Not only did Chris Matthewsinterview the man who had a loaded gun on him (AND PERMISSION FROM THE CHURCH WHERE HE WAS STANDING TO DO SO), but there was an unrelated arrest within the high school where the town  hall meeting occurred.

Police said a man arrested at the scene of President Barack Obama’s visit to the city Tuesday was found to be in possession of an unlicensed loaded gun.
Richard Terry Young, 62, of 821 Ocean Blvd. in Hampton, was arrested around 9:40 a.m., hours before Obama’s arrival, and charged with the misdemeanor crimes of criminal trespass and carrying a loaded pistol without a license.
Young was found inside Portsmouth High School, where Obama later in the day held his town hall-style forum. Young was detained by the Secret Service and subsequently arrested by Portsmouth Lt. Corey MacDonald. Young was carrying a pocket knife, police said. A subsequent search of his vehicle, parked on school property, revealed a loaded hand gun, police said.
Police said Young is being investigated by the Secret Service for possible federal crimes resulting from the same series of events.

“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”Actually, I agree with that comment.  Too bad there were no true patriots (ie. Democrats) ready “defend” America during the Bush years.
If they are freaking now, just wait until Comprehensive Immigration Reform.  

that interview was one of the hottest I’ve ever seen MatthewsHe said
” You showed up at a presidential speaking engagement with a G*D DAMN GUN”

More coverage hereof the protesters.
They appear to have been well represented by “Granite State Patriots”, but it should be noted that Boston WRKO’s Howie Carr (New England’s “Baby Rush Limpbaugh”) had been telling folks to protest during his talk radio show and encouraging people in Massachusetts to attend the NH event.

Across the street from where he works as finance manager for Bournival Jeep, Tony Tripari held a sign reading, “socialism sucks.”
Tripari took the day off from work to protest President Barack Obama’s health care policies at the city’s high school where the president is due to arrive at early to mid Tuesday afternoon for a “town hall” forum to explain his health care solutions. By Tripari’s side was his 6-year-old daughter Alexandra, who held a sign reading, “Will work for deficit.”
“I feel bad for her because she’s going to have to pay Obama’s bill,” said Tripari, who is with the Granite State Patriots. “Obama’s health care quadruples the national deficit in six months. Illegal aliens are getting whatever they want, including free education. I’ll be lucky to get student loans for her.”
Up the Route 1 Bypass a bit stood Bill and Karen Mitchell of New Castle. Bill waved a sign at passing commuters reading, “This is not the Socialist States of America.”
Karen’s read, “Something’s fishy with health care.”
“This is great,” Bill said while scanning a sea of protesters.
Kay Keenan came from Hampton to hold a sign saying she is “proud to be American and part of this mob.”
At 9:50 a.m., bypass businessman and vocal conservative Jack Kimball grabbed a bull horn and led a group of followers alongside the road to the high school chanting slogans opposing the president’s health care plan.
“Wake up America,” he said. “Represent the people.”

I am getting very anxious about Obama mixing in large crowdsI wish he’d stick to the White House, or other very controlled venues, or televised messages.
These motherf*cking ignorant birthers and the slimey sh*t Beck, and Limbaugh, and Malkin are stirring up should be warned. When some tragic shooting of a liberal politician occurs…it’s F*CKING High Noon, Shaft, and Apocolypse blended into one seamless assault.
You are going to raise a spontaneous ARMY against you.

I know!He’s gonna take it in the shorts tomorrow by pearl-clutching conservatives, swooning over the “G-D” card.
Poor babies.

Oh, for the Wayback Machineso we could have seen Dumbya in open forum town halls…
Nah- that would have taken Dr Who’s phone booth or the Star Trek holodeck. Any sort of science fiction mechanism!  

Closing the barn door after the horse is goneIt’s really awfully late for the government to do much about these lunatics.  While the specific focus of their outrage is new, the outrage itself is not, and neither is the way they express it.  What these sociopaths are doing at health care forums does not differ in any significant way from what they’ve been doing at women’s health providers for four decades.  And it will end in the same kind of tragedy.  The tactics are exactly the same; and so are the leaders.
This madness should have been stopped years ago, long before it grew to its present dimensions.  But as long as the terrorists protesters were only harassing women and their doctors, no one in Washington wanted to do a thing to rein them in.  Good heavens!  Stopping them might cost us a few votes!  Don’t even suggest such a thing!
And now this cancer, as some of us always knew it would, has spread so far in the body politic that it may not be operable.  I shudder to think how much damage it will do before it stops. or what awful form it will take.  But our bold “political leaders” were too poltroonish to even consider early treatment for it.  Now they–and we–will pay the price.

How nice he has itTo have his family legally recognized, and be in a position where he CAN take off from work to hold up signs. Neil Abercrombie scheduled all our town halls here for the evening times so people don’t have to choose between not getting paid and getting information.

I hate to say it…………but I really think one of these nutjobs is going to shoot a Democratic politician in the next couple of years….I pray not.

It really appalls me…how these clowns ever got the idea that they are the only Patriots in this country.  Or for that matter, that they are Patriots at all?
They try to shout down freedom of speech.  They threaten to impinge the lives, the liberties, and the pursuits of happiness of anyone who doesn’t espouse their narrow viewpoints.
Patriots, my ass.

Are We Seeing What Could Lead Up To The Killing Season ?Over the past few days, I am growing more and more concerned for the safety of our President.
The carrying on at these Town Hall meetings where “Americans” all but call President Obama the N word, the idiot right-wing broadcasters doing everything they can to whip up the ignorant in their viewer and listenership against Obama and then today, some idiot being allowed to carry a holstered gun on his person, it just seems to me there is a storm coming and it has a very ugly face on it.
At the risk of being “thumped” by some who do when I add a link to some of my commentaries, back in June I wrote one on FOCUS titled The Killing Season, which takes a look at and asks the question no one wants to say out loud.
I’m not an alarmist by nature, but folks, I just don’t like what I’m seeing and hearing across our great Country.
And the fools who are blaming all the ills our Country are going through are all to quick to blame President Obama, when in fact it was Bush and his cronies who put us into this, excuse me, shit hole, with Obama left to try to clean up the crap.
For those who may be interested in my commentary it follows.
http://lgbtrainbowlinksfocus.b…

The purpose of bringing a gun to this town hall…… was to intimidate progressives.
Do we progressives need to carry guns now to protect ourselves from conservatives?
At some point, one of these gun-toting fanatics is going to actually want to use their gun… Lately, I am worried about this all the time.

As a descendant of ImmigrantsThis is highly offensive to me. Granted, my ethnic group is one of the predominant ones where I live, I know my great grandparents put up with the same bullshit prejudices.  

Ballot v BulletThe Southern Poverty Law Center has been concerned about the anti-immigrant rhetoric for a couple years or more.  Their hate monitoring has been full of ominous blips on the radar, and that now applies to the “backlash” attitudes toward election of an African-American (‘er Hawaiian) president.   The electorate has spoken but there are too many crazies ready to challange democracy, because it doesn’t suit their wacko wishes.  They’d rather have a W in office ignoring the Constitution and imposing his personal agenda on the world.

It’s appalling, but not surprising.They got the idea from their leaders and role models.  They were told, quite explicitly, that they and their kind are the only true Americans.  Oh, and that guy who’s in the White House now?  He’s not an American at all.  He’s a Kenyan.  And a Muslim.  And he hangs out with terrorists.  And his middle name’s “Hussein” for the love of God!  What else do you need to know?
This crap was mainstreamed during the last election cycle.  It’s always been there, but it was pushed out to the fringes.  The Republicans gleefully encouraged this violent and hateful sentiment because it was a cheap, easy, and remarkably effective way to get votes.  Guess what?  Now these people are comfortable expressing their hate out in the open because various people with fame and authority blazed the trail for them.
The good news is that this will likely lead to the death of the Republican Party as we know it.  The bad news is, cleaning up the remains will be an ugly job.

Why was this guy given any publicity at all?????I think it was extremely bad judgement for Chris Matthews to have him on at all.  Crazy people who bring loaded guns to a place where the President is going to appear should not be rewarded with 15 minutes of fame in the media.
I suppose if Matthews hadn’t scooped him first, Faux News would have had him on for some hero worship.

ImmigrantsNative Americans like the Navaho must be laughing their asses off at these white people bitching about “Illeagals”…

Couple of years?You’re generous. I give it a few weeks, until the August recess is over and Congress is back in session.

About the Kook Tweety InterviewedI guess I’m of two minds.
On the one hand, I’m glad Tweety had this loon on his show so the American people could see the craven insanity of the radical, rightwing and what the president is up against in Psycho Nation.
But on the other hand, why give him a forum? Now he can run home and chortle to all his friends and family, “Yee haw, I was a guest on the Chris Matthews show. I told those liberals a thing or two.”
I may not be the brightest guy in the world but, I know this much: there is something terribly, terribly wrong with this country. Look at the number of hate groups the Southern Poverty Law Center tracks. Every state contains a fringe group and their numbers are growing.
I am worried.

hard to think that some people around my age actually believethat people have a right to go to a public forum with a concealed weapon. Needless to say it was all started after posting a facebook status criticizing the fact that the “protesters” really have no reason to be disrupting speakers or bringing guns, among other weapons to events where our representatives are at. They found nothing wrong with it. I think the whole 2nd amendment issue has to be reworked. These are really dangerous times and it’s making me really anxious for it to all stop. I’m glad I read so much from these blogs and look outwards a little bit. I was interested by Patricia Nell Warren’s piece on Robert’s Rules. A very good article on order in debate. it’s bullshit what these “protesters” are doing. Protesting isn’t even a word to describe them. Possible terrorists is what they really are. Bringing a gun to a public event and saying that they have a right to tote a concealed weapon id utter crap. I think government officials should really look at them as possibly being terrorists. Tea partyers are really mad hatters.  

He voted for Ron PaulNot a Republican.  Suprising and unpredictable.  Scary.  

the atmosphere for this kind of behavior has been building since the 1980sWhat we’re seeing is the result of decades of a right-wing propaganda empire (talk radio, think tanks/foundations, television programs, newspapers), cynical political strategists, the general decline of civility in society and an increased acceptance of extremism.
I agree that these tactics were tried out first on pro-choice groups, environmental organizations, and the “war on drugs.”  

It’s the mindset of what pass for “broadcast journalists” in America todayEvery “controversy” has two sides, both of which are equally valid and equally deserving of air time.  Never mind that one side might be completely without merit, bogus, deliberately vicious or even actively evil.  Both sides of every issue carry equal weight and have an equal right to air time.  And no, this is not really about the media deliberately stirring up fake “controversies” to increase ratings, it is all about being “fair and balanced.”  It doesn’t matter much that Matthews made the guy look like a fool.  It’s the fact that the deemed him worthy of air time at all that gives away the game.

I have an idea…Make these knuckle-draggers get by without Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP, VA, prescription coverage, etc. for one year.
That ought to cure their irrational fear of “socialized medicine”.