This is What the Great American Health Care Debate Has Devolved Into
So last night Rep. Kathy Castor held a health care reform town hall meeting in Tampa, Florida, a meeting crashed by wingnuts yelling "Tyranny! Tyranny! Tyranny!", and a riot basically broke out.
Reports the St. Petersburg Times:
"Tyranny! Tyranny! Tyranny!" dozens of people shouted as U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Tampa, struggled to talk about health insurance reforms under consideration in Washington, D.C.
"There is more consensus than there is disagreement when you get right down to it,'' Castor offered, immediately drowned out by groans and boos.
She pressed on, mostly unheard among screams from the audience estimated by Tampa police to be about 1,500.
"Tell the truth! Tell the truth!" "Read the bill!" "Forty-million illegals! Forty million illegals!"
So who were these unhinged animals? Where did they come from? Who inspired them? We'll give you one guess.
Hundreds of vocal critics turned out, many of them saying they had been spurred on through the Tampa 912 activist group promoted by conservative radio and television personality Glenn Beck. Others had received e-mails from the Hillsborough Republican Party that urged people to speak out against the plan and offered talking points.
Glenn Beck! Shocking, right? Here's a couple of the videos that popped up on YouTube tonight, one from inside the hall and the other from outside as the angry right-wing mob tries to storm the meeting hall after it was filled to capacity. This sort of nonsense is only going to escalate over the next month, so buckle your seat belts.