Last night, I attended Congressman Tom Rooney’s town hall meeting in Stuart, FL. As I walked into the building, someone on the sidewalk shouted, "We need health care now!" He was handing out “Obamacare” material. There was also a nearby group with a professional-grade video camera filming various people's reactions.

Unfortunately for myself and some other attendees, I showed up a little late and couldn't make it inside the building. Over 800 people had lined up two hours early for the forum and the place was filled.

I walked out to the front of the building where I witnessed the same group of people arguing with a middle-aged man from the crowd. One young Obamacare activist in a camouflage shirt (with a thick British accent) kept pressing forward aggressively and even proceeded to shove the older gentleman with whom he was arguing loudly.

It was at this point that I and another attendee, John Fels, stepped in to break up the heated, and potentially physical, confrontation. The Obamacare activist then turned and tried to fight with us. An argument ensued between him and ourselves, complete with the bizarre act of the Obamacare activist turning away for a few moments to give a loud speech for his camera guy nearby. At that point, John and I walked away before the situation escalated, but apparently, the Obamacare activist became even more upset (presumably because we were not fighting with him anymore). He proceeded to come up from behind me, actually spit on me and took off running as fast as he could in the other direction!  The Martin County Sheriff Office’s Deputies pursued him, and finally caught up with him, but not before the Obamacare activist keyed a random car in the parking lot. Needless to say, he was arrested shortly after that.

I should point out that I was not wearing anything that was South Florida Tea Party related, nor was I carrying any signs or distributing any literature. The Obamacare activist group, who later identified themselves as a mix of members of a single-payer/socialized medicine advocacy group as well as ACORN, was not aware of my involvement with the South Florida Tea Party or the fight against the government takeover of our health care system.  It seems they simply wanted to pick a fight with someone and to catch it on camera.

Here is the video:

The plan for Obamacare activists (Moveon.org, DNC, HCAN, etc.) appears to be very simple:

1. Build a team of 5 people.
2. Have one with a video camera.
3. Another person shouting at people to start a fight.
4. The other team members clap and cheer on the "bait" (actual term they used).

 
*Below are a couple of email blasts from the Obamacare proponents. 

Dear MoveOn member,

Your local MoveOn Council is organizing an important event tomorrow in Delray Beach—can you be there? 

We're taking action at events like these because this is a make-or-break moment—right-wing extremists are crashing political events around the country and trying to dominate the public debate over President Obama's agenda. 

We can't let that happen in Delray Beach. Local MoveOn members are making sure Rep. Robert Wexler knows that we're counting on him to support health care reform with a real public health insurance option that will help expand coverage and bring down costs for all of us.

The event is on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2009, at 11:00 AM in Delray Beach. Click here for more details and to RSVP:

Yes, I'll be there on Thursday at 11 a.m.

Sorry, I can't make it.

Location: South County Civic Center 

Here's the description provided by the event host: 

Please join us for an important health care forum with Rep. Wexler and Rep. Meek. Please thank Rep. Wexler for his support of real health care reform and urge Rep. Meek to support a strong public option. Signs and flyers are welcome.

Please note that the actual town hall begins at 1 PM, but we need to arrive at 11 or 11:30 AM in order to secure a seat, get our questions in first, and show our support for a strong public option with signs should the tea-baggers arrive. They tend to strategically come early, so we must come even earlier.

Rep. Wexler needs to hear from his local constituents. Right-wingers are doing everything they can to hijack the debate—they're even using fraudulent tactics, like bringing people who don't live in the district to town halls.¹ That's why we're organizing "Real Voices for Change"—an ambitious campaign to show that the overwhelming majority of Americans continue to support Obama's plans for change. 

We have numbers on our side, but Rep. Wexler won't know it unless we all show up. Coming to this event is a timely and easy way to make sure thoughtful constituents are heard in the public debate over health care. Can you join us on Thursday at 11 a.m.?