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Thursday, August 6, 2009

Politics Town Hall Smackdown

Posted by Eli Sanders on Thu, Aug 6, 2009 at 9:43 AM

Are they going to start selling tickets to these health care town hall meetings during the Congressional recess?

Because I would pay to see this: lefty union members vowing they'll confront right-wing tea-baggers if they stage any more town hall interruptions like the ones shown here.

In a memo sent out on Thursday, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney outlined the blueprint for how the union conglomerate would step up recess activities on health care reform and other topics pertinent to the labor community. The document makes clear that Obama allies view the town hall forums as ground zero of the health care debate...

"The principal battleground in the campaign will be town hall meetings and other gatherings with members of Congress in their home districts," reads the memo. "We want your help to organize major union participation to counter the right-wing "Tea-Party Patriots" who will try to disrupt those meetings, as they've been trying to do to meetings for the last month."

Hm... Union members vs. tea-baggers in a town hall meeting battle to the death? I know which side my money's on.

Comments (13) RSS

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This will breathe new life into the traditional right-wing boogeyman that is labor unions.

Posted by Ackham on August 6, 2009 at 9:48 AM

Maybe both side will go for the jugular and curl up in the fetal position on the ground...this could get gory

Posted by Gay Pride on August 6, 2009 at 9:56 AM

On the street-food vendor parked outside? Gotta get your vittels for the smackdown-watching.

Posted by SeaExile on August 6, 2009 at 10:05 AM

Town hall meetings are just token gestures to make the general public feel like the government is listening to them instead of large corporate interests such as insurance and pharmaceutical companies. This fight isn't labor unions vs. teabaggers, it's big healthcare vs. the American people. One group has billions of dollars and uses congressmen like prostitutes, the other has nothing and can't even decide on what it wants. I wonder who's going to win?

Posted by Brandon J. on August 6, 2009 at 10:23 AM

Not that I'm complaining or anything, but are you the only one in the office right now? Seems like you're on a posting frenzy today.

Posted by j.lee on August 6, 2009 at 10:29 AM

Anyone can have a Town Hall meeting. Why don't the insurance companies and tea baggers have their own? Maybe it's because they are the only ones who would show up.

Posted by crazycatguy on August 6, 2009 at 10:37 AM

@5 Funny, I was thinking it was more like SLOG: Jen Graves Edition, with special guest appearances by Eli Sanders, Brendan Kiley, et al.

Posted by UNPAID COMMENTER on August 6, 2009 at 10:51 AM

This plays right into the 'Baggers hands. Now O'Reilly, Rush & Hannity can claim any disruptions are caused by those corrupt 'n' dirty unions. We know who will provoke the fights (the Fox cowards), and who will not back down (the ones getting screwed).

"Someone's going to emergency, someone's going to jail."

Posted by Sir Vic on August 6, 2009 at 11:15 AM

Two groups enter!
One group leaves!

Posted by Urgutha Forka on August 6, 2009 at 11:24 AM

Arrest the 'baggers for disturbing the peace the moment they hijack the meeting.

Posted by jimmy

on August 6, 2009 at 11:51 AM

10
Call 911!!!

Posted by then curl up in the fetal position on August 6, 2009 at 12:04 PM

@11 Well, it worked for the power-tripping cop in Cambridge.

Posted by jimmy

on August 6, 2009 at 12:17 PM

@8 - That's fine, because the unions are already on the hit list for Fox News agenda. They will never be portrayed in a good light to the Fox News viewer, just varying shades of bad. They might as well go all out, guns blazing.

That's why I think it's stupid to cater to the Republicans in Congress under the banner of bipartisanship, because that only works if all the parties are playing by the rules - the republicans and their media mouthpieces have no vested interest in doing that, to the point that the members of their party (such as Arlen Specter) who do care about such things feel like they have to leave the party to remain politically viable.

Posted by Donolectic on August 6, 2009 at 4:14 PM