| This weekend, editorial boards of Connecticut newspapers universally condemned the "increasingly confrontational" acts of "mindless thuggery" on the part of organized right-wing activists attempting to shut down open debate on health care across the state. Here are a few of their words:
Courant:
Some right-leaning activists have decided that the best way to win the hearts and minds of voters is to shout down or otherwise intimidate members of Congress who are holding public meetings about health care during the summer recess.
These disruptive protesters may enjoy some success. But the strategy of organized chaos, larded with off-putting invective and disrespect for other audience members, won't be so in the long run....
Mainstream political leaders of either party ought to denounce and disavow such insulting drivel.
Connecticut Post:
The events of the past week or so around the country aimed at fomenting opposition to the health care reform package before Congress cross all sorts of lines. Evidence shows they are one part legitimate protest alongside a larger helping of mindless thuggery....
We must, as a nation, recognize the difference between protest and hooliganism. Misinformation campaigns -- claiming, for instance, that Washington is out to euthanize old people -- inspire fear and panic. And those dedicated to maintaining the status quo capitalize to stifle debate.
The Day:
What began as the "Tea Party" movement, demonstrations aimed at sending the message that Washington was spending too much and protecting special interests at the expense of working people, is in some cases now turning to mob mentality.
A network of Web sites, conservative radio and TV talk show hosts are conspiring to whip up that growing anger and manifest it at community meetings hosted by congressmen and senators who support health care reform and other initiatives of President Barack Obama. Instructions on how to disrupt and shout down speakers at these town hall gatherings are circulating on the Internet.
This newspaper is a strong supporter of free speech, of the right of citizens to gather and make known their grievances. But we see no justification for intentionally hindering the ability of elected leaders to interact with their constituents.
With Peter Schiff claiming to have raised over $800,000 for his still unannounced campaign for the Republican nomination for Senate, the other candidates he has now passed by in the money race - Rob Simmons and Tom Foley - must really be feeling the pressure to compete for right-wing activists condemned in the papers above, and who might be inclined to support an insurgent candidate like Schiff.
Rob Simmons, presciently, was already courting and embracing the teabaggers back in May in Woodbury, telling a group of right-wing Dump Dodd activists that their "movement" excited him and that he would join their fight against the "womb-to-tomb" "socialism" he saw in America today (quoted text below starts at apx. 1:25):
...And what I see today in this country is socialism! Womb-to-tomb government involvement in our lives. I didn't spend four years in Vietnam, 10 years in the CIA, and 4 years working for Barry Goldwater against the Soviet Union and the Communist threat in Asia just to see socialism arise here at home....
One of the most exciting things that's happened to me this year over and above seeing your [Dump Dodd] movement is going to the tea parties.... I went to 3, and it was exciting...
The tea parties and "the movement" are just symbols of that speaking up which makes me excited and makes me optimistic about the future.
Last week, Rob Simmons came out against the confirmation of now-Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor, caving to right wing pressure even as nine current Republican senators voted for her confirmation. Given the dynamic of this race, would Simmons even be able to state out loud that he believes President Obama was born in the United States?
With almost exactly a year until the Republican primary and huge warchests being built up by at least three candidates, it's going to be a long, hard, slog for the Republican nomination for Senate as they race hard to the hard right for their financial and activist support. |
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