Goodbye asshole. Don't let the door hit 'ya where the good Lord split 'ya.

And BTW DLA, no one believed your denials.

Dick pulled out?

Staffers at PH-NY got an email that their next paychecks will be short by one week. They were told that they could cash out a week of vacation to make up the pay. Sure looks like PH is having cash flow problems.

2 = rachel maddow

This made my day. This guy is such sleaze. Go organize your faux outrage rallies on your own time.

Bashing a conservative at the open-minded ATL blog? Say it isn't so!

I hate the tactics of these people in the health care debate. Ridiculous.

Paul HasTTTings

7 - ATL is pretty open-minded. Lat is conservative, and Elie is liberal. The commenters tend to be conservative.

Not sure what you are referring to.

Republicans are ruining this country.

6 -- dude, those are real people who are that angry. You side is never going to make headway with them if you don't think that they have real concerns. They may have mistaken information, but the fear of another government entitlement program and the anger at what they think is going on is very real. The only thing that Army's group has done is organize them. They aren't college kids acting upset for a quick payday.

Obama is as bad as they said he'd be. This country is becoming socialist.

DLA is just under scrunity these days - period. From cash flow issues to internal conflicts, (the latest scuffle between Phoenix and Austin office was laughable - instead of trying to win new clients, now they are stealing from each other) it just keeps coming. This crazy firm is a lot of fun to watch!

"The firm has not, on its own behalf, or on the behalf of any client, directly or indirectly opposed any activities designed to disrupt the national debate about health care reform or any other public policy issues."

Do they think "opposed" means "engaged in"?

his position at DLA Piper was insane in the first place--policy analyst without a j.d.--give me a mfbreak.

the guy's a first class creep, and having just found out he was employed by DLA Piper as anything more than a janitor makes me have even less respect for that pos outfit.

LOL @ libs who can't really think the anti-health care outrage is fabricated. Gotta love false consensus bias.

13 - you have no fucking clue what socialism is. Either shut your mouth or go back and actually learn what the term means.

PROTIP, Dems: When you have almost complete control of the House and Senate and the Presidency, if you can't pass your #1 initiative, you have no one to blame but yourselves.

The funny thing is how much the MSNBC/NYT/Jon Stewart crowds have decided that their main priority is discrediting the opposition to health care reform rather than actually winning over moderates in the debate.

Dick, my old friend, stay strong and hard. One request: please tell your staffers to stop spamming me about fighting against Obamacare. You are preaching to the choir.

to get a sense of what's going on with healthcare watch the following interview--it is excellent:

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/07102009/watch2.html

15 - good catch. that sentence was so screwy, i just glossed right over it. hopefully that is some sort of typo, and not the firm's official statement. . . . "i promise we didn't interfere with attempts to incite violence and overthrow the government."

"Penis Navy, your comments?" (back when SNL was funny)

Nobody's read the bill and it's wicked stupid. But Armey's out, despite the fact that in most firms there are 100 liberal strokes who lose their bowels every time King Obama speaks. Fuck TTT Piper. And all you haters working at the public defender's office who are buying this Obama crap clearly don't rate the pedigrees you front in your comments - you would be fucking pissed too if you were in a tax bracket that didn't involve cashing checks at liquor stores.

There is an embarrassing typo in the release, or else it was mis-copied.

And, 16, Policy Analyst = lobbyist. There are lots of folks employed by the lobbying operations of major firms (DLA, Holland and Knight, etc) who don't have JDs and don't practice law.

I get why Armey is out at DLA Piper.

I don't get why he was "in" in the first place.

Talk about a negative, polarizing public figure.

The fact that libs think the outrage is "manufactured" shows how out of touch with reality liberals really are.

Manufactured protests always include manufactured signs; e.g. "NOW" signs at abortion rallies; A.N.S.W.E.R. signs at anti-war rallies; SEIU signs at labor protests.

The media never had a problem with the hundreds of lefty protests over the past decade. But suddenly, when people create the own signs at home with paint and posterboard, the protests are "manufactured."

Yeah. Any media personality who makes this claim is an activist and has limited political knowledge.

The issue is that the people at the rallies are real and their anger is real.

The issue is they are bussed in and are angry about boogeymen.

They think gov't paying the cost of counseling for voluntary private end of life care is "death committees". Most of the protesters are over 62, on medicare, and don't want "the gov't" running their health care. They believe the gov't will force them to get sex changes, force them to get unwanted abortions, and prevent them from getting health care that they are covered for (and the gov't will have no affect on).

That is the issue. Not the outrage, real or otherwise.

And of course, being scripted and doing the exact same thing at every rally to prevent any kind of discussion (like yelling out the pledge of allegiance randomly for the sake of simply filibustering any discussion).

There is real debate to be had here. Regardless of what you feel about "obamacare" is irrelevant. You SHOULD have the right to at least discuss it. Not get shouted out by a bunch of paid lying hacks.

All of these comments from a group of elitists who will never deal with not having healthcare 'cause your mammies and pappies will probably take care of you when you lose (or have lost) your jobs. And for those that aren't, ask your recently laid off fellow brethen what they think of the health care plan when their COBRA runs out.

Lat - get it right. The news was FIRST reported at ATL -- by me:

http://abovethelaw.com/2009/08/lawyer_of_day_sarah_getchell.php?show=comments#comment-1186805

20 - PE, how did your "meeting" with the Sheriff of Chilmark go?

I'm outraged that a government sponsored panel of experts would interfere with decisions made by my physician, erh insurance company's clerk!

Former Thelen and current Orrick partner The Glass Cock here, expressing solidarity with a fellow, well, you know.

It's really not much different from the 90s, when the Repugs put out the "Harry and Louise" television ads to scare ordinary people into opposing health care reform because of too much bureaucracy. This time around it there will apparently be governmental "death panels" that will be making life or death decisions on behalf of patients...

I do believe that the town hall protests are in large part organized, for the sole purpose of disrupting the national debate on health care reform (and of course creating the appearance that the opposition is larger than it actually is). Of course, as others have pointed out, there are also ordinary americans showing up at the meetings to have their questions answered (but not necessarily to shout and disrupt the meetings). Many of these folks are stupid as only ordinary americans can be, willing to believe any crap that comes out of Rush's or Palin's mouths, without any inclination to confirm the veracity of even the most outrageous statements being made.

The most interesting aspect of this whole process, though, it that the Repugs have dumbed down the debate to the "death panel"/euthanasia level to please the evangelical christian base. There is no mainstream effort to have a debate based on fiscal conservatism or laissez-faire economy that may appeal to moderates on both sides (yes, even as a fairly liberal Democrat, I am concerned about the fiscal implications of universal healthcare).

So next time you see mainstream media reporting yet another town hall meeting distrupted by the antics of a concerned citizen, se it for what it is: the last cry of a dying breed -- the angry white man.

@34 Agreed. We could have intelligent debate in this country over healthcare reform. Frankly, we're not having anything close. Thanks Dick.

@18 -- You should have just asked 13 to define the term "socialism" and ask him how he thinks Obama is leading the country toward it. The answer would have been hilarious.

Hey 18 - from Webster's: "any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods." OK. I looked it up. Sounds exactly like what Obama wants and is shooting for with Obamacare, ownership of industry, etc.

í

good job 30

DLgAy

death panels

Good God, what was DLA paying this guy? Good job Piper EC for busting a move on this one.

Changing policy based on the views of right wing screamers protesting at townhalls would be like the Republicans changing war policy based on Cindy Sheehan or code pink.

It's absurd. Yet the Dems caved in. Pathetic.

If you want to see the type of screaming moron we are dealing with at these townhalss watch clueless Katy Abram.

She appears on MSNBC's Hardball with Lawrence O'Donnell filling in. He interviews here and it's very interesting.

She ranted at Arlen Specter that "she doesn't want this country turning into Russia".....she was never interested in politics before now but the Dems have "awakened a sleeping Giant!!" Yeah she is a "constitutional scholar" this one.....

Then watch LOD tear her to shreads

She has no idea how much her family makes, husband takes care of the bills. at 2:08. She is so concerened about paying more tax but doesn't know anything about her own family's finances????

Thinks that the bill willl force her into a single payer system. 3:01 WRONG!

Will she tell her parents not to go into single payer government run Medicare when they turn 65??? Blank stare and then dodges the question.

Dumb soccer mum who could not be drawn into having any interest in politics by 9/11 and the invasions of Iraq and Afghnistan.....:I didn't really care" ...oh and she was having kids!

Oh but the healthcare bill really sets her off.

"Maybe I'm not that smart" at 5:38...dya think???

http://crooksandliars.com/logan-murphy/hardball-town-hall-protester-exposed

#44

Somehow I knew before the interview even began that this worthless fool was another opinionated NON-WORKING stay-at-home shop-at-walmart GOPer wife. What a shock that she would bitch about taxes which she doesn't pay, while her husband deducts her and all her little brats on the income tax.
These people make me sick, because what they really believe is that they're the only people who work and pay taxes, and everyone else is a lazy welfare queen looking for another freebie from that negro in the Whitehouse.
You know what honey, if you don't work, and you don't pay taxes, then SHUT THE F*** UP ABOUT "SOCIALISM" and how much you hate paying for other people's health care.

27 -- You're right, such protesters would never have been allowed during GWB's reign of terror (2000-2008).

At least they're not openly banished to GWB / Cheney's "Free Speach Zone".

43 correctly points out that the duhs have collapsed.

The Duhs collapsed on single payor ("not on the table") and didn't ask the industry for much of anything in return for their support of "reform".

Now, even competing with a "public plan" is too much?

46 = Roxie

This is old news. I heard about Dick Armey leaving from a DLA Piper partner on the Amtrak out of Washington over a week ago.

This is old news. I heard about Dick Armey leaving from a DLA Piper partner on the Amtrak out of Washington over a week ago.

14 - what was the scuffle about? I'm in a SoCal office and this is the first I've heard of it.

So he was basically forced out of his job for something he did in his off time? That's pretty much the story, right?

Is that what we are becoming as a country? Can you no longer have an extracurricular activity beyond your job, because it may offend someone?

DLA are woosies for just not standing up and saying one thing has nothing to do with another. Of course if they had done that, they would have been all over MSNBC for the next month.

It's pathetic and terrifying what the Left will do.

So he was basically forced out of his job for something he did in his off time? That's pretty much the story, right?

Is that what we are becoming as a country? Can you no longer have an extracurricular activity beyond your job, because it may offend someone?

DLA are woosies for just not standing up and saying one thing has nothing to do with another. Of course if they had done that, they would have been all over MSNBC for the next month.

It's pathetic and terrifying what the Left will do.

Are black people still shiftless, good-for-nothing cretins? Doing nothing but breathing up all the white man's air with their big, over-sized nostrils?

To all republicans, conservatives, libertarian nut jobs, et. al.:

FUCK YOURSELVES AND YOUR SOON-TO-BE-EUTHANIZED-GRANDMOTHERS!!!!

People, this is very simple:

1. Repubs and "Blue Dogs" get money from the health insurance companies.

2. The health insurance companies don't want reform.

3. Repubs and Blue Dogs say "screw everybody, I want money" and fight against health reform to placate their donors.

4. Repubs and "Blue Dogs" (but mostly repubs) lie about what is in the bill in order to get the willfully ignorant morons to freak out about reform.

5. The spineless democrats, who have all the power in the world, get scared by the screaming, lunatic "deathers" and cave in.

6. No reform.

So basically, republicans and Blue Dogs = evil sellouts. Other democrats = pussies. What a great government we have!

PE - please jump into a speeding bus.

Dick Armey???? Dude, that's a porn star name, not a politician's. Dude's moving to Chatsworth.

"The media never had a problem with the hundreds of lefty protests over the past decade. But suddenly, when people create the own signs at home with paint and posterboard, the protests are "manufactured.""

You forgot "misspelled" in your description of the signs.

55:

Smartest comments I've ever read on this board.