The Libertarian Party is drawing some attention in coverage of Democratic contentions that town hall meetings on health coverage legislation are being infiltrated by “mobs”. On Wednesday, the Democratic National Committee released an Internet video called “Enough of the Mob” that says in part, “Desperate Republicans and their well-funded allies are organizing angry mobs — just like they did during the election. Their goal? Destroy President Obama and stop the change Americans voted for overwhelmingly in November.”
A FoxNews.com story on the Democratic charge says that the “Libertarian Party said Obama, a former community organizer, should think twice before approving a campaign that attacks communities for organizing, even if it’s against him.” The piece quotes LP Director of Communications Donny Ferguson saying, “Libertarians find it ironic a community organizer is now using the government to try and stop people from organizing their communities. Instead of using official edicts to smear, slander and intimidate everyday Americans into silence, Democrats should listen to the majority of Americans and drop their plans for a radical government takeover of their health care.”
In addition, over the weekend, Democratic Rep. Lloyd Doggett faced a critical audience at a town hall in his Texas district. After the event, Doggett’s office released a statement saying, “This mob, sent by the local Republican and Libertarian parties, did not come just to be heard, but to deny others the right to be heard.” The Travis County Libertarian Party demanded an apology, and a Doggett spokesperson later said, “We were referring to Ron Paul Meetups. If the Travis County Libertarian Party was in no way involved, only some of its members, we apologize.”
I don’t know why, but I just can’t stop laughing at that one.
http://kenyanbirthcertificategenerator.com/
LOLOL
ROFL
Oops, we did it again….W’s third term in office is underway!
Libertarians getting “lumped in with Birthers.”
http://kenyanbirthcertificategenerator.com/
At least then I CAN go to the hospital.
LOL. I can go to the hospital any time I want, as an indigent.
Not sure the problem, pulled it out of spam.
@ Eric, 16 & 17: I don’t know where you get “conspiratorialist” from me. I NEVER said the RNC had staged the so called “town meetings”. I had merely pointed out they were frauds.
And AFAIK, the “birther” movement is led by such luminaries as Alan Keyes and his ilk. I would hardly refer to him as any kind of libertarian.
PEACE
Mik @ 15: lol, I had forgotten Grenada…which BTW, was staged to get the US out of the doldrums, away from the stigma of Viet Nam;
While the civil unrest in Somalia was already ongoing, the invasion of Somalia was staged because Clinton had wanted to get involved in the civil war in the former Yugoslavia. But black democrat legislators were balking at “saving” another European (read: white) country when there were African countries in need of US “help”. So the invasion of Somalia was staged to salve their ego’s. And it was a joke from the start, with the Marines bravely storming ashore to be met by…US TV cameras just in time for the evening news!;
While the civil war in Yugoslavia started with the break up of the USSR, the US was not involved until Clinton;
It could be a mere conspiracy theory, but I recall US Ambassador to Iraq April Gillaspie (sp) giving Saddam the go ahead for his invasion of Kuwait!
PEACE
At this point even if it is proven that Obama is an illegal. The damage is already done. Sotomeyer is in office. Health Bill is getting ready to go through. Stimulous bill. Remember everyone else in congress is behind Obama.
Libertarians getting “lumped in with Birthers.” Oh the horror.
Hey asshole, LIBERTARIANS ARE THE ORIGINAL BIRTHERS!!!!!!!
It was Pamela Geller of Atlas Shrugs who originally raised the questions about Obama’s birth certificate, almost two years ago, long before the Sean Hannitys and the Conservative followers tagged on to the story.
Libertarians shouldn’t get “lumped in with Birthers…” My gosh!! It’s just Libertarians who are friggin’ leading the Birther Movement, not the wimpy ass Conservatives.
Republican Congressman Bobby Ingliss of South Carolina was just shouted down, and his constituents walked out on him, for making a disparaging remark about Glenn Beck, and not following Constitutional guidelines on legislation.
It’ll be hilarious to see how all these conspiratorialists on the Libertarian Left like Steven Linnaberry, who believe the events to be “staged by the RNC,” explain the Inglis Town Hall.
Was the Grenada episode responsible on the part of Reagan? Wasn’t Somalia started under GHW? The war in Bosnia was also well under way before Clinton was president. I hardly think GHW Bush planned the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq as a re-election ploy.
That said, I agree it is a good idea to steer clear of violence. Stick to the issues.
Would you show the contempt you have shown
for the “democrat” party if it had been the
“republic” party under attack by organized
hooligans whose only goal is to break up any kind of real speech?
I’ve already shown how these “real speech” forums are frauds in my first post above.
BTW, I refer to the “democrat” party as such BECA– USE they oppose democracy. In most states, it is the democrat party that opposes any opposition on the ballot. There is absolutely NOTHING “democratic” about the democrat party.
These people couldn’t be true libertarians; they are “republics”–or
is that nazis?
I already referred to them as “Palinista’s”. You can call them whatever you wish.
And one other thing: Surely
you don’t remember the Clinton years as
years of one war after another. That would be
RR and GHW and W.
I don’t recall Reagan ever sending troops into an irresponsible conflict, other than Lebanon. We all know how THAT turned out. OTOH, Reagan probably didn’t have troops in as many countries as those who followed him simply because there were not as many countries in the 80’s.
Bush I of course had his Gulf War I, which many thought of as more of a reelection ploy. It didn’t work of course.
Clinton’s wars were seen more of as distractions by many. Can you match the “War of Paula’s Deposition”, “War of Monica’s Deposition”, “War of Juanita’s Lip” and the “War of Impeachment” to the war in Somalia, war in Bosnia, war in Kosovo or the continuing bombing of Iraq?
PEACE
Steven,
Would you show the contempt you have shown
for the “democrat” party if it had been the
“republic” party under attack by organized
hooligans whose only goal is to break up any kind of real speech? These people couldn’t be true libertarians; they are “republics”–or
is that nazis? And one other thing: Surely
you don’t remember the Clinton years as
years of one war after another. That would be
RR and GHW and W.
“But as these so called “town hall” meetings sink into violence and depravity, I think the LP should keep an arms length away from any involvement.”
I agree. The LP should advise their members to stay away from these meetings altogether so they don’t get lumped in with “birthers” and the usual assortment of extreme rightwing nutjobs that tend to show up and make their presence known. The LP has a difficult enough time oas it is trying to distance itself from the Taliban wing of the Republican Party.
I’ve already seen some wingnut bloggers announce that they will go to meetings and make their demands known one way or the other. And I have seen pictures posted on reputable news sites of protestors holding signs with swastikas.
The LP should organize their own protests at a time and place of their own choosing.
Well Gene, a few years ago I might have said the same thing.
But as these so called “town hall” meetings sink into violence and depravity, I think the LP should keep an arms length away from any involvement.
And I DO believe that we will be seeing some real violence associated with these productions, and soon (several were arrested in St Louis). Not initiated by the taxpayers, of course, but by ACORN or disinterested cops or by provocateurs.
It should be remembered that these so-called “town hall meetings” are frauds, completely choreographed and rehearsed theatrical productions that are staged to give the semblance of community participation, even though only “certain” people are called on for questions form the audience.
The LP should be the good guys and leave any disruptions to the Palinistas, ACORN and cops.
PEACE
Travis County should not have demanded an apology, but instead taken credit.
I found Donny’s article to be quite hypocritical and amusing since he spends a good deal of time stifling any form of dissent on the LP Facebook group.
Gee Jason you want socialized medicine, but manage to travel around the world quite a bit. So does the government pay for that? If so which one?.
And that socialism you want, it is big there in So. Korea. We are paying to defend that country and it costs a lot of American dollars provided by the workers of this country.
“The majority of Americans”? Try again, capitalist. I’m part of the majority of Americans who want socialized health care. I don’t care if I have to talk to some bureaucrat before I can go to the hospital. At least then I CAN go to the hospital. I don’t have health insurance because of a pre-existing condition (my mom got diabetes when she was pregnant with me). Sounds like I REALLY want the “free market” to control my health care.
The only change Obama and the Dems ushered in was whose pocket the bribes go in.
I watched Neil Cavuto’s show on Fox News yesterday to see Rand Paul and he made a point of introducing his guest on this subject as from a libertarian student club. Makes you wonder if the Republicans are trying to triangulate, to paint libertarians as crazy while themselves as the moderate reasonable ones who just want “efficiency” in the national health system.
It should be remembered that these so-called “town hall meetings” are frauds, completely choreographed and rehearsed theatrical productions that are staged to give the semblance of community participation, even though only “certain” people are called on for questions form the audience.
The first time I saw a “shout down” was in ’98 or ’99 when Clinton was trying to get support for one of his many wars (I forget which one, there were so many).
Secretary of Defense Bill Cohen and Secretary of State Madeline Albright came to OSU to educate the “public” about the dangers of whatever regime. The only tickets available were from the local county democrat party. The democrats made a mistake in printing the tickets on plain red construction paper.
Bob Fitrakis, the 2006 Green candidate for OH governor happened upon one, took it to Kinko’s and printed several thousand, which were handed out to as many peace activists as could be found.
Albright and Cohen made their pitches without problem, but when their hand picked questioners gave soft ball questions, the audience erupted with indignation.
This did not look good, as this “town hall meeting” was staged to coincide with the news at 6. Secret Service quickly ended the meeting and ushered the dignitaries out of the building.
The first time this happened, it made national news. Even Art Bell cancelled his guest that night to talk about what had happened in Columbus. You would think that the democrats had learned their lesson and stopped their charade.
I don’t think the tactic of disruption will gain any new supporters. A new tactic, such as standing mute (maybe with tape over their mouths) and possibly holding signs saying “let the people speak” (without the swastikas that democrats claim are prevalent, but no pictures ever surface).
The tactic of disruption is widely believed to be in poor taste.
PEACE
We had a republican dude come to our Sam Adams meetup and openly ask us to help in disruption of the rally to be held here , i dont think its’s happened yet .
we put a shout-out to our members letting them know of the event , but officially the LPNevada will not be taking part.
I tried to post the TCLP response to Doggett, but it looks like it did not go through. Maybe it was too long.
It’s at our website (linked to above).
I was unaware of Doggett’s apology before reading this — does that appear online somewhere?
Unfortunately, many news outlets have re-printed Doggett’s claim about the “local Libertarian party”, without coming to us for a reply.
Here is the complete statement we (the Travis County LP) released on Monday:
==========
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Local Libertarians reply to Lloyd Doggett
AUSTIN – August 3, 2009 – Travis County Libertarian Party (TCLP) chair
Rock Howard issued the following statement today:
“According to Politico.com reporter Glenn Thrush, Congressman Lloyd Doggett has accused our organization of sending a ‘mob’ to ‘deny others the right to be heard’ at his town hall meeting on August 1. If Thrush’s quote is accurate, then Congressman Doggett’s claim is totally false.
The TCLP had nothing to do with this event. Our organization did not encourage our members to attend the event, much less to silence others. To the best of my knowledge, our state and national parties were not involved either.
“We don’t know whether Congressman Doggett’s description of the protestors is accurate, but we find it disgusting that Congressman Doggett would accuse our party of trying to silence people’s speech. The Libertarian Party always fights to protect the right of free speech. We also encourage all citizens to exercise there right of free speech by contacting their representatives on a regular basis.
“I think that Congressman Doggett owes the Travis County Libertarian Party, The Libertarian Party of Texas and The National Libertarian Party a public apology for his outrageous remark.”
=======
I was unaware of Doggett’s apology until reading this post. Where was that apology printed?