OBJECTIVELY PRO-LYNCH MOB

Shirley Markley of Austin, Texas, a member of the goon squad that disrupted Congressman Lloyd Doggett's recent health care town hall meeting, is quoted in today's New York Times:

"He jumped in [his car] and fled," Ms. Markley said with a laugh. "It was like he was tarred and feathered and ridden out of town on a rail. It was a beautiful thing."

Yeah. Beautiful.

Doggett had this to say:

"If you look at the YouTube video, you can barely see in the edge of that a beautiful marble tombstone with my name on it," he said. "People that worked so hard to get their signs in full-color did not come to dialogue...."

True.

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Josh Marshall says:

But where's the other team?

Folks can whine on endlessly about outfits like Freedom Works putting these rackets together. But if the president's plan has any public support they should be able to get supporters to these events too, right? Not to pull the Black Shirt routine but to provide some public demonstration that there's real public support for making reform a reality.

If there is.

So that's the question. Where's the other team?

Well, one problem, as the Times notes, is that our "team" apparently thought the Democrats' meetings wouldn't be the real field of battle:

The conservative groups, including FreedomWorks and Americans for Prosperity, are harnessing social networking Web sites to organize their supporters in much the same way Mr. Obama did during his election campaign. Democrats said they expected supporters of the health care overhaul to mobilize against Republican events later in the month.

Republicans, however, seemed to get the early jump, in part because Democrats, who hold the majority in Congress, have scheduled numerous events, including forums and town-hall-style meetings, to discuss the proposed health care legislation with constituents.

That's the Democratic strategy? Wait for the Republicans to hold their own events?

Er, no. Get some people to the Democratic events now. Democratic officials need backup.

Oh, and I think you should buy a bunch of these, cut them into (reasonably big) strips (i.e., big enough to show up well on TV and YouTube), and wave them as soon as the wingnuts start acting out:



Yes -- products made of artificial turf. Wave 'em at the angry wingnuts and chant, "AS - TRO - TURF! AS - TRO - TURF! " It's clear even to the Times and other mainstream media outlets that the right-wing response is ginned up by well-financed pros. Why not shout the foot soldiers of the corporatists down by identifying their "grassroots" tantrums as exactly what they are?