Patterico's Pontifications

8/7/2009

More on the St. Louis Townhall Violence (Updated x4)

Filed under: Obama,Politics — DRJ @ 6:22 pm



[Guest post by DRJ]

Patterico posted on this earlier but now there’s video of the violence outside the St. Louis townhall meeting where Kenneth Gladney was attacked:

Kenneth Gladney appeared on Neil Cavuto’s show today:

Gladney’s attorney said they are taking legal action against 3 perpetrators and the SEIU.

At a press conference, Russ Carnahan doesn’t seem to know much but he was willing to say things were “out-of-control on both sides” and “both sides are wrong”:

Blaming the victim, Senator Congressman? That’s not very PC.

H/T Thomas B.

UPDATE 1: Hot Air’s Ed Morrissey says we better get used to this kind of union behavior as long as Obama is in office.

UPDATE 2: Mary Katherine Ham has details about the arrests following the attack on Kenneth Gladney.

UPDATE 3: Hot Air has another townhall meltdown, this time in Georgia, where the person melting down is Democratic Congressman David Scott.

UPDATE 4: Democratic Congressman Jared Polis hosts an unexpected turnout in Denver Boulder.

— DRJ

48 Responses to “More on the St. Louis Townhall Violence (Updated x4)”

  1. Our little country is descending into civil unrest.

    I hope the Gallup doesn’t call tonight cause I just … I don’t know if that is right track or if that is wrong track.

    Nothing makes sense anymore.

    happyfeet (42470c)

  2. I’ve updated the post with links to Hot Air and Mary Katherine Ham.

    DRJ (8d138b)

  3. The Chicago Way – Bring on the thugs and punch back twice as hard. From Obama’s lips to their ears.

    daleyrocks (718861)

  4. Update 3 is a link to another Hot Air post. This one involves Democratic Congressman David Scott.

    DRJ (8d138b)

  5. Hot Air also has a new post up about former Alaska governor Sarah Palin! Yay! That was close though for awhile there I thought this Friday night was gonna be a dud.

    happyfeet (42470c)

  6. Something wicked this way comes….

    politicaldookie (5551d7)

  7. I really really don’t want to exaggerate things. The country is in bad enough straights without that. But when I watch this stuff happening, the political temperature rising toward the boiling point – the wholesale remaking of government – the takeover of industries – the President and the leading legislators acccusing those who object to their plans of being hired protestors – the beginnings of violence against those who, for some reason, can’t see how wonderful the president’s program is…

    When I see all this stuff I actually get the same feeling in my stomach that I got when I first saw the burning World Trade Center towers and realized my nation was under attack. My first thought was, where will this end up? Everything has changed.

    Now we’ve elected this unabashed socialist, there will be no going back. Yes, we might unelect him, God willing. But there will be no going back to 2008. In many ways everything has changed now. The very shape of the debate has fundamentally changed.

    I wonder… for the better? Or for the worst?

    Gesundheit (020036)

  8. David Scott should be embarassed.

    JD (b1c350)

  9. It seems to me that a Rubicon has been crossed here. Citizens have gotten angry at their government, and instead of apologies (the usual knee-jerk and probably insincere response) they were vilified and their objections denounced as illegitimate. Now they have even been met with violence coming, ironically, from people on the gov’t payroll in the SEIU. This just seems like a big line has been crossed. I would expect people to get a lot angrier, and a lot more forceful about their opinions.

    How will our president and his party respond to that?

    Gesundheit (020036)

  10. Update 4: A big turnout in Denver.

    DRJ (8d138b)

  11. From the NYSlimes yesterday:

    “The nation’s biggest labor unions are bringing their muscle to bear to the raucous health-care debates that have erupted over the last week in Congressional town hall meetings across the country.

    John Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO, sent out a call to arms Thursday for rank-and-file members to counteract what he called the “right-wing Te Party Patriots'” who have been disrupting the meetings.

    And the Service Employees International Union, the largest union of health care employees, is deploying its members to the meetings to “reclaim our democracy”, according to a statement. Referring to the colorful t-shirts that the union’s members wear at rallies, a spokeswoman said the union was “unleashing the purple people.”

    Well, there you have it. Obama’s hired guns have told their troops to rally around the community organizer. John Sweeney is also part of Obama’s President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board along with Jeffrey Immelt of GE fame.

    Then we learn today that Kathleen Sebelius is having a phone conference with SEIU

    http://action.seiu.org/page/s/sebeliuscall2

    and that the SEIU has sent out the call to arms to their membership

    http://www.seiu.org

    There you have it. Obama has pulled off the gloves and he is going after the protesters with everything in his arsenal. And he is going to use union goons to take on old, senior vets in VFW caps at these meetings.

    Obama says he is going to rebuild this nation. But you have to destroy a thing before you can rebuilt it.

    retire05 (45bfa0)

  12. The SEIU thuggery also gives us an unintended, I am sure, preview of what to expect when they try to ram card check down our throats. Barry, in his zeal to push throgh his radical agenda may end up with nothing but the failed stimulus to his “credit.” Too much too soon. We may have been sleeping, but we ain’t dead.

    Gazzer (409de8)

  13. I wonder how these genius Congress people plan on campaigning next year. Do they really believe that their constituents are going to forget what has happened even IF they pass this abomination.

    Michelle (30aeb2)

  14. Obama’s SEIU Thugs Attack Black Conservative

    I’ve long believed that if a majority of black America were conservative instead of liberal to left-wing, that not only would it be a far more balanced, stable and reassuring part of society, but it would make a lot of white and black “leftys” (and “progressives” of all racial-ethnic backgrounds in general) so unhappy and resentful, they’d start getting dreamy eyed and nostalgic for the days of Jim Crow and other facets of overt segregation.

    Mark (411533)

  15. I’ve lived too long:

    “There’s something happening here
    What it is ain’t exactly clear.”

    Except it is. People don’t like what the government is doing. But, now they’re the old folk that built this country, rather than the young folk trying to tear it down.

    What’s going to happen when the establishment’s thugs start beating down granny, rather than a hippy? What’s going to happen when the National Guard fires on the AARP meeting, rather than the students at Kent State?

    What happens when people rally around Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines rather than condemn them as pawns of a totalitarian regime?

    What’s going to happen when the government calls constituents “fascists” and “Nazis,” rather than the protesters calling the government the same?

    Interesting times.

    Ag80 (b9af5d)

  16. Please understand that Polis is a far left Wackadoo. He is so far left of Obama the he appears on the O’s right. He showed up yesterday at a health clinic for the homeless with Pelosi holding it up as an example of the care we should expect.
    The Clinic is smaller than an average Doctors Office and serves thousands…Poorly.
    It is run by an organization that covered up Rapes in its homeless shelters.

    I think they are correct. This is exactly the type of health care we can expect from the people who have operated Medicare,, Medicade, VA healthcare, American Indian healthcare, Social Security, and welfare so well for so long.

    God Help Us All.

    MaaddMaaxx (a9973b)

  17. I can’t believe the NERVE of all these people to question the Messiah’s plans for them. Don’t they understand that HE’S SMARTER THAN THEM? Don’t they understand that THEY DON’T KNOW WHAT’S GOOD FOR THEM? Don’t they understand that they are supposed to SEND MONEY, VOTE DEMOCRAT AND SHUT UP?

    daleyrocks (718861)

  18. All this violence from the left. ‘Take back our democracy’ cries. The government calling the citizens fascists. It’s like a huge practical joke.

    How can the government call citizens fascist for merely asking for less government power over private industries like health care? That’s the exact opposite of fascism.

    Why isn’t it enough for the left to have the courts, legislature, white house, newspapers, broadcast TV, special interest thugs, universities, etc? Now they can’t even tolerate people assembling to ask reasonable questions and express reasonable points of view?

    Either these opinions are in the majority, and therefore command obedience, or they are in the minority, and command tolerance. They do not command ‘get in their face’ thugs.

    The pattern’s crystal clear now. We know how the supreme court stands up to FDR style power. It doesn’t. We know that Obama supports an obvious attempt to steal democracy in Honduras and supports ACORN/COI. His census, his takeover of GM, his spending, his support of Iran’s thugs over innocent people… it’s just too consistent.

    Juan (bd4b30)

  19. Well, this is consistent with the Obama DOJ deciding not to prosecute those thugs in Philadelphia intimidating voters.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  20. Patterico posted on this earlier but now there’s video of the violence outside the St. Louis townhall meeting where Kenneth Gladney was attacked

    So this is how a black man is treated in America!!

    We get wall to wall coverage of an black Ivy league professor who yells and screams “racism” Because a white,black,and hispanic cop were called to investigate a potential break in.

    NY Times,Wapo,LA Times,MSNBC,CNN,and Fox went wall to wall debating how oppressed Gates was in this country where he is an Ivy League professor,living in a town with a black mayor,with a black Governor,being lead by a black President.
    We had countdown clocks to the “beer summit” and pundits going wild trying to figure out how to make Gates the victim.

    Now we have a black man beaten down by white democrats in the street and what do we get from democrats…”both sides were wrong”.

    If we don’t see the NAACP,ACLU,Sharpton,Jesse,Huffpo,Kos,and the rest of the liberal morally superior race professionals condemning this and Obama’s support for them 24/7 I think it could erode Obama and the democrats credibility much worse than they expect.

    People in America know that if this had been a group of the Tea Party crowd all he!! would be breaking loose right now.

    I knew liberals were stupid…but watching this self-destruction of the Obama administration happen so fast is dangerously inept and pathetic.

    Hope and Change Hugo style….

    Baxter Greene (af5030)

  21. how does Glenn Reynolds put it? They told me if I voted for McCain black men would get beaten in the streets.

    chas (74529e)

  22. The tipping point has been reached.Every instinct and subsequent political policy by President44 from domestic to foreign has been wrong.Yet our vaunted “fourth estate” and most Democrats in Congress support and shield this person.You have reached that moment when the “silent majority” has been declared the enemy by those in charge.Iam a”stranger in a strange land” is the result to most Americans from President44.

    mike191 (acc5be)

  23. […] By datechguy Of all of what I’ve seen since the left decided that Americans speaking out was just too much for a sitting president and a large […]

    ¿Quien sabe? « DaTechguy’s Blog (2b7e85)

  24. One small correction – he represents the 3rd district in Missouri. If he were a senator I would feel better about his being voted out of office but the 3rd is Gephardt’s old district and the unions do a pretty good job of protecting the Democrats here.

    His sister is running for Bond’s seat in the senate though so hopefully we can get rid of one Carnahan.

    Carnahan channels his inner Obama – “I don’t know what happened because I was escorted out the back door. But both sides acted stupidly.”

    [Thank you for catching my error in Carnahan’s title, MU789, and I’ve fixed it. — DRJ]

    MU789 (f763c7)

  25. “No we didn’t attack that guy for nothing.”
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWnxlFbYjVY#t=0m45s

    (Here’s a tip. Like in the URL there, you can specify a starting point in the video.)

    Wesson (03286d)

  26. At Kos, many of the commenters are approvingly calling Kenneth ‘that teabagging asshole liar’.

    They had to know there would be video. This ‘teabag’ smear is so convenient, because it’s irrationally unfunny, perverted, and angry at little old ladies who don’t want to lose medicare. It’s apparently beyond the whackos to avoid saying it and destroy their credibility.

    Juan (bd4b30)

  27. Comment by Baxter Greene — 8/7/2009 @ 11:55 pm

    Condensed version: Where’s Skippy when you need him?
    …..
    MaddMaxx…good to see you around again.

    AD - RtR/OS! (5231f1)

  28. How many more conservatives will now go to town halls and tea parties, if only to protect their older loved ones, or whomever may be attacked?

    jodetoad (059c35)

  29. I thought things like this were part of the plan? After all, over a month ago, Insty was promoting constituents intimidating their representative, and he and others have supported people getting angry at these events. The better thing to do would have been to encourage people to channel their anger into productive activities. Can anyone point me to anyone else suggesting that before events like the one in this post?

    [note: fished from spam filter]

    Weren't they part of the plan? (078238)

  30. Is is as though it is impossible for some Leftists to be honest.

    JD (c5e5eb)

  31. “Can anyone point me to anyone else suggesting that before events like the one in this post?”

    Yes. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Thursday pledging to punch back twice as hard at people objecting to Democratic health care reform plans. That seems like marching orders to the SEIU and ACORN thugs which directly led to the violence to me. Can you point to statements from the White House admonishing the SEIU for their tactics?

    daleyrocks (718861)

  32. […] He is openly inciting violence, and he is getting it.  Don’t believe me?  Click over to Patterico’swhere they have an excellent round up on recent violent events, with disturbing video of the St […]

    Gazzer’s Gabfest » Am I wrong, Virginia? (b98ad6)

  33. Can you point to evidence ACORN was behind the Carnahan meeting melee?

    steve (187be6)

  34. For some reason, while DRJ or whoever posted the note at the end of my comment above was “fishing”, they forgot to include my name’s URL with a longer discussion. I’ve included that URL again, go take a look.

    The details (078238)

  35. Notice that those dissenting from Obamacare have the burden of proving their good faith, according to our most recent troll, but Obama’s followers have no such burden.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  36. Russ Carnahan seems like a pretty huge douche-bag.

    thebronze (bfd7b6)

  37. Steve – Yesterday you were denying there was an attack. Today, it seems like you are trying to deny SEIU was involved, with some non-sequiter about ACORN. Or was that Andrew? Either way, stoopid that pervasive should be painful.

    JD (c15e00)

  38. Look, over there, bunnies!!!!

    daleyrocks (718861)

  39. Russ Carnahan, yet another case of political nepotism. It does seem to me that the Democrats are worse in raw numbers for this sort of thing — although the Bush dynasty sort of evens up things in one fell swoop.

    BTW I gather that Mr. Gladney is not particularly conservative, just a guy pursuing the time honored American tradition of making a buck.

    hortense (aka horace) (56e183)

  40. […] GatewayPundit links an SEIU blog that claims its members were the victims of violence at the St. Louis townhall meeting where Kenneth Gladney was assaulted. Earlier posts on this here, here, and here. […]

    Patterico’s Pontifications » SEIU: We Are the Victims (Updated) (e4ab32)

  41. […] Mike has extensive experience as an associate union debate specialist from his days as a youth. These unruly mobs with their manufactured outrage will be a piece of cake […]

    Obama Names Tyson “Townhall Healthcare Debate Czar” » The Nose On Your Face (c967f2)

  42. Saw on national news this weekend that these distractions are exactly what the President needs so that people aren’t focused on his lousy plan. Instead they are talking about whether the protesters are paid Republican mobsters.

    I need to find a schedule of St. Louis town hall meetings. I’d really like to see one first hand.

    Brian King (e06908)

  43. Here we go again, more wingnut paranoia and throwing the truth out the door. I was actually there when this happened, and the violence was against Mr. Gladney and the SEIU members–but not by anyone from SEIU. Get your bloody facts straight.

    Riann (3a612b)

  44. Riann, sure you were. Another SEIU troll making up stuff.

    SPQR X (26be8b)

  45. Riann – Why were the SEIU members arrested for beating Mr Gladney if they did not do so?

    Another lying lying lying troll. If you believed all of the Leftist trolls that said they were there, there would have been 4,683,531+ people in attendance.

    JD (12ebb1)

  46. I was actually there when this happened, and the violence was against Mr. Gladney and the SEIU members–but not by anyone from SEIU. Get your bloody facts straight.

    Really? So the guy wearing the SEIU polo shirt wasn’t from the SEIU?

    Idiot.

    Scott Jacobs (d027b8)

  47. The video shows one man already down, a union guy trying not to step on him after being tripped, and another union guy being tripped by someone not visible.

    Where is the actual union violence against Gladney?

    cmb (46e123)

  48. Another lying apologist for the violent Leftist thugs. They weren’t beating him, they were trying to help him up, and someone tripped them.

    JD (f3535f)


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