GOP Hopefuls on Fox Payroll

By GottaLaff

This will be a lighter posting day. Still struggling with a few computer issues.

That said, here's your ClusterFox of the day:

"Three of the top five choices in the Southern Republican Leadership Conference's recent straw poll on favorite 2012 presidential candidates had more than one thing in common: They're all on the Fox News Channel payroll," the AP reports.

Can't get more fair and balanced than that.

NononononoPalinJindalNonononono

By GottaLaff

Newton Leroy Gingrich decided that the GOP should be the "party of yes." What a novel idea! Why, it's positively Spoonful of Sugary! One might surmise that Republican voters would lap that right up, it's so sunshiny and positive!

One might even go so far as to imagine party leaders would embrace such a pleasant about-face from all that nastiness and No-itude.

Think about it. Those poor Rushpublics! It must be an awful burden, all that dragging around, looking all frowny, staining their vocal chords screaming "You lie!", "Baby killer!", "Reload!", and "Hell no!" at the top of their lungs.

"Yes" is such a happy word. "Yes" brings to mind all good things. "Yes" is as feel-goody as it gets. Who could refuse an opportunity to associate with such a life-affirming word? A word filled with promise and opportunity? A word that would be good for America!?

Ba-Ba-Ba-Bobby Jindal:

“Let’s be clear: A bad idea is a bad idea, and shame on us for being afraid to say so,” Jindal said. He added that, when it comes to bad ideas, “We shouldn’t just be the 'party of no,' we should be the 'party of "hell no." ' ”

NaySay McThumbsDown:

“There is no shame in being the 'party of no' if the other side proposes something that violates our Constitution and conscience,” she said.

Newt: Republicans "becoming the Party of Yes"

By GottaLaff

I'm watching a clip of Shrilly McMakeAFortune right now, draped in strand after tasteless strand of pearls, proudly bellowing her pride over the Rushpublics being labeled the Party of H-E-Double Hockey Sticks.

I'm not sure why Shrilly sometimes feels it necessary to spell that word out after she shouted "hell" at the top of her screechy lungs only days before at a McCain rally.

Apparently, Newtie disagrees with her enthusiastic support of using Not Child Friendly words to describe his party:

According to a statement, Newt Gingrich will give a speech tonight before the Southern Republican Leadership Conference titled, "Becoming the Party of Yes."

Said Gingrich: "To win in 2010 and 2012, it's not enough to say no to the radical agenda of Obama, Pelosi, and Reid. Tonight's speech will explain why real leadership requires Republicans to offer a compelling vision of safety, prosperity, and freedom that stands in vivid contrast to Obama's secular, socialist, machine now running Washington."

What, this doesn't work for the GOP any more?




Happily, calling us socialists is still at the top of the List-O'-Talking Points. What a relief! I'd miss that the way Newton Leroy misses being 1995 Person of the Year.

So remember and never forget: The Party of Hell No, that fine bunch of obstructionists, will hereby be known as the Party of ...


Okay, no they won't, but Newton Leroy thinks he can make it happen.

5 Reasons Even Republicans Can Love Health Reform

By GottaLaff

John Aloysius Farrell has a blog post up over at U.S. News and World Report. Here are the bare bones:

1. The United States of America remains a proud capitalist country. Forget the "first step" toward "creeping socialism" nonsense. [...]
2. Your stock portfolios are fatter. [...]
3. We are getting a grip on costs. [...]
4. You won a round on abortion. [...]
5. The cocklebur states will make out like bandits. [...]

So cheer up, wingers. In defeat, your base is happily outraged and united. Despite victory, the liberal base is sour and divided. And the public's memory is short. It won't be long before your House and Senate office staffs are winning you thousands of votes helping grateful constituents claim the benefits of this evil law you've fought so bitterly. In a few years you'll be defending it, like Medicare.

The rest is here.

My knee jerk reaction is to accept this passage as a victory, especially if the Rushpublics are this apoplectic over it. I have the same issues with the bill as many of you do, but I see it as a springboard.

My health care PMS is still lingering, but this has been a gigantic accomplishment, getting both houses to pass something. Can you imagine a McCain/Palin administration version of health care reform?

I fervently hope there will be improvements, and eventually, a final bill that we can live with more comfortably. And again, this is a long, tough process. There will be tweaks and twists and turns in the months and years to come.

So I choose to remain optimistic and defy my PMSitude today. Despite the setbacks and bitter disappointments, it's a step. Doing nothing was more destructive, IMHO. I'm still waiting to see what comes out of conference before I commit to full on celebrating or tantruming.

In the meantime, I'll pop a health care Midol, grab a conference heating pad, pig out on chocolate, and hope for the best.

Democrat$ Outrai$ing Republicans

By GottaLaff



I am now a believer in The Surge (no, not that one):

Fundraising for Democratic campaign committees is surging, USA Today reports, "helping the party to extend a winning streak in competitive special elections and giving House Democrats a more than 3-to-1 advantage over Republicans in cash stockpiled for the battles ahead."

"The Democratic National Committee, along with the fundraising arm for House Democrats, outraised Republican committees last month. Overall, all Democratic committees ended October with nearly $38.8 million cash on hand, compared with $21.3 million for Republicans."

Holy Chai Latte! Starbucks Republicans defect!

By GottaLaff

I'll have a veinte Half-Caf Mocha Frappuccino Caramel Macchiato Espresso with steamed milk and double hazelnut flavoring con panne and a dash of GOPino.

I have no idea what any of that meant, but if it gets us voters, who cares:

Interesting point from the Raleigh News & Observer: "North Carolina has maintained the strongest Democratic Party in the South during the past decade by siphoning off moderate Starbucks Republicans."

Hold the bull shot.

Tolerance: Special Comment by my 72-year-old friend

By GottaLaff

My very caring, impassioned 72-year-old Twitter pal, who goes by the name 42bkdodgr, would like to share his feelings about the conservatives' hostile intrusion into what is left of the Republican party, and the resulting split. I am more than happy to oblige.

But first, a personal note from 42bkdodgr:

Many of you may wonder why I chose to use the “ 72 year old friend” as the introduction to my Special Comments. I selected the moniker so readers could see that from my age and life experiences I give a different perspective to the issues of today.

Now for his Special Comment:

Tolerance

In the last couple of month three events have taken place, which for me shows where the Republican Party is heading.

The first event is the New York State 23rd Congressional District election. The local Republican leadership chose Dede Scozzafava as their candidate, whose selection was endorsed by the Republican leadership in Congress and by National Republican Congressional Committee.

Dissatisfied with Ms. Scozzafava positions on abortion, same-sex marriage and taxation; the Conservative wing of the Republican Party led by Sarah Palin and Dick Armey decided to put up their own candidate to defeat the Republican candidate.

We all know how that turned out, the election of Democratic candidate Bill Owens, the first Democrat to hold that District’s seat in over 100 years.

The second event took place on Nov.7th during the voting on the HCR Bill. With all Republicans indicating they would all vote NO on the bill, I wondered if there was at least one representative who knew his constituents were in favor of having a health care reform bill passed.

Well I wasn’t disappointed, a courageous individual, Rep. Anh “Joseph” Cao (R-New Orleans), listening to the needs of his constituents, who were concerned about the rising costs of health care premiums, voted for the HCR Bill with a public option.

Rep Cao did what he was elected to do, represent interests of his constituents and not just support party ideology. I believe there where others who felt the same way but were afraid to go against their party leadership and the conservative wing of the party.

For actually representing the wishes of his constituents, Rep Cao received a lot of hateful words from the right wing of the party. He received such hateful remarks as “The face of an American traitor”, “I will go broke supporting a dog to run against this traitor”, “Go back to Saigon, Vietnam, where you f_ _ _ing belong G_ _K”. Some people even asked that their donations be returned.

The third event involves Sen. Lindsey Graham (R - SC). The Charleston County, S.C., Republican Party censured Sen. Graham for his work with Democrats and GOP moderates. They were upset that Sen. Graham worked with Sen. John Kerry ( D-Mass.) and Joseph Liberman (I-Conn.) on climate change legislation and for also working on a bipartisan basis with members of the Democratic party on immigration reform.

Now what do these three events have in common? Its that the Conservative wing (tea baggers/ Tea Party) of the Republican Party has little or no tolerance for those with different point of views.

The Conservative wing of the Party has indicated they will endorse those Republican candidates in the 2010 primaries who support their ideology (abortions, gay marriage, taxation) or they will select a candidate to oppose them.

When you take into account these three events along with the actions, dress, signs and posters displayed by the protesters at the Town Hall meetings, the 9/12 Rally and the Bachmann “Press Conference” rally, you can see that the Republican Party is slowly being taken over by the far right wing of the party.

When the intentions of a political party’s wing is to drum out those members who have different points of view and expects all followers to be in lock step-- or should I say goose step?-- with their ideology, then the political party that emerges looks no different from a Fascist or Communist Party.

Many thanks again for another timely, thoughtful piece, 42bkdodgr. You never fail to say what so many of us are thinking and feeling.

Scozzafava v. conservatives: "My name's a verb now"

By GottaLaff

I wonder how Dede Scozzafava's parents felt when they were watching the Tee Vee Machine, and a punditiot asked whether their daughter was in danger of getting "Scozzafaved."

Let's compare and contrast how she has been treated by the Dems v. the conservatives:

The conservative movement's third-party candidate, Doug Hoffman, expected her support but, she said, the newcomer accountant "had no integrity." Plus, the Democrats were so nice! They called. They sympathized. They made her feel good about tossing her support to Bill Owens, who -- with her help -- became the area's first Democratic representative in more than a century.[...]

And she warns that what happened to her will happen to candidates like her.

Flies, honey and vinegar come to mind.

Now, together, let's recall what kind of people Sarah Palin and her pals are:

She heard through friends that Palin insinuated she had been "anointed" by a "political machine" because county chairs handpicked her as the nominee. Beck denounced her as "ACORN-supported" and an "Obama-Lite Republican." Former House majority leader Dick Armey's group FreedomWorks mobilized against her. She said she heard conservative robo-calls in the district describing her as a "child killer," a "lesbian lover" and a "homo."

"It was organized," she said.

It always is.

So she dropped out. Let's tune in and see what happened next. I bet Palin called her to make sure she was okay, because she's maternal that way.

Or the conservapet, Hoffman, who was most likely very gracious:

Soon after, triumphant releases rolled out of conservative press offices. Michael Steele, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, immediately transferred the party's financial support over to Hoffman, who placed no condolence call.

"One man who did call me was Bill Owens," she said. "He didn't ask for an endorsement, he just said, 'I hope you're doing okay.' "

Oh.

So much for compassionate conservatives.

Speaking of turning names into verbs, Dede could have easily Palined, but she's hanging in there:

She sees herself as a champion of local expertise over ideological purity.

"How can Sarah Palin come out and endorse someone who can't answer some basic questions," Scozzafava asked. "Do these people even know who they are endorsing?" [...]

"There is a lot of us who consider ourselves Republicans, of the Party of Lincoln," she said, her face now flush. "If they don't want us with them, we're going to work against them."

Mob Rule: Special Comment by my 72-year-old friend

By GottaLaff

(click on image to enlarge)

My very caring, impassioned 72-year-old Twitter pal, who goes by the name 42bkdodgr, would like to share his feelings about the rampant out-of-control expressions of hatred that have been forced upon us recently. I am more than happy to oblige.

But first, a personal note from 42bkdodgr:

Many of you may wonder why I chose to use the “ 72 year old friend” as the introduction to my Special Comments. I selected the moniker so readers could see that from my age and life experiences I give a different perspective to the issues of today.

Now for his Special Comment:

The Mob Has Taken Over

In my first Special Comment on this site I said I hadn’t seen such hatred in this country since the Civil Rights movement; since then it has continued and has gotten worse.

I also said in another comment that the two most dangerous women in America were Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachmann. Since then I have come to the conclusion that Bachmann is the one to fear. She uses the same antics of Joseph McCarthy, making outrageous statements, and in some cases without any proof.

Some of Bachmann’s outrageous statements include:

* "What we have to do today is make a covenant, to slit our wrists, be blood brothers on this thing.” referring opposing the HCR Bill.

* Linking swine flu outbreak to Democrats.

* Liberals in Congress should be investigated for being anti-American.

* Thomas Jefferson has told us: having a revolution every now and then is a good thing

* Obama has anti-American views.

* “I want people in Minnesota armed and dangerous on this issue of the energy tax because we need to fight back.”

* Asking tea baggers attending Nov. 5th rally to go “ up and down through the halls, find members of Congress, look at the whites of their eyes and say “ Don’t take away my healthcare””

I believe when you look at the language of the Bachmann’s statements there seems to be a tone of a call to violence and is preaching to mob-like intelligence .

Because of her statements Bachmann has become the darling of the tea baggers, as evidenced by the reception she received at the rally on the Capital steps yesterday against the Democratic Health Care Reform Bill.

During the rally we saw such poster signs as “ Heath Care Reform is the Holocaust”, “Obama and his Marxist Buddies Are After Your Freedom”, Health Care In General, Is Just Like Nazi Germany”, I’m King Of The World (character of Obama) We Know What Happened To The Titanic”, “Kiss Mao Ass”, “Ken-ya Trust Obama”, Obama Takes His Orders From The Rothchilds”. These signs show that to some extent tea baggers are made up of radicals, racists and anti-Semites.

Yet with all these signs Rep. Boehner said he didn’t see any hate coming from the crowd; while he adds fuel to the growing fire saying that the health care bill is the “greatest threat to freedom that I have seen.”

When Bachmann, Boehner and the rest of the Republicans attending the rally make no statement regarding the inappropriateness of the signs being displayed, this only tells me that the mob has taken control of the Republican Party.

Until the moderates regain control of the Republican Party and denounce the antics, words and actions of the tea baggers, Beck, Limbaugh, Hannity, Palin and Bachmann the hatred will continue and the division in the country will only get wider.

Lets hope the Republican party regains its senses before a horrific event takes place in this country.

Many thanks again for another timely, truthful, provocative piece, 42bkdodgr. You never fail to say what so many of us are thinking and feeling.

When Will the Republican Party Wake Up? Special Comment by my 72-year-old friend

By GottaLaff

My very caring, impassioned 72-year-old Twitter pal, who goes by the name 42bkdodgr, would like to share his feelings about the Republican party and their apparent self interest at the expense of America's welfare. I am more than happy to oblige.

But first, a personal note from 42bkdodgr:

Many of you may wonder why I chose to use the “ 72 year old friend” as the introduction to my Special Comments. I selected the moniker so readers could see that from my age and life experiences I give a different perspective to the issues of today.

Now for his Special Comment:

When Will They Wake Up

When will the supporters of the Republican Party wake up and realize that the Democratic Party has the people’s interest at heart and not the GOP?

Since the '80s we have seen a dramatic loss of the middle class with the implementation of the “trickle down” economics endorsed by the Republicans. They continue to endorse this economic philosophy and the middle class continues to get smaller and smaller.

Just look at recent events or actions by the Republican Party, and it shows they have little or no concern for the people‘s needs. Their only interest seems to be their ideology, regaining power, and seeing the country fail.

Within the past few weeks we have seen Republicans :

* Fight against a Health Care Reform Bill, especially one with a public option.

* Stall the extension of Unemployment Insurance much needed by those whose insurance is about to expire.

* Senators (30) vote against Al Franken’s Bill that would deny funding to Government contractors who deny their employees the right to go to court when they have been raped by a co-worker.

Sen. Vitter was one of the thirty who voted against the bill, when confronted by one of his constituents as to way he voted against the bill; he couldn’t give an answer, then ran away from his constituent.

* Sen. Vitter propose an amendment to a bill that non-citizens should be excluded in the 2010 Census count, which determines the apportionment of the House of Representatives seats and federal funding.

Sen. Vitter’s amendment will exclude non-resident aliens who have been in this country for many years, and those who are going through the citizenship process.

*The HCR Bill that was released by the Republicans this week has no requirement that people buy health insurance and that the insurance company can deny coverage for a pre-existing condition.

How anyone can support the GOP after the above actions is beyond me.

I can’t imagine that there isn’t a teabagger who doesn’t have a family member or knows someone who is unemployed or has a pre-existing condition that can’t get health insurance, yet still feels the Republican party has their best interest at heart.

Will it take getting hit by a 2 x 4 for the supporters of the Republican Party to wake up and realize who truly has their best interests at heart? As the story goes sometimes it takes getting hit a second time to get someone’s attention.

Many thanks again for another timely, provocative piece, 42bkdodgr. You never fail to say what so many of us are thinking and feeling.

AUDIO: Scozzafava robocalls for Owens - NY23

By GottaLaff

Looks like Sarah Palin isn't the only one who can read a script. Oh wait, Palin most likely had a ghost reader.

Yes, the Rushpublic candidate has recorded a robocall for the Democratic candidate:




FYI, per a poll that MSNBC is discussing right now, Hoffman (conservative) is leading Owens (Democorat) by 5%. Scozzafava better talk a little faster.

H/t: EndTheRoboCalls

GOP candidates' Twitter accounts hacked

By GottaLaff

A lot of us on Twitter have been getting what Twitter calls "Direct Messages", or DMs, that contain links that could only lead to unhappy endings. Phishing expeditions are common on Twitter.

Direct Messages are private Tweets between two people that are similar to "messages" on MySpace or Facebook, that only you and the sender can read, as opposed to open Tweets that can be read by everyone.

A couple of unlucky Republicans got hacked:

Two Republicans on Thursday became the latest victims of a "phishing attack" that has inconvenienced a number of Twitter users this week.

Followers of Florida senatorial candidate Marco Rubio were greeted for a portion of this afternoon by tweets advertising a Web site that sells colon cleansing products. Some subscribers of Tennessee gubernatorial candidate Zach Wamp's Twitter feed similarly received direct messages that them to visit a colon cleansing-related Web site.

I could make any number of tasteless jokes, but I hesitate to bring up the rear by making these two unfortunate Tweeple the butt of my craptastic jokes. So I'll butt out now, before I make an ass of myself.

VIDEO: Same sex marriage a socialist concept? There's a rep. for that

By GottaLaff



H/t: T1

DNC Pulls Ad at Dole's Request

By GottaLaff

I tried to embed the DNC ad, but couldn't. I couldn't even play it. It is now set to "private":

The DNC has agreed to pull a TV ad featuring former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-KS) "following objections Dole conveyed to the White House that the ad twists his support for a bipartisan compromise for health care reform legislation into something else entirely," ABC News reports.

"The ad, which was set to launch Monday, features Dole and other Republican former officials advocating in general terms for health care reform."

Dole said he found it a bit ironic that "all I've been doing is urging bipartisanship" and that was used for partisan purposes.

Could that be considered uni-bipartisanship?

Health care ideas losing out to ideology

By GottaLaff

Michael Hiltzik has a few things to say about the wingnutty memes v. the substance of the actual, you know, merits of health care reform. In other words, the real, and vital, message is being drowned out by lies and propaganda.

We already knew that, but he spells it out clearly enough for even the dimmest bulbs to grasp the entire ugly picture:

The big mystery of the Democrats' loss of the commanding heights in the national healthcare debate is how they managed to let ideologies trump ideas.

The difference between these two terms is crucial. Ideas arise from recognizing reality for what it is; ideologies attempt to impose themselves on the real world, whether or not they fit.

In this case, the Republican ideologies of limited government, of the free market as the cherished American way and the answer to most problems, have taken over the discussion.

Meanwhile, the search for ideas to solve a real American crisis is left gasping for life like a gaffed fish.

When President Obama speaks Wednesday to a joint session of Congress on the subject of healthcare reform, his main task must be to retrieve the issue from the clutches of ideology and restore the search for ideas to the forefront. Nothing is as important for the economic recovery and the competitiveness of American business. [...]

Blacks and Hispanics account for nearly half the uninsured, and members of families living at or below the federal poverty line for more than a third. (These figures come from a report by the Kaiser Family Foundation.) [...]

Commercial insurers deploy armies of clerks to find excuses for rejecting claims and weed out less-profitable customers. [...]

Those are the facts, and there's nothing that ideology can do to change them.

Nevertheless, it's ideology that has dominated this summer's healthcare discussion, such as it is. Those people shrieking with fury at congressional town halls across the country aren't putting forth ideas; they're responding to a right-wing small-government ideology as though to a hallucination. They're being goaded into speaking out against their own best interests [...]

A common trope is that "obtaining healthcare will be like service from the DMV," as one e-mailer wrote.

These sound like the words of someone who isn't bothering to think through what he's saying. [...] In my experience, the California DMV manages my registration and license renewals with admirable efficiency [...]

By contrast, I've wasted days at a time trying to extract treatment approvals from anonymous bureaucrats at my insurance carrier. [...]

If their hypothetical DMV is emblematic of the inefficiency of government-managed healthcare, what's the proper analogy for the "efficient" private sector? Enron? General Motors? AIG? The health insurance industry itself? [...]

California has had one of the nation’s strictest malpractice tort limits for 34 years. But it still boasts among the highest per capita ratios of uninsured residents in the nation. And don't tell me that's because of our illegal immigrants; UCLA's figures show that if you factor out all uninsured residents lacking green cards (assuming they're all here illegally), California would still rank in the bottom half of all states in this measure.

What's surprising is that the White House and Democratic congressional leaders don't seem to have seen the ideological attack coming. Yet it's a familiar phenomenon. [...]

Ideologies aren't always virulent. Sometimes they can help structure a consistent approach to economic or social conditions -- from either side of the political divide. But not when their purpose is merely to body check rational debate out of the arena. On such occasions, aggressive treatment is necessary. Will Wednesday's operation on Capitol Hill set the patient on the path to recovery?

It's all about profit. Human lives are expendable. And our side needs to communicate clearly, forcefully, and in simple terms exactly what is taking place, and what is needed.

It's the same old story, but this is about our health, and we cannot afford to lose this one.

Hey, it's what the Humane Society recommends

By GottaLaff

It's only right:

[Y]ou'll have peace of mind that his or her offspring won't be euthanized [...]

There's that E-word again.

If you don't want those pesky Socialist death panels activated, neuter! After all, it's the humane thing to do.

VIDEO: Deathers thrive on the Tee Vee Machine

By GottaLaff



Deathy McDeathertons en masse:

Ingraham and Tantaros' comments are the latest in a long line of attempts by conservatives to attack Democrats and progressives by attaching the word "death" to progressive initiatives, most recently in the debate over health care reform.

You'd think the Rushpublics would want to associate themselves with something just a tad more upbeat. Now they've gone and attached themselves to this guy:

No matter how hard they try to connect Democrats with killing and death, it reminds me of the old "I am rubber you are glue, whatever you say bounces off of me and sticks to you" rhyme. It's the Rushpublics who constantly make those references, carry assault weapons to town hall meetings, assassinate physicians, and wear shoes like these.

Great p.r. Gee, from now on, whenever I want to impress people, maybe I should use death as the ice-breaker.

Quote-O'-The-Evening: Howard Dean edition

By GottaLaff

Another excuse to post this photo:

Howard Dean on The Rachel Maddow Show:

"Republicans are good at propaganda, they just can't govern, because when you govern, you have to tell the truth."

He's been on fire lately... as you can see by the image above... which isn't lately, but...

...

... I'll shut up now.

AUDIO- Day in the Life of Joe Middle-Class Republican: A litany of sins of socialist commie liberals

By GottaLaff

A moment of sanity, a text by John Gray as read by Thom Hartmann:

Group Making Robocalls With Fake Harry Reid Caller ID

By GottaLaff

Dirty tricks, and more dirty tricks. Rushpublics are equating themselves with vile behavior on a regular basis, and find their party swirling down the toidy drain. Here's one reason why:

Congressional staffers have been plagued over the past two days with telephone calls that appear to be coming from Senate Majority Harry Reid's office but are actually from an anonymous organization highly critical of Democrats.

Several aides on the Hill reported receiving calls on Monday and Tuesday that their Caller ID erroneously said were being made from Reid's headquarters. Upon picking up the phone, they were greeted by an automated message of approximately 45 seconds in length. [...]

[T]he caller said there was "too much spending going on in D.C. but that Republicans weren't to blame."

Using a certain technology, callers can make an incorrect caller identification appear on the recipient's phone. Both chambers of Congress attempted to outlaw the practice in 2007. But those pieces of legislation have yet to become law.

[...] Senator Reid weighs into the issue, casting blame for the calls on "Republican defenders of the status quo."

"While it is still uncertain who is placing these calls or where they are originating from, creating a false caller ID is dishonest and misleading. They represent yet another attempt by Republican defenders of the status quo to distract from the real issues," said Reid's Rodell Mollineau. "Whether it's disrupting town halls, spreading outrageous lies about health reform or even denying President Obama's American citizenship, these Republicans have shown that their only goal is to stop America from moving forward."

Just as trolls do on blogs like ours, Rushpublics either feign innocence ("who me?") or go to hostile extremes, most recently even resorting to threats and violence. If only they understood that bullying and deceptive behavior like this does more to diminish what's left of their collective reputation than it does to help their cause.

Civil discourse-- honest, open, respectful communication-- is so much more effective (and, ahem, safer) than brandishing a gun (in the case I linked to the gun belonged to a Ron Pauler).

Can we get back to real democracy now?