babbling blue

From two separate “30 Best Burgers in Chicago” lists, these are the places I want to try, in no particular order. Anything marked with an asterisk(*) appears on both lists; these places are top priority to try.

• Marc Burger* at Seven on State
• HotChocolate*
• Kuma’s Corner*
• Custom House
• Naha*
• David Burke’s Primehouse*
• Bull & Bear – I’ve had their Kobe beef sliders at a Yelp event, and they were amazing!
• The Capital Grille

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And so it continues. I mentioned the craziness that the anti-healthcare reformers are using to stifle debate on the issue a few days ago. And it doesn’t show any signs of letting up.

The bullshit continues, and escalates.

Rep. Brad Miller (D-NC) will not be hosting any town hall events this August — instead, he’s making himself available to constituents for one-on-one meetings about health care reform — and at least part of the reason is this: His offices have received threatening phone calls, including at least one direct threat against his life.

A fistfight broke out at a Tampa, FL town hall, prompting police to close off the meeting room.

Death threats and fistfights? This is a complex issue; it’s not black or white. There isn’t an obvious right or wrong answer. It’s something that needs to be discussed, and that’s not happening because of these people. One town hall attendee stated: “They think they’re exercising their right to free speech, but they’re only exercising their right to disrupt civil discourse.”

And finally, from another raucous town hall meeting comes this very sad tidbit:

During the town hall, one conservative activist turns to his fellow attendees and asks them to raise their hands if they “oppose any form of socialized or government-run health care.” Almost all the hands shot up. Rep Green quickly turned the question on the audience and asked, “How many of you have Medicare?” Nearly half the attendees raised their hands, failing to note the irony.

Coming this Fall, from FOX: “When Trees Attack!”

I think the lesson here is to stay out of big parks.

My condolences to the friends and family of the victim for their loss.

What do I think about Obama’s health care reforms? I don’t know, really. I haven’t had a chance to properly study the matter. I think that a public health insurance option–and getting uninsured people on insurance–is ultimately a good thing, but I can’t speak to the specific details of the Obama plan.

What I can speak to is the “impromptu” mobs that are cropping up at town hall meetings and similar settings around the country. As it turns out, these impromptu mobs aren’t impromptu, but are rallied by national conservative and industry groups.

It wouldn’t be as big of a deal if they were just sending people to contribute to the discussions and speak their piece. But they are encouraging people to be loud and disruptive. This prevents any real discussion from taking place. It’s OK to disagree. It’s not OK to stifle debate with pseudo-grassroots brute force.

Screaming constituents, protesters dragged out by the cops, congressmen fearful for their safety — welcome to the new town-hall-style meeting, the once-staid forum that is rapidly turning into a house of horrors for members of Congress.

(Politico)

The tactics are repugnant. At one rally a congressman was hung in effigy.

All this to try to give the impression that ordinary Americans are mad as hell, and not gonna take it anymore. This editorial claims it’s good that Rep. Tim Bishop was barely able to get a word in at his town hall meeting–and then goes on to lambaste single payer health insurance.

This irresponsible behavior is not only preventing useful discussion on the health care issue, but it may also prevent constituents from being heard on other issues as well:

In at least one case, a congressman has stopped holding town hall events because the situation has spiraled so far out of control.

“I had felt they would be pointless,” Rep. Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.) told POLITICO, referring to his recent decision to temporarily suspend the events in his Long Island district. “There is no point in meeting with my constituents and [to] listen to them and have them listen to you if what is basically an unruly mob prevents you from having an intelligent conversation.”

This after police were called in to escort him safely to his car after a town hall meeting ran amok.

Here are a few good editorials on the topic:
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Kansas City Star
The Washington Post