The White House, DNC, and leading Democrats keep piling on the unappealing rhetoric, labeling Obamacare critics pawns, lobbyists, un-American, and right-wing extremist mobs.
You'd think the Blue Dogs might play it a little smarter, but no such luck. Here's Rep. Baron Hill's (D-Ind.) assessment of the occasional yelling at the nation's town halls this August:
Protesters who have interrupted town hall meetings are guilty of committing "political terrorism," one Democratic lawmaker said Wednesday.
Rep. Baron Hill (D-Ind.), a centrist Democrat, said that he can tolerate political differences, those who have shouted down congressmen and senators at town hall meetings across the country in recent weeks have taken things to a different level.
"I don't mind people disagreeing with you, but just to blow up a meeting is an act of political terrorism," Hill told the Louisville Courier-Journal.
"They have only one purpose in mind and that's to blow up the meetings that are being held and that serves no one, ladies and gentlemen," he said of the protesters, according to WISH-TV. That outlet is also reporting that Republicans have demanded an apology from Hill over the terrorism words.
This is not the first, but the second time he's said it, and he's said it at leat once on TV (hello, attack ad). There's already a homegrown YouTube ad of the congressman's comments making the rounds on Hoosier political blogs.
Meanwhile, Sen. Claire McCaskill (another female Democratic senator after my heart lately) is one of the few Democrats in America who doesn't believe that yelling will be the downfall of the Republic. As such, she praised and thanked those who participated in her town hall in Missouri yesterday, calling the gathering "terrific." In her closing remarks at the town hall, she noted that media would likely only cover the outbursts, which rarely interrupted the flow of the discussion or drowned out McCaskill:
Reflecting on her own townhall, at which protesters of healthcare reform plans made vocal interruptions, McCaskill praised all of those who showed up to the meeting.
"It was terrific," McCaskill said during an interview on NBC. "I was proud of the people who showed up, and I don't take it personally."
McCaskill said she "wasn't surprised," though, by the interruptions made by participants in the meeting.
"These are people that are very distrustful of government," she said. "They have a lot of pent-up frustration about what has happened the last 6 months, because it's come fast and furious."
She was right about most media coverage, which did focus on outbursts from critics of Obamacare. Oddly enough, the only two attendees disruptive enough to be escorted out of the McCaskill town hall were Obamacare supporters carrying Obama signs; signs had been prohibited inside the building. That got very little coverage.
