Ray Ring on Obama's Bozeman visit

Bused in prosters (0.00 / 0)

Ray Ring, "Some of the protesters against reform have been delivered in a cross-country bus that's emblazoned with a big orange hand and lettering that says HANDS OFF MY HEALTH CARE."

I noticed that the Missoulian  http://www.missoulian.com/news...  had the following, "Meanwhile, Anna Gustina, who heads Organizing for America, Obama's political organization in Montana, called it "a great day" for the group. She said the group worked with the SEIU and Montana AFL-CIO to charter five buses to bring workers from Billings, Great Falls and Missoula to support the president's health care reform efforts."

Why would RR overlook Obama's connection to the SEIU and AFL-CIO bused in protesters?  Why would RR overlook the confrontation provoked by THOSE bused in protesters as chronicled by the Missoulian:  "It was loud and raucous at times, with a brief shoving match between supporters and critics of Obama and the Democrats' health-care reform proposals. The Tea Party group of Bozeman accused health-care reform supporters of taking the space they had paid a fee to reserve."

The Bozeman Chronicle noted the same frictional spark  http://www.bozemandailychronic... :

"Single-payer and public-option advocates, who favor government-run insurance options, clustered tightly together as a large red fire truck with a "tea party" sign attached to its silver tanker attempted to pull toward them and the coveted corner that most attending the town hall meeting needed to pass.

Tea partiers secured a permit for the high-profile spot, said Gallatin Field security chief William Dove. And airport security cordoned off areas to separate the various factions. But it didn't work.

And as things started to heat up, single-payer advocate Cynthia Wolken, from the Montana Human Rights Network, held her ground just off Airport Road, protest sign in hand."
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Seems like Obama's bused SEIU and AFL-CIO protesters were looking to make the news with their stunt.

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by: Craig Moore @ Sun Aug 16, 2009 at 19:48:48 PM UTC

apparently... (0.00 / 0)

...the truck tried to run down some folks. And from all the accounts I read, it was the Tea Baggers who were the aggressors in all cases. Hell, I had a friend who nearly had a tooth knocked out of his mouth.

But you know, you're "objective," right? Because both sides "must" be extremist, right?

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by: Jay Stevens @ Sun Aug 16, 2009 at 21:25:38 PM UTC

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I objectively read the news accounts (0.00 / 0)

and they were few.  I was about a 1000 miles away from Bozeman.  NewWest's account doesn't mention the confrontation.  What part of the Missoulian and Bozeman Daily Chroncile accounts were wrong about the "turf" confrontation with the bused in SEIU and AFL-CIO supporters who provoked it by occupying the other group's permitted place?

As to your friend with the tooth, I am going to guess that it was Greer.  As I understand he had a bullhorn to his mouth shouting away and someone within arm's reach took offense to having that in their face and shoved it away. Bullhorn's aren't necessary to communicate to someone only 5 feet from the speaker.

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by: Craig Moore @ Sun Aug 16, 2009 at 21:42:33 PM UTC

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golly (0.00 / 0)

Apparently those who the truck was going to run down never were told about turf. And even if this were true, I don't think any of us condone pushing or shoving people to get "turf" is either polite or practical, let alone using a truck as a weapon against children, elderly and the disabled.

But, hey! That spot of ground was theirs, damn it!

If your anger blinds you so much it justifies using violence to get your way, you've got a problem.

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by: Jay Stevens @ Sun Aug 16, 2009 at 22:03:29 PM UTC

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No anger here (0.00 / 0)

and I don't condone violence.  But I do know what happens when there are unnecessary provocations to achieve the snapshot and headline to play the victim.  

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by: Craig Moore @ Sun Aug 16, 2009 at 22:08:21 PM UTC

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i see the belgrade turf war as a microcosm of just what the tea baggers are about (0.00 / 0)

the wealthy in this country want us to surrender because they feel entitled to everything. and just like the aristocrats of old, they will stop at nothing to take it from us.  

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by: problembear @ Sun Aug 16, 2009 at 22:13:19 PM UTC

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Sleazybear here's your "weathy" (0.00 / 0)

http://bloximages.chicago2.vip...

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by: Craig Moore @ Sun Aug 16, 2009 at 22:57:13 PM UTC

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the protesters... (0.00 / 0)

Ironic you pick a picture of people holding signs that are completely irrelevant to this debate. The public option and health care reform has nothing to do with "socialism."

Maybe these protesters aren't filthy rich, but I suspect those that feed the disinformation campaign are tied somehow to corporate profit. I suspect were these people to understand what's actually in the reform, they wouldn't be protesting. Actually, not true. As Dean said, these protests aren't about health care. Whatever.

Take away the scary black man and his legions of scary kid supporters who want to re-craft the world in their image, and I have no doubt that your average Tea Bagger would have absolutely reason to oppose the public option. A robust P.O. makes reform cheaper. They won't be paying higher taxes for it. They don't even have to it.

So, yeah, I see this picture, and I see $$ in the wording of their sign and their very presence in protest.  

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by: Jay Stevens @ Sun Aug 16, 2009 at 23:50:38 PM UTC

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Jay, the picture is from the Missoulian's (0.00 / 0)

coverage of the Bozeman event.  

I wish you hadn't used race as a canard to deflect from the issues. You are much better than that. You write, "Take away the scary black man and his legions of scary kid supporters who want to re-craft the world in their image..."

Tell that to these men.  http://www.nypost.com/seven/08...

There are "scary" people that organize in mobs and commit despicable acts.  

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by: Craig Moore @ Mon Aug 17, 2009 at 00:14:07 AM UTC

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wait... (0.00 / 0)

...you respond to my claim that fear of race spur people to anger, then you link to a NY Post race-baiting article? I mean, this article is Exhibit A in how right-wing media stirs up fears in white, blue-collar communities.

Thanks for underscoring my point.

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by: Jay Stevens @ Mon Aug 17, 2009 at 02:31:26 AM UTC

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what? (0.00 / 0)

Jay, you are the one that brought race into this discussion, not me.  Race-baiting?, look in the mirror.

Race had nothing to do with the Bozeman protests,as per everything I have read from journalists who chronicled the event. Zero.

Believe what you will.  I'm not going down this rabbit hole with you.

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by: Craig Moore @ Mon Aug 17, 2009 at 02:45:37 AM UTC

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I brought race into the discussion... (0.00 / 0)

...because race is a present in every Tea Baggers' protest I've seen. There's always a sign or poster with overtly racist overtones. There's always people shouting "n*gger." Hell, look at that woman I wrote about the other day with her "No Mo Bro" sign. Not to say all Tea Baggers are racist, but the right has armed these folks with the language to express their race-based fears without using -- even knowingly! -- racist expression. That's what the Birthers are all about, questioning Obama's citizenship -- he's a secret other! He's foreign! He's not legitimate! -- in language that suggests race. John McCain wasn't even born in the US -- why didn't Birthism spring up around his campaign, if these people were so worried about natural citizenship.

Add that to the racist anti-immigration hysteria on the right, evoking the image of a Spanish-speaking country, the death of Anglo culture if immigration isn't curtailed, etc & co...these people are scared the world is changing and they'll soon be surrounded by people that don't act, think, and look like them.

What's obvious in these protests is that they have NOTHING to do with health care. The things they believe about the bill are so factually incorrect it defies belief, yet, if corrected, they still react with anger and in opposition. It's not about health care.

BTW, pointing out the use of racist rhetoric in someone isn't "race baiting." Race-baiting is when you report a lurid story featuring race that's designed to provoke a response. Your story is exactly that. Let me ask you: why is race at all important to that story?

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by: Jay Stevens @ Mon Aug 17, 2009 at 04:00:49 AM UTC

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Btw... (0.00 / 0)

...the "scary kid" part of that comment had nothing to do with race. Obama's most ardent supporters -- the young -- represent very different values than the Bozeman Tea Baggers.

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by: Jay Stevens @ Mon Aug 17, 2009 at 02:33:58 AM UTC

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Turf (0.00 / 0)

Sorry, man. I know you're into the "objective" news accounts and all, but this SOP for newspapers. Take a picture or two of costumed protesters, ignore all the claims of violence and abuse as crowd hysteria, quote someone from each side and move on inside so you can sit up front near the president.

BTW, labor groups and other health care advocate groups are anything but "astroturf." They're citizen-driven groups who are doing exactly what they were formed to do. Unlike, say, a group that's paid by folks to disseminate agitprop from an industry that stands to profit materially from a sabotaged health care reform.

Same deal with anti-global-warming arguments. They're created and funded by people who stand to make money from the discrediting of science.

I don't care if someone is ideologically opposed to health care reform -- though there's little intellectual backing for opposition that I've seen other than an occasional plea to preserve private insurers. H*ll even the CBO marks insurance reform with a robust public option as cheaper than this half-*ssed insurer-subsidizing crap the industry is trying to palm off on Americans.

Here's all you need to know about a robust public option: its better and cheaper than our current insurance system. Why would any insurance consumer oppose having the choice?

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by: Jay Stevens @ Sun Aug 16, 2009 at 21:56:16 PM UTC

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