Mob Rule

The ridiculous displays of orchestrated rage by mostly white old Republicans over healthcare reform may have swayed the Obama administration.

White House appears ready to drop 'public option'

Bowing to Republican pressure, President Barack Obama's administration signaled on Sunday it is ready to abandon the idea of giving Americans the option of government-run insurance as part of a new U.S. health care system.

Facing mounting opposition to the overhaul, administration officials left open the chance for a compromise with Republicans that would include health insurance cooperatives instead of a government-run plan. Such a concession would likely enrage his liberal supporters but could deliver Obama a much-needed win on a top domestic priority opposed by GOP lawmakers.

This is despite the fact that Repub scare tactics and deliberate mis-information and outright lies, like those spewed by Quitter Palin, have been disproven.

FACT CHECK: No 'death panel' in health care bill

Former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin says the health care overhaul bill would set up a "death panel." Federal bureaucrats would play God, ruling on whether ailing seniors are worth enough to society to deserve life-sustaining medical care. Palin and other critics are wrong.

Nothing in the legislation would carry out such a bleak vision. The provision that has caused the uproar would instead authorize Medicare to pay doctors for counseling patients about end-of-life care, if the patient wishes.

But that hasn't stopped the Rent-a-Mobs from spewing vitriol. It's ironic, since most of these protestors, following the orders of Republican and "blue dog" Democratic politicians given hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions by lobbyists for pharmaceutical and health insurance corproations, have enjoyed the benefits of "socialism" for decades, i.e. the G.i. bill, Medicare and Medicaid, in addition to "socialist" infrastructure, FDA, and more government servies.

But that isn't stopping the increasingly racist, fascistic and violent behavior and statements by Rethugs.

Fears for Barack Obama's safety as healthcare debate fuels extremism

The message was clear. The sign carried by a 51-year-old man last week outside a raucous town hall meeting on healthcare in Hagerstown, Maryland, read "Death to Obama". Just to emphasise his point, a second message was also scrawled on the cardboard placard. "Death to Obama, Michelle and 2 stupid kids," it stated.

Welcome to the disturbing new face of the radical right in America. Across the country, extremism is surging, inflamed by conservative talkshow hosts, encouraged by Republican leaders and propagating a series of wild conspiracy theories. Many fear it might end in tragedy.

Obama has been labeled as a threat to democracy and an anti-white racist by senior presenters on the TV channel Fox News. Republicans, seizing on the fierce debate over Obama's plans to reform healthcare, have called him a socialist who plans "death panels" for the elderly. Rumors have circulated that Obama was not born in America and that he plans to ban firearms. Despite having no basis in fact, they have become widely believed. A recent poll in Virginia showed only 53% of voters believed Obama was born in the US. In neighbouring North Carolina, 54% of voters shared that opinion.

Such extremism is becoming a major security issue, prompting fears of an attack on Obama's life or some other incident of domestic terrorism. "This is a very dangerous situation that can spin off 'lone wolf' individuals who decide now is the time to act against people they see as an enemy," said Chip Berlet, author of a book on rightwing extremists.

Federal authorities have launched a programme to try to detect any individuals who might be planning rightwing attacks similar to those that in recent months have killed a Kansas abortion doctor and a black security guard at Washington DC's Holocaust Museum.

At the same time, the watchdog group the Southern Poverty Law Centre has issued a report that warns of rising numbers of potentially violent rightwing militia groups. The number of hate groups has grown from 602 in 2000 to 926, the organisation found. Its report quoted one senior federal law enforcement official, Bart McEntire, as saying: "This is the most significant growth we've seen in 10 to 12 years. All it's lacking is a spark."

You don't need to be an expert profiler to know that that spark will undoubtedly be ignited by a white, gun-owning Republican racist. The fact that these protests have sprung up so suddenly is proof of the orchestration from higher-ups.
Remember the last time Republicans sent Angry Mobs to Disrupt Something?

I do. And it did so much damage to America that we are still recovering and Obama is left to pick up the pieces. Let's not let them use the same tactics to shut down discussion of Healthcare Reform in town hall meetings across the nation. They are trying to stop that the same way they stopped the recount.

And they were ALL Republican Party operatives.