Angry Right-Wing Mobs Harass Democratic Officials

“Angry, sign-carrying mobs” and “disruptive behavior” are what’s meeting public officials as they travel about during recess and has led Politico to refer to a phenomenon they’re calling “Town Halls Gone Wild.”

Congressman Tim Bishop of Long Island has suspended such gatherings on the heels of a June 22 meeting in Setauket.

“There is no point in meeting with my constituents and [to] listen to them and have them listen to you if what is basically an unruly mob prevents you from having an intelligent conversation.”

In Bishop’s case, his decision came on the heels of a June 22 event he held in Setauket, N.Y., in which protesters dominated the meeting by shouting criticisms at the congressman for his positions on energy policy, health care and the bailout of the auto industry.

Within an hour of the disruption, police were called in to escort the 59-year-old Democrat — who has held more than 100 town hall meetings since he was elected in 2002 — to his car safely.

Bishop isn’t the only one confronted by boiling anger and rising incivility. At a health care town hall event in Syracuse, N.Y., earlier this month, police were called in to restore order, and at least one heckler was taken away by local police. Close to 100 sign-carrying protesters greeted Rep. Allen Boyd (D-Fla.) at a late June community college small-business development forum in Panama City, Fla. Last week, Danville, Va., anti-tax tea party activists claimed they were “refused an opportunity” to ask Rep. Thomas Perriello (D-Va.) a question at a town hall event and instructed by a plainclothes police officer to leave the property after they attempted to hold up protest signs.

Texas Congressman Lloyd Doggett faced an angry mob in South Austin over the weekend.

Yelling protesters with bumper stickers on their heads shouted down Senator Arlen Specter and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius when they told a Philadelphia audience, “We need to do this fast.”

Some of the tea party groups have urged their followers to disrupt things in this way.

The lobbyist-run groups Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks, which orchestrated the anti-Obama tea parties earlier this year, are now pursuing an aggressive strategy to create an image of mass public opposition to health care and clean energy reform. A leaked memo from Bob MacGuffie, a volunteer with the FreedomWorks website Tea Party Patriots, details how members should be infiltrating town halls and harassing Democratic members of Congress (Think Progress links to a leaked memo by MacGuffie):

* Artificially Inflate Your Numbers: “Spread out in the hall and try to be in the front half. The objective is to put the Rep on the defensive with your questions and follow-up. The Rep should be made to feel that a majority, and if not, a significant portion of at least the audience, opposes the socialist agenda of Washington.”

Be Disruptive Early And Often: “You need to rock-the-boat early in the Rep’s presentation, Watch for an opportunity to yell out and challenge the Rep’s statements early.”

Try To “Rattle Him,” Not Have An Intelligent Debate: “The goal is to rattle him, get him off his prepared script and agenda. If he says something outrageous, stand up and shout out and sit right back down. Look for these opportunities before he even takes questions.”

In West Michigan, a tea party waited outside a Democratic picnic until they could shout the Pledge Of Allegiance at Congressman Carl Levin.

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.