Heinrich Sets Health Care Town Hall; New Mexico Teabaggers Urging Violence, Guns?

As you've probably heard, Rep. Martin Heinrich (NM-01) will host another town hall meeting on the critical issue of health care reform with constituents in the First Congressional District during the August recess. Rep. Heinrich's Health Care Reform Town Hall is set for Saturday, August 22, 2009, from 3:00 to 4:30 PM at the UNM Continuing Education Building located at 1634 University Blvd. NE in Albuquerque (map).

We were hoping that a large turnout of Dems and others interested in pursuing a civil dialogue on health care reform would ensure a productive exchange of ideas, and provide a much-needed opportunity to get answers to our questions. Tragically, it appears that the worst elements of the right-wing assault on civic participation are planning something very different. And dangerous.

Somebody who goes by the name of ScottEO on Twitter has been Tweeting a number of threatening messages about targeting SEIU and ACORN if they show up at town halls. On his Twitter account, ScottEO claims to be located in Albuquerque and lists his name as Scott Oskay. He says this about himself in his bio: "Secret Alter Ego of Captain Obvious, Formerly of Cleveland, Denver, and New Orleans, Libertarian." You can see Oskay's Facebook page here.

Here's a recent screen capture of his page:

Click image for larger version

At the very least, ScottEO's comments constitute violent, disturbing hate speech:

If ACORN/SEIU attends these townhalls for disruption, stop being peaceful, and hurt them. Badly #iamthemob
11 minutes ago from TweetDeck

If ACORN/SEIU attends these meetings for disruptive purposes, and you have a license to carry....carry. [emphasis mine]
12 minutes ago from TweetDeck

if ACORN/SEIU attends these townhalls, take pictures of them, and of their license plates on anticipation of disruption. #iamthemob #tlot
13 minutes ago

Or how about this one:

If ACORN/SEIU attends, remind them that your target is centralized, while you and your allies, are not. #iamthemob #tlot
about 1 hour ago from TweetDeck

If this isn't crossing the line from political criticism into murderous threats, what is? Of course Mr. Oskay could just be goofing around or showing off but -- in the current climate of GOP-fed rage -- his comments are clearly inflammatory and reckless.

As we've seen in the numerous reports emanating from town halls organized by Dem members of Congress around the country, the mob mentality and behavior of teabagger types appears to be taking a more violent and disruptive path with each passing day. This isn't about having a healthy debate or exercising one's First Amendment rights -- it's becoming a dangerous form of intimidation that could easily erupt into something much worse. Unfortunately, GOP operatives and even Republican members of Congress seem to be condoning the behavior.

Just today, Brian Colón, Chair of the Democratic Party of New Mexico, felt compelled to issue a strong statement critical of the escalating hooliganism of the right-wing mobs and their GOP and allied right-wing backers:

Throughout the summer, we have been reaching out to New Mexicans to engage in an important debate on the future our health care system. We have heard story after story from people who are struggling to get the care they need.

Recently, their thoughtful discussions are being interrupted by angry mobs - well funded and organized by K Street Lobbyists - attempting to drown out the voices of the hard-working New Mexicans who are desperate for health insurance reform. These groups are not concerned about Americans' access to quality heath care, but are extreme ideologues, only interested in 'breaking' the President and thwarting the change Americans voted for last November.

In the last three years the Republican Party has lost control of the House, the Senate and the White House because they have offered no ideas and no solutions. Now, these well funded right-wing groups are following the example of the Republican Party and instead of providing real ideas for fixing our broken health care system, they're doing everything they can to drown out thoughtful discussion and spread vicious and hateful lies. Their desperate behavior does nothing to help their cause, New Mexicans or our country.

"Despite their threatening tactics, we will continue our work to give a voice to the majority of New Mexicans who believe that all Americans should have access to quality, affordable health care.

And this statement was issued before anyone was aware of ScottEO's alarming statements on Twitter today.

If you follow the Twitter hashtags #iamthemob and #tlot used by ScottEO, you'll quickly see that he's not alone in encouraging paranoia, violence and disorder. There's more at #tcot and #teaparty.

Isn't it time to call upon the Republican Party of New Mexico, the RNC and Republican members of Congress to speak out against the mob behavior and intensifying climate of violence they are helping to create? This menacing phenomenon needs to be reined in by those who have encouraged it -- before incidents of hanging members of Congress in effigy become something much worse.

For more on the growing thuggishness of the right-wing provocateurs, check out these posts at New Mexico FBIHOP: and .