Vitter's Town Hall in a Can

There's astroturfing and then there's astroturfing. According Max Blumenthal, Louisiana GOP Sen. David Vitter is positively Owellian in town halls, to the point of making sure they're loaded with happy faces -- by shutting out many of his own constituents.

Unlike his Democratic colleagues who take all comers at their town halls, Vitter has sought to enforce a strict code of message control. According to a citizen journalist attending the August 8 Vitter town hall, “No one was allowed to spontaneously address the podium. There were no questions read that presented anything other than Vitter’s view and those who spoke with him. … Vitter was said to have no time to answer questions from the press.” Indeed, Vitter only responded to questions that were written on cards by audience members and screened in advance by his staffers.

Many of those attending Vitter’s town halls have been shepherded to the events by local chapters of TeaPartyPatriots.org, a supposedly grassroots network of national activists that happens to “partner” with the health-care and insurance industry-funded lobbying firm Freedom Works, which has directed angry mobs to Democratic events. At a town-hall meeting on August 10 in Jefferson Parish, many local constituents were reportedly turned away while Tea Party activists were allowed to enter. When the event concluded, Vitter rushed out of the back door and away from the press and his constituents, guarded by a phalanx of police officers.

No time for questions, just here to pick up the canned applause for my next campaign ad. If you've got a question for Sen. Vitter, you'd better make damned sure it's "Why are you so awesome?" or you're not getting an answer.

This is what passes for democracy on the right, this is what passes for debate. This is why people represented by Republicans are represented so poorly. I suppose there's some comfort in the fact that the people who vote for these phonies get exactly what they deserve, but the rest of us are stuck with these pricks too.

If you want a poster child for what's wrong with our political system, hooker-happy David Vitter is your guy.