Academic

MEMPHIS: Town hall tension: Meeting turns ugly over health care. ?Hundreds of people crowded into ?

By Glenn Reynolds

MEMPHIS: Town hall tension: Meeting turns ugly over health care. “Hundreds of people crowded into the BRIDGES building in Downtown Memphis on Saturday for a congressional town hall meeting that quickly deviated into a raucous shouting free-for-all, requiring extra law enforcement officers to watch over the scene. The meeting, hosted by U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Memphis, was scheduled to address constituents’ concerns about Social Security and veterans’ benefits, but the real topic of the day was health care reform legislation being crafted by Congress. Most people in the crowd of close to 500 were in loud opposition, although Cohen supporters held their own, waving signs that read ‘Health Care Now.’”

And reader Jeremy Kendall writes: “Interesting note: there was only one handmade sign in support of the public option at the event. All of the rest were handed out by MoveOn.org and the Tennessee Health Care Coalition.”

UPDATE: I wonder if there were any of these “astroturf” signs there?

ANOTHER UPDATE: ABC News wins the headline-irony contest with this: Painting Protestors as “Partisan Mobs with Lies About Health Reform,” Democrats Rally Their Own Activists to Visit Members of Congress at Town Halls, District Offices.

Full post as published by Instapundit.com on August 09, 2009 (boomark / email).