GOP Response To Town Hall Backlash: Ban Recording Devices And Censor Citizen Journalists

The premier political story of the past few months has been the Republican plan to dismantle Medicare and the resulting voter backlash. In town halls across the country, voters are expressing their anger at the GOP priorities of ending Medicare, extending tax breaks for the wealthy, and protecting subsidies for oil companies.

ThinkProgress has reported extensively from town halls in Florida, Wisconsin, Arizona, and elsewhere. In addition, citizen journalists have attended town halls and reported about them online, allowing others who couldn’t attend in person to see the event.

However, some congressmen are concerned about what could happen if citizen journalists repost their town halls on the Internet. At least two members of Congress have taken extraordinary measures to shut down the spread of information. ThinkProgress readers passed along the following photos, taken outside town halls held by Rep. Lou Barletta (R-PA) and Rep. Joe Heck (R-NV). Barletta specifically barred citizen journalists and other non-credentialed media from recording the event, while Heck took a more encompassing approach of “no recording devices” at all:

http://thinkprogress.org/?p=168304

and you are just going to make them and others try harder. Its going to be all the worst when video from their "town hall" meetings gets on the internet now.

The Repubs had no problems with that as I recall when they took them to Democratic town halls. But hey, RECORDING DEVICES at a PUBLIC meeting??? Hell no!!!! The Repubs must be getting REALLY desperate!!!

that can store a whole lot of information for later recall. No camera or recording equipment is necessary. The story will still get out.

Video is worth a whole lot more, it gets people in a visceral place that mere words usually don't.

Footage of being thrown out for it will do just as much damage.

how well would that have gone over?

Anyway, smart phones are going to make that pretty impossible right?

and shout "Heil Ryan" to get in, I suppose. :eyes:

What bottom-dwelling, rabid, fascist shitweasels. :grr:

Dems weren't allowed in during *'s years. Has that changed? Or do we still have to sneak in?

Seriously? Not the progressive civil liberties crowd, we all know where we stand on this, but where are the libertarians? Shouldn't they be screaming up a storm? Or is stomping on protest and getting the information out just useful for getting rid of that big ole bad guvmint program of medicaid?

Democrats are naive in this respect. Lack of such a precaution allowed single astroturf teabaggers to effectively shut down Democrats' town hall meetings.