Shame on the Democratic Party of Iowa!

Chuck “snake in the” Grassley is no stranger to controversial town halls.   Who can forget how, in the summer of 2009, Grassley bragged to his constituents about stalling health care reform, while pretending to negotiate in good faith. At a recent town hall meeting, a small group of activists confronted Grassley about Republican plans to do away with Social Security. The Democratic Party of Iowa believed the lies perpetrated by Grassley and a Republican hack. They condemned the demonstrators without checking the facts. Shame on them!

The Iowa Democratic Party is denouncing confrontational tactics that a liberal activist group has been using against politicians of both parties.

Democratic Party Chairwoman Sue Dvorsky today distanced her party from the tactics of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, whose recent antics have included heckling a Republican presidential candidate and a national Democratic party leader at the State Fair and reportedly trying to obstruct an event this week by Sen. Charles Grassley, who is an Iowa Republican.

“The behavior of Iowa CCI is unproductive, embarrassing, and has no place in a serious debate,” Dvorsky said in a press release. “Yes, we should be working to protect Social Security, doing everything to keep our air and water clean, and ask our elected officials tough questions. Unfortunately, this group has become less focused on results and more focused on creating chaos that gets their name in the paper.

“Iowa CCI is doing a disservice to the state, to true progressive values, and to their members who signed up to make a difference and change our state for the better. Instead of bragging about ‘crashing’ a town hall, designed to give citizens a forum to discuss their concerns, they could be educating Iowans about what’s really at stake and actually make a difference.

“It’s unfortunate that they continue to mistake screaming for persuasion and embarrass themselves in this manner.”…

…This week, the group reportedly disrupted a town hall meeting organized by Sen. Charles Grassley in Carroll. Douglas Burns, a columnist for the Daily Times Herald in Carroll, decried the tactics [Republican hack delinked]. “Not content to interrupt and hurl insults at the senator during the public forum, the mob that is Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement crowded Grassley, 77, in the hallway, blocking his entrance to a post-event media interview, and later, used physicality to prevent his clear passage from New Hope to a car,” Burns wrote. “It was shameful, hateful and, most of all, dangerous.”

Monday evening, the group bragged about its tactics in a press release, titled ”Farmers, seniors crash Grassley townhall.”

Here is how the press release described what happened: “The group took over the townhall meeting and, for over an hour, demanded that the senator renounce his vote and pledge not to cut Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid. … Grassley avoided directly answering our questions and when we confronted him after the meeting ended, he left as quickly as he could. … He definitely heard our ‘put people first’ message loud and clear.”

This afternoon, Matthew Covington, a CCI organizer, denied the members did anything inappropriate. “They issued demands, but they did it in a very appropriate manner,” he said. “It was very civil.”

He described Dvorsky’s press release as “fun stuff,” and said it was surprising that she denounced behavior she didn’t witness… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Desmoines Register>

I took a look at other articles by Douglas Burns, and he is highly partisan, favoring the Republican party.  I can relate to that, as I’m highly partisan too.  The difference is that I work with the facts that are there.  In typical Republican fashion, he does not.  To call him a Republican hack is an understatement.  His portrayal of this town hall is not accurate, but don’t take my word for it.  Take a look at these “shameful, hateful, and most of all, dangerous” people yourself.

I found myself particularly afraid of the little old lady with curly hair and glasses.  This video was embedded in the original article.  It is not an edited version provided by the protesters.  If you click through you’ll fond another video, over an hour long, that covers the entire event.

Sue Dvorsky and the Democratic Party of Iowa owe these good people an apology.