Talking Points Memo:
Tea Baggers are hoping for a literal "riot" at an upcoming town hall event, in order to create a spectacle for CNBC's cameras. And the event will be hosted by a Democratic congressman who this week had a swastika painted on a sign outside his district office.
Yesterday, Tea Party Patriots national coordinator Jenny Beth Martin sent an email, obtained by TPMmuckraker, to a Tea Party google group. Martin told the group: "We have a media request for an event this week that will have lots of energy and lots of anger. This is for CNBC."
She then asked: "So, where are the big events this week and where can TPP best be represented on the news?"
Later that day, a Tea Bagger named Pat Wayman responded with a suggestion, also obtained by TPMmuckraker: "This one should be a riot! literally..." he wrote.
Wayman emailed info "for an upcoming town hall meeting hosted by Rep. David Scott (D-GA)," noting that "[t]his is the Congressman who got a swastika painted on his office sign last night."
Whether CNBC really asked for an "event" with "lots of energy and lots of anger" is an open question. TPP may be overstating that a bit. And I'm pretty damned sure they're not looking for a literal riot -- what kind of a PR disaster would that be if someone found out they were involved? But it'd be no surprise to me to learn that the blatantly pro-corporate news network is staging events to manufacture headlines.
Still, if CNBC is looking for someone to gin up an "America hates health care reform" story, Tea Party Patriots are their guys. It's an astroturf organization related to FreedomWorks. One of these Tea Party Patriots, Bob MacGuffie, is behind the now-infamous memo instructing mobs on how to dominate town halls and shut down debate:
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... 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 follow-up with a shout-out... The goal is to rattle him...
Do the Tea Party Patriots have hot and cold running energy and anger? Hell, they manufacture it. It's what they're paid to do.
