Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

'Racial Anxiety' Fuels Town Hall Protesters

By Jason Farago, Newser Staff

Posted Aug 7, 2009 8:30 AM CDT

(Newser) – The mob-like scenes at recent town halls are "something new and ugly," writes Paul Krugman, who notes that 2005's protests against Social Security privatization never saw baying crowds and congressmen hanged in effigy. The New York Times columnist is unconvinced that the mobs are in the pay of well-organized conservative groups. Rather, they're genuinely angry—and are nursing "the same cultural and racial anxiety that's behind the birther movement."

One telling recent incident saw an activist take over a town hall to ask if they oppose "socialized or government-run health care"—yet a good half of those who said yes then admitted they were already on (publicly funded) Medicare. These voters have the same indifference to truth that the birthers exhibit, and Barack Obama needs to be careful. His election turns out not to have ended America's "angry white voter era," and if the right can keep channeling racial hatred, "health care reform may well fail."

[Images (2)]

[Quotes (2)]

President Barack Obama speaks during a town hall meeting on health care in a Kroger grocery store produce section in Bristol, Va., Wednesday, July 29, 2009. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

People holds signs as President Barack Obama's motorcade drives by en route to a town hall on health care reform, Wednesday, July 29, 2009, at Broughton High School in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

We don’t know how many of the protesters are birthers, but it wouldn’t be surprising if it’s a substantial fraction. And cynical political operators are exploiting that anxiety to further the economic interests of their backers. -

Right now Mr. Obama’s backers seem to lack all conviction, perhaps because the prosaic reality of his administration isn’t living up to their dreams of transformation. Meanwhile, the angry right is filled with a passionate intensity. -

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

To report an error on this story, notify our editors.

OTHER STORIES ON OUR RADAR

AP Photo

35 Brutally Honest Reasons Men Say No to Sex (The Stir)

Which Entertainer Pulled Out of 'Inappropriate' Whitney Tribute? (NewsOne)

The French Government Wants to Tone My Vagina (Slate)

Obama Photo on Facebook Helps Catch Drug Dealer (HuffPost)

Hottest Women to Ever Appear in the SI Swimsuit Issue (Bleacher Report)

Partner Links

A snapshot of the day's best news stories.

View Larger Grid

All Today Yesterday Pick a Date

COMMENTS

Read the comment policy

Showing 3 of 29 comments

BackAgain

Aug 11, 2009 3:46 AM CDT

A protest has special rules to valid or grass roots? Tea party ring a bell? peaceable? do not come if you do not like it. Go have you leftist "bipartisan" inclusive, hope filled town hall somewhere else. Oh wait you do that now in the main stream media sorry.

ChickenChopper

Aug 8, 2009 11:20 AM CDT

hey jam-moronican...YOU ALREADY PAY TAXES FOR ALL THAT SHIT

lonewolf17

Aug 8, 2009 6:16 AM CDT

I don't see why opponents of healthcare reform don't just look north, at Canada. We have an even more socialized healthcare system than Obama is even proposing...yet we have one of the best healthcare systems in the world, AND you don't see our standard of living driven down by taxes - in fact, despite our higher taxes we still have a higher than average standard of living....So, I think the cons are missing something here

What's Popular Now on Facebook

Rick Santorum: Birth Control Is 'Not OK'

Valentine's Day Role-Playing Goes Very Wrong

New York Times (Source Grid »)

Politics • Health • US

health care • Barack Obama • Medicare • health care reform • Paul Krugman • town hall meeting • racial tension • AstroTurf • birther

More Newser Stories

Dummy Firms Squeeze Millions From Medicare

Fraud-fighters finding it hard to stay ahead of shell companies

(NEWSER) - Fraudsters using complicated networks of ghost companies are sucking hundreds of millions of dollars out of Medicare every year and it's a bit like taking candy from a baby, a Reuters investigation finds. The probe—which officials say will likely lead to a criminal investigation of the firms involved—found that the "companies" of many Medicare providers are registered to nonexistent addresses, or the addresses of abandoned buildings. The thieves use stolen doctor and patient data to bill Medicare for as much money as possible in a short time. More»

On Way Out, Medicare Boss Bashes 'Extreme' Waste

Donald Berwick says 20-30% of health care spending helps no one

(NEWSER) - Between 20% and 30% of all US health care spending is pure “waste,” according to departing Medicare and Medicaid chief Donald Berwick. “Much is done that does not help patients at all, and many physicians know it,” Berwick said in an interview with the New York Times on Thursday, his last day on the job. He cited overtreatment of patients, the failure to coordinate care, complex administrative systems, burdensome regulations, and fraud as the main reasons for the “extremely high level of waste.” More»

Romney's Health Plan: The New 'Public Option'

Mitt's approach to Medicare looks a lot like Dems' original proposition: Ezra Klein

(NEWSER) - He wouldn’t put it this way, but Mitt Romney’s newly unveiled health care plan effectively offers the public option Republicans so opposed in 2009. Romney proposes providing seniors an as-yet-undetermined lump sum to pay either for Medicare or one of many private health plans. This could take his party “in an awkward direction,” writes Ezra Klein in the Washington Post : Passage of the plan would prompt calls to open it to “younger and younger Americans.” More»

Book Scuttles Obama's Health Care Story

His mother had health insurance when she died, and it paid up

(NEWSER) - A recent book on President Obama’s mother undermines his oft-told story that his mother spent the final years of her life battling insurance companies over her medical bills. The book, by New York Times reporter Janny Scott, reveals that Ann Dunham actually had health insurance that readily paid her claims. She did have a dispute, but it was with her disability insurance, the Times reports. And Obama must have known that, because in one letter she turns the case over to “my son and attorney, Barack Obama.” More»

Actually, We Need More Medicare

Lieberman's plan to raise eligibility to 67 would mean huge costs

(NEWSER) - Joe Lieberman’s proposal to raise Medicare eligibility to age 67 is proof that we’ve really “gone off the rails,” writes Paul Krugman in the New York Times . Really, we should be doing the opposite: extending Medicare, because it “actually saves money—a lot of money—compared with relying on private insurance companies.” Sure, Medicare spending per beneficiary, adjusted for inflation, has shot up more than 400% since 1969—but private health insurance premiums, also adjusted for inflation, have soared 700% in the same span. More»

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

What is Newser?

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most thought-provoking and entertaining stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »

Partnering with: Slate

View Newser on the mobile website