Iowa proud

How to tell that there's not much to do in Iowa:

This is the Iowa State Fair parade in Des Moines, Iowa.

Really.

And so it goes.

Whose health?

Gotta love the GOP and conservative hate radio.

They say they want an honest dialogue about health care reform. But when it comes, they shout it down instead of talking.

Yeah, that's the American way. There are no ideas but my ideas.

And of course the GOP haters insist it's all a grassroots movement:

“Become a part of the mob!” said a banner posted Friday on the Web site of the talk show host Sean Hannity. “Attend an Obama Care Townhall near you!” The exhortations do not advocate violence, but some urge opponents to be disruptive.

“Pack the hall,” said a strategy memo circulated by the Web site Tea Party Patriots that instructed, “Yell out and challenge the Rep’s statements early.”

And the hate mongerers continue to insist it's all an innocent grassroots movement.

Some of the protesters told local reporters they had been urged to come by a local activist group promoted by the conservative radio and television host Glenn Beck. Others said they had received e-mail messages from the Hillsborough County Republican Party that urged people to speak out against the plan and offered talking points.

Apparently, no tactic is too low for the conservative demagogues.

The tenor of some of the debates has become extreme. Ms. Pelosi has accused people at recent protests of carrying signs associating the Democratic plan with Nazi swastikas and SS symbols, and some photographs showing such signs have been posted on the Web.

On Thursday, the talk show host Rush Limbaugh said the administration’s health care logo was itself similar to a Nazi symbol.

On Friday, the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Anti-Defamation League released statements criticizing the comparison.

“It is preposterous to try and make a connection between the president’s health care logo and the Nazi Party symbol, the Reichsadler,” said Rabbi Marvin Hier, the founder and dean of the Wiesenthal center.

Yeah, that's the way to have an informed discussion.

Makes me proud.

And so it goes.