Suppressing dissenting viewpoints is so natural for the Left that they don’t even mind if people tape them encouraging it.
I went with Joel Pollak to Rep. Jan Schakowsky’s town hall meeting on August 31, 2009. I didn’t expect to see anything outrageous, just wanted to see how she would handle real people with real concerns. Joel wasn’t a candidate at that point, just a constituent. What we saw there, however, pushed him to challenge Jan Schakowsky for the privilege to represent the people of the 9th district of Illinois.
We got there two hours early, and a long line had already formed, so we dutifully took our places at the back. “Health Care for America Now” organizers (HCAN) were walking up and down, passing out lapel stickers to everyone there. The line was already packed with Schakowsky’s supporters, who had been told to come early to fill up the place before people got off work and came over.
We conveniently made ourselves unavailable whenever they passed by. I didn’t want to take a sticker, but I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it either. Since I was surrounded by stickered people, I knew that my refusal would start something. I hadn’t come to cause problems, just to watch.
Eventually, a lead organizer came by with not just stickers, but advice for how to drown out any dissenting views that might be expressed at the town hall. We had a Flip camera with us, just in case, but weren’t filming the line. As soon as the organizer came over, he started to talk about the “tea baggers.” Given how loaded that word is, we figured we might as well start the video.
The organizer goes on to explain that the “tea baggers” might ask questions, and if that happens, the HCAN supporters are to stand up, block them with their illicitly brought in signs, and chant “Health Care Now! Health Care Now!” He concludes by telling the HCAN supporters “It’s your meeting. Hold on to your meeting.” Of course, we were under the impression that it was a meeting about the concerns of the 9th district voters, not an operational exercise in Stalinist conformity.
What is so shocking as you watch the video is how casually he explains all this. It’s so completely normal to him, that he says it very nonchalant and matter-of-fact. We’re standing there, with a flip camera pointed at him, not wearing HCAN stickers. The camera is practically in his face, he knows we’re taping. Apparently he sees nothing wrong with astroturfing and encouraging his people to drown out opposing view points. Is that democracy in action?
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