never expect them to see the intelligent side of an issue. Enjoy your irrelevance though, Republicans.— HandNik
Cited by the Columbia Journalism Review as one of the nation's top political reporters, and lauded by the ABC News political website as "one of the finest political journalists of his generation," Dick Polman is a national political columnist at the Philadelphia Inquirer. He is on the full-time faculty at the University of Pennsylvania, as "writer in residence." Dick has been a frequent guest on C-Span, MSNBC, CNN, NPR and the BBC. He covered the 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004 presidential campaigns.
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