ONE OF THESE IS A THUGGISH MOB. THE OTHER IS A SPIRIT GROUP OF PATRIOTS.

Of course, the difference is obvious, right?





The entire wingnuttosphere is appalled at the first video, from yesterday; the second one, from a Democratic congresswoman's town hall meeting in Florida in 2009, was one of several such confabs from '09 that elicited a rather different set of reactions:

The protesters "are forcefully and sometimes boisterously making it clear that the sheeple will be silent no more," said Political Christian. "... many men and women who hold these positions have brought dishonor to the position and themselves by acting to advance a destructive ideology... In these cases, it is perfectly appropriate for the citizens to display their righteous anger at those who have abused the public trust and treasury."

The West Virginia Rebel's Blog approved a report that "Angry protesters shouted down Democrats at public events from Texas to Pennsylvania" and declared, "For the Democrats, this is becoming a wake-up call as more people start voicing their skepticism over Obamacare."

Politicians who tried to lower the temperature were treated with contempt. "So a cowardly Arkansas Democrat thinks he can silence angry Tea Partiers by holding a townhall meeting inside a Children's Hospital, huh?" rhetorically asked The Rhetorican. "He must think he's so clever." The Rhetorican suggested his colleagues use silent protest, then get Representative Vic Snyder later: "And when that townhall is over, just move on to your representative's local office and stage another protest on the street; and this time really let your voices show them how angry you are." (He needn't have bothered: protesters heckled at the hospital anyway.) ...

"So how are citizens to react to this revolutionary power grab? Politely?" asked View from the Right. "Like the subdued, tranquilized, Canadianized guests on the News Hour? No. Like Americans. What's happening is great."

When he heard that "the debate between supporters and opponents of the legislation became so heated that Shelby County Sheriff's deputies and Memphis police officers called for reinforcements," RedState's Robert A. Hahn was elated: "Another Democratic Congressman finds out that the natives are restless."

(And yeah, I realize I'm pointing out the glaringly obvious.)