Conservative organizations have been organizing their followers to attend and disrupt the town hall meetings that Congressional members have been holding in their districts. A list of instructions has been written, giving protesters a set of helpful hints on disrupting the speaker and preventing the speaker from giving his message to the audience.
In the past, many protesters have held meetings at which the protesters gave speeches that presented their own messages. In the past, some protesters attended their opponents' speeches and held up protest signs to indicate their disagreement. But this new technique is intended to PREVENT the opponent from giving his message. Instead of providing an additional, alternative viewpoint, this technique is intended to stop the discussion and silence the opposition.
People who have organized other protests have learned that it is difficult to recruit large numbers of people to join protests. Only highly motivated people join political protests. Why are large numbers of people so highly motivated to join a protest movement against health insurance reform?
I think that part of the motivation is that corporations with vested interest in the status quo, such as insurance companies and pharmaceutical corporations, have spent millions of dollars to advertise opposing arguments to the public; and they have also paid millions of dollars in campaign contributions to politicians.
But I think that part of the opposition to health insurance reform is actually just anti-Obama hatred. Senator DeMint said that the health insurance issue could be Obama's Waterloo.
Conservatives have always disliked liberals; but in 2009, the conservatives have been especially angry.
Who are these new protesters? I have seen these protests in Arkansas, Florida, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Texas. In the news videos, most of the protesters are middle-aged, and some are elderly.
All of them are white.
I believe that the this new, higher level of conservative anger is largely fueled by white racism. These conservatives would be unhappy with any Democratic president, but they are particularly angry and unwilling to accept the legitimacy of Barack Obama's presidency because Obama is half African-American. These protesters are actually the people who are unhappy about the outcome of the Civil War.
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