The GOP has embarrassed itself once more. How can they actively promote an event like their tea party/anti health care protest in DC and watch silently as disgusting signs and insane wackos fill their ranks? Well, it's easy to do when you have Rep. Michele Bachmann telling the teabaggers to "scare" her colleagues into voting against health care reform during this "Super Bowl of Freedom." I mean, come on. First of all she should be arrested for actively promoting this type of hatred form a current member of Congress and can she at least come up with a name that's not as ridiculous as she is?

OK, that's asking too much.

In a conference call Wednesday night with bloggers and activists for the advocacy group Americans for Prosperity, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) called on protesters to “scare” members of Congress into killing the proposed health care reform bill.

If the protesters succeed in scaring lawmakers, Bachmann said that it could cripple efforts to restructure health care for a decade.

“Nothing scares members of Congress more than freedom-loving Americans,” Bachmann said.

She said that members were frightened by the August town hall meetings, but “then they came back to Washington, and they got back in the bubble and Speaker Pelosi put the hammer down on the Democrats.”

Rep. Todd Akin is also one of those special kinds of idiots that occupy the rank and file tea party and he led the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance because the word "God," just drives us all crazy. I guess he doesn't understand history very well because the original "Pledge of Allegiance" never had the word "God" in it at all, but nothing is allowed to interfere with their conservative/religious talking points.

At the Capitol Hill Tea Party just now, Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) stepped up to lead the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance -- which he said drives the liberals crazy.

"And so as we now renew our commitment to the Red, White and Blue, let us with boldness proclaim the fact that we are one nation under God," said Akin. "It is altogether fitting that we should do this -- and it drives the liberals crazy."

The crowd laughed, and joined Akin in the Pledge, with a genuine shout given to the key words, "...one nation, UNDER GOD, with liberty..."

And no matter what Eric Cantor says, signs that use images of Holocaust victims are just sick and were not planted by anyone but his own. Has he not seen even one teabagger protest? My God, (I used the bad word) that's the norm at these astroturfed gatherings.
And our pal Dana Milbank fills us in even more.

Many of the demonstrators chanted "Weasel Queen," their pet name for the speaker of the House. Others wore masks of Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.); they were covered in fake blood and carrying dolls representing aborted fetuses, as the Grim Reaper led them in chains to hell.

In the front of the protest, a sign showed President Obama in white coat, his face painted to look like the Joker. The sign, visible to the lawmakers as they looked into the cameras, carried a plea to "Stop Obamunism." A few steps farther was the guy holding a sign announcing "Obama takes his orders from the Rothchilds" [sic], accusing Obama of being part of a Jewish plot to introduce the antichrist.

But the best of Bachmann's recruits were a few rows into the crowd, holding aloft a pair of 5-by-8-foot banners proclaiming "National Socialist Healthcare, Dachau, Germany, 1945." Both banners showed close-up photographs of Holocaust victims, many of them children.

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Looks like American's for Prosperity's Tim Phillips has resorted to hiring some cheap help with their tour bashing the Employee Free Choice Act. Who better than Mr. Fake Plumber Joe Wurzelbacher? I guess these guys couldn't find any real plumbers to go out there and attack unions. From KDKA Pittsburgh:

'Joe The Plumber' Speaks In Green Tree

Samuel Joseph Wuerzelbacher was there to rally against the Employee Free Choice Act – a bill that's supposed to make it easier for unions to organize.

Some local unions organized against Joe at the event.

President Obama supports the Employee Free Choice act.

It appears to be dead for now in Congress due to opposition from Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter.

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Rachel had an extended segment with America For Prosperity (AFP)'s Tim Phillips tonight. AFP is yet another of those 501 organizations on the right funded by the insanely wealthy, founded for no specific purpose other than keeping taxes as low as possible and government out of their day-to-day activities as much as possible. The amorphous nature of the group means they can quickly adapt to whatever issues are popular at the moment and likely to draw the most cash donations. Mostly though they're a tool of a the Republican Party. The past president of AFP went straight from Koch Industries to the AFP, and then onto the McCain campaign as a spokeperson, Nancy Pfotenhauer. Enter Tim Phillips.

Prior to becoming the AFP President Phillips main claims to fame were as a political operative, with connections to Ralph Reed and Jack Abramoff. Phillips was instrumental in the infamous Max Cleland-Saxby Chambliss race for Senate in 2002, often described as one of the dirtiest campaigns ever. Since becoming president of AFP they've been involved in every conservative cause, from drilling on ANWR in Alaska and denying Global warming; to helping organize the Tea Party movement (along with Dick Armey's Koch-sponsored sister group Freedom Works); to now taking an active role in opposing health care reform under the "Patients United Now" ad campaign, with one of them the infamous Shona Holmes ads. Phillips makes regular appearances on all the cable news networks but especially Fox News, of course. His "aw shucks" manner plays well there and he's fairly adept at denying the reality of his work as some homespun, grassroots organization when it is anything but. Phillips is among the slimiest of this faux movement, and Rachel rightly calls him out on his foul history.

A larger quote is below this one but here is a snippet of the exchange where Rachel tells Philips what she thinks of him and his kind.

Maddow: I just want to know who you are and I want America to know.

Phillips: Sure.

Maddow: And I have to tell you—because we’re making this about you and me is that I personally think that you and the folks who do what you do are a parasite who gets fat on Americans’ fears. And I hope that…

Phillips: That’s very hurtful and disappointing…

Maddow: I know…

Phillips: You certainly have a right to say that and it’s wrong.

Maddow: And I know that sounds hurtful. That’s why I paused before I said it but I want…

Phillips: And you’re wrong and you’re disparaging a lot of Americans who are out there fighting the good fight Rachel.

Maddow: But I want—I want…no. It’s different.

Phillips: Sure you are.

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Conservatives are so against President Obama that they actually hoped America would lose the 2016 bid for the Olympics. That would have been a huge stimulus package, but Republicans show their true colors about job creation for their own country.

Americans For Prosperity show their hatred for America.

During the Americans For Prosperity's "Defending the American Dream Summit," blogger Emily Marie Zanotti of American Princess interrupted a discussion about engaging the right online to announce that Chicago was out of the running -- and the room erupted in applause.

"If anyone cares, Chicago is out," Zanotti said. When the crowd asked what happened, she said, "The very first vote, they did not have any chance at even negotiating. They were out on the first vote." That news was met with more cheers and high-fives.

The Weekly Standard also embarrassed their publication with this one.

Soon after news broke that the International Olympic Committee had rejected Chicago’s bid to host the 2016 Olympics, which President Obama had personally lobbied for, Weekly Standard blogger John McCormack published a celebratory post on the magazine’s blog, titled “Chicago Loses! Chicago Loses!.” McCormack wrote that “Cheers erupt at WEEKLY STANDARD world headquarters.
--
But the post has now been changed. The reference to cheers have been removed and the title has been shortened to a non-exclamatory “Chicago Loses.” The current post neither acknowledges nor explains the changes that were made.

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Rep. Alan Grayson had to remind the Republicans that they need to remember what country they live in.

"Someone should remind them what team they're really on"

And the money keeps coming in for Rep. Grayson.

Satirical group "Billionaires for Wealthcare" mingle with conservative protesters at a recent town hall rally.

Via Greg Sargent, the news that the right wing "wealthcare" group Americans for Prosperity is kicking into high gear to get Ben Nelson to stymie healthcare reform:

The calls, which were confirmed to me by AFP’s spokesperson, are being conducted by live operators reading from a script. But the effect is the same as a robocall; recipients receive the calls whether they want to or not.

“Senator Ben Nelson is playing an important role in this debate,” the call says, according to a script provided to me by AFP after I was tipped off to the call. “Would you be willing to call Senator Ben Nelson and tell him to vote for the filibuster and kill the health care bill?”

If the caller responds affirmatively, the operator recites a number for one of Nelson’s district offices. “Please tell Senator Ben Nelson to vote for the Filibuster and kill the health care bill,” the call continues. “Can I confirm that you will make this call within the hour?”

Nelson has refused to rule out joining GOP filibusters on major legislation, though he’s also suggested he probably won’t filibuster on health care. The call is a sign that anti-reform forces still view Nelson, who has refused to back a public option, as a potential ally with Republicans in the quest to “kill” reform.

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As if she's not creepy enough with some normal lighting, Michelle Bachmann was another victim of a video screen being filmed in low light at the Right Online bloggers conference. I always thought Michelle might be from another planet. She looked like she was broadcasting from one here.

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Countdown's Worst Persons for August 19, 2009 with winner Rush Limbaugh. Runners up Bill Sammon and Bill Hemmer and ABC News.

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Mike Pence with some unfortunate lighting at the Right Online right wing bloggers conference, decrying liberalism for all that's wrong with the United States in the land of Mike Pence's brain. So nice to see Pence is still complaining about that stimulus bill he says didn't work, but wanted more of for his state.

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John Fund at Americans for Prosperity's Right Online Conference cites Nate Silver's predictions for 2010, and the possibility of the Democrats losing 20-50 seats in the House. Nate talked about this with Ron Reagan Jr. on his radio show the other day and wrote about it at his blog Likely Voters and Unlikely Scenarios where he qualifies his predictions with this:

Is it possible that the electorate which is voting in November 2010 will be so down on the Democrats that they trust Republicans more on issues like these? Sure, it is possible -- if the enthusiasm gap is wide enough, if Obama's approval is low enough, if the health care debate has been bungled enough, and if the economy is still hemorrhaging jobs. But I'd consider it something of a worst-case scenario. That's probably the best way to regard these Rasmussen polls for the time being.

So maybe not quite as doom and gloom as Fund is making it out to be. As for the rest of his nonsense, well that's another matter. Fund goes on to claim that the Democrats' problem is they don't know how to govern as moderates. Heh. That's rich. Yeah, here we are again as Fund says, but not because the Democrats are governing from the left, but because they're governing as triangulating corporate "centrists".

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Rachel Maddow exposes the monied interests pretending to be "average Americans" who are fueling the outrage at these "town halls gone wild". First up, Recess Rally, sponsored by Michelle Malkin, Smart Girl Politics, Redstate, but also American Majority, and as Rachel points out, this group is hardly made up of average Americans even though they tout themselves as being a non-profit, non-partisan organization.

The people behind American Majority; Ned Ryun, former George W. Bush speech writer, Lonny Leitner, Regional Field Director for Bush/Cheney '04, Shari Weber, former Republican State Legislator, Matt Pinnell, a former Washington conservative lobbyist.

Rachel notes that American Majority is an offshoot of another Recess Rally sponsor, The Sam Adams Alliance. Their President, John Tsarpalas, former Executive Director of the Illinois State Republican party, their Director, Joseph Lehman, former Dow Chemicals engineer and president of the nation's largest conservative state level policy think tank.

Another sponsor of Recess Rally, Let Freedom Ring. Their founder, the money man behind the television ad exploiting 9-11 to promote the Iraq invasion. Another sponsor, the swift boaters.

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Rachel Maddow reports on the "town halls gone wild" that industry backed astroturf groups like Americans for Prosperity are involved in disrupting.

Maddow: This is orchestrated outrage. There is a script for this stuff that was written before these events happened and that appears to be instructions to people to shut down these efforts at civic discourse. The web site Think Progress obtained a leaked memo from a group that calls itself Right Principles. The three page memo details how protesters should behave at town hall events.

Under the heading "Inside the Hall" it says:

You need to rock-the-boat early in the Rep's presentation, Watch for an opportunity to yell out and challenge the Rep's statements early. If he blames Bush for something or offers other excuses -- call him on it, yell back and have someone else tallow-up with a shout-out. The goal is to rattle him.

When the formal Q&A session begins get all your hands up and keep them up.... The balance of the group should applaud when the question is asked, further putting the Rep on the defensive.

Who's giving these rent-a-mob instructions like this? Well that memo was written by a man named Bob MacGuffie. Bob McGuffie is associated with an organization called Freedom Works. Freedom Works is a Washington DC lobbying firm, run by former Republican Majority leader Dick Armey.

Corporate lobbyists are organizing far right hooligan tactics to disrupt civic meetings about health care reform. This is the organized use of intimidation as a political tool in the United States, and I don't mean intimidation euphemistically. I mean literal intimidation.

New York Congressman Tim Bishop who we showed you earlier. He ended up having to be escorted to his car by five police officers for his own safety after his town hall event was over.

And this type of harassment is not just reserved for elected officials.

[.....]

This type of tactic, this type of intimidation is a deliberate choice. And it appears to be stoked and organized by corporate lobbyists. And it is not something that is happening in a vacuum.

[.....]

This is well paid lobbyists doing this as a strategy. It's the same thing with the deathers. These scare your grandmother myths that the whole point of health care reform is secretly to kill old people. This patently, patently false rumor about health care reform as we talked about earlier on this show was started by a woman who sits on the board of directors of one of the nations biggest medical device companies.

Everybody says well politics ain't beanbags. Right. Obviously this is not beanbags. But this isn't hardball either, no offense to Chris. This just isn't even politics. This is orchestrated, mob mentality intimidation. This is called hooliganism.

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We noticed the other day that tea partiers are being organized into a campaign of disruption and intimidation at health-care forums. As Politico reports, the disruptions at town halls are becoming quite common.

It turns out that, as Lee Fang at Think Progress reports, the disruptions are being carefully planned by teabaggers:

This growing phenomenon is often marked by violence and absurdity. Recently, right-wing demonstrators hung Rep. Frank Kratovil (D-MD) in effigy outside of his office. Missing from the reporting of these stories is the fact that much of these protests are coordinated by public relations firms and lobbyists who have a stake in opposing President Obama’s reforms.

The lobbyist-run groups Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks, which orchestrated the anti-Obama tea parties earlier this year, are now pursuing an aggressive strategy to create an image of mass public opposition to health care and clean energy reform. A leaked memo from Bob MacGuffie, a volunteer with the FreedomWorks website Tea Party Patriots, details how members should be infiltrating town halls and harassing Democratic members of Congress.

Some of the advice being dispensed to teabaggers:

– Artificially Inflate Your Numbers: “Spread out in the hall and try to be in the front half. The objective is to put the Rep on the defensive with your questions and follow-up. The Rep should be made to feel that a majority, and if not, a significant portion of at least the audience, opposes the socialist agenda of Washington.”

– Be Disruptive Early And Often: “You need to rock-the-boat early in the Rep’s presentation, Watch for an opportunity to yell out and challenge the Rep’s statements early.”

– Try To “Rattle Him,” Not Have An Intelligent Debate: “The goal is to rattle him, get him off his prepared script and agenda. If he says something outrageous, stand up and shout out and sit right back down. Look for these opportunities before he even takes questions.”

That's right: We wouldn't want an intelligent debate, would we? Because God knows what kind of horrible things might result if Americans were thoughtfully informed. Certainly the conservative agenda would not be realized.

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