From: [email protected]
"There's been a lot of media coverage about organized mobs intimidating lawmakers, disrupting town halls, and silencing real discussion about the need for real health insurance reform.
"The truth is, it's a sham. These "grassroots protests" are being organized and largely paid for by Washington special interests and insurance companies who are desperate to block reform. They're trying to use lies and fear to break the President and his agenda for change.
(((Everybody always sees online flash-mob action as the cat's paw of some better-organized moneybags outfit. This is very much like imagining that Al Qaeda must have been somehow sponsored by the Iraqis. Insurance companies don't have it together to sponsor the likes of the Teabaggers. They're not astroturf any more than 4chan is astroturf.)))
"Health insurance reform is about our lives, our jobs, and our families – we can't let distortions and intimidation get in the way. We need to expose these outrageous tactics, and we're counting on you to help. Can you read these "5 facts about the anti-reform mobs," then pass them along to your friends and family? (((Can we rely on you to run a word-of-mouth whispering campaign that's about the distorting dangers of word-of-mouth whispering campaigns?)))
"5 facts about the anti-reform mobs
"1. These disruptions are being funded and organized by out-of-district special-interest groups and insurance companies who fear that health insurance reform could help Americans, but hurt their bottom line. A group run by the same folks who made the "Swiftboat" ads against John Kerry is compiling a list of congressional events in August to disrupt. An insurance company coalition has stationed employees in 30 states to track where local lawmakers hold town-hall meetings.
"2. People are scared because they are being fed frightening lies. These crowds are being riled up by anti-reform lies being spread by industry front groups that invent smears to tarnish the President's plan and scare voters. But as the President has repeatedly said, health insurance reform will create more health care choices for the American people, not reduce them. If you like your insurance or your doctor, you can keep them, and there is no "government takeover" in any part of any plan supported by the President or Congress.
(((Note that this is the Sarah Palin complaint, in partisan reverse. Sarah Palin was driven out of power by an orchestrated "full-court press" of covert Washington operatives, disguised as nutty bloggers filing ethics complaints. At least, that's what Sarah Palin has repeatedly said about Sarah Palin's own analysis of the situation. Is she paranoid, and if so, then is this stuff just as paranoid? It's the same story.)))
3. Their actions are getting more extreme. Texas protesters brought signs displaying a tombstone for Rep. Lloyd Doggett and using the "SS" symbol to compare President Obama's policies to Nazism. Maryland Rep. Frank Kratovil was hanged in effigy outside his district office. Rep. Tim Bishop of New York had to be escorted to his car by police after an angry few disrupted his town hall meeting – and more examples like this come in every day. And they have gone beyond just trying to derail the President's health insurance reform plans, they are trying to "break" the President himself and ruin his Presidency.
(((Ever heard of a "color revolution"? Or the street-actions in Iran during the recent Presidential inauguration? You might want to check out the basic dynamics of how those phenomena work. Hint: they're not all run by health-insurance companies and neocon fundraisers.)))
4. Their goal is to disrupt and shut down legitimate conversation. Protesters have routinely shouted down representatives trying to engage in constructive dialogue with voters, and done everything they can to intimidate and silence regular people who just want more information. One attack group has even published a manual instructing protesters to "stand up and shout" and try to "rattle" lawmakers to prevent them from talking peacefully with their constituents. (((This is a physical manifestation of wingnut bloggers versus MainStream Media. Do you think MainStream Media, the dreaded MSM, has managed to thrive by defining themselves as "legitimate conversation"? Me neither. Also, "town hall meetings" are not "legitimate conversation," they're legitimate but they're not "conversation.")))
"5. Republican leadership is irresponsibly cheering on the thuggish crowds. Republican House Minority Leader John Boehner issued a statement applauding and promoting a video of the disruptions and looking forward to "a long, hot August for Democrats in Congress." (((You'd think the Left had never heard of picket-lines or street-blocking tactics.)))
"It's time to expose this charade, before it gets more dangerous. Please send these facts to everyone you know. You can also post them on your website, blog, or Facebook page. (((This will make it easier to schedule a future TweetUp at the next meeting of your Republican representative, where, when the cops show up, you can scream like banshees, "come and see the violence inherent in the system." The tactics work identically, no matter what you think of politic issues; the tactical heirs of the Civil Rights Movement are the ProLife Movement.)))
"Now, more than ever, we need to stand strong together and defend the truth.
"Thanks,
"Jen
Jen O'Malley Dillon
Executive Director
Democratic National Committee
(((It surprises me that political parties are so weak and feeble in an age of powerful social networking. The current Democratic Party is basically identical to Obama's online fundraising machine, while the Republican Party is pitifully dominated by bonkers extremists from its ideological longtail. This is not an American phenomenon; look at, say, the French Socialist Party, or the Japanese LDP. This party document is screaming in pain and fear about new and scary forms of political organization; compare this to the awesome, comprehensive power of urban Democratic party machines a hundred years ago, and you can see how flaccid parties have become today.)))
