Some are more equal than others

Where have we seen this schtick before?

Katherine Harris Booed at Town Hall

The crowd's mood already was testy before the meeting began. Security guards and Harris' staff confiscated literature handed out by opponents that included the drug plan's details and a chart of Harris' voting record since she began her term in January.

The fliers were distributed during an earlier news conference staged in the parking lot by senior citizens to protest the Medicare bills.

"This is wrong," said Tony Fransetta, president of the Florida chapter of AARP, as he was asked to hand over fliers.

"We have never been restricted in what we could hand out at other town meetings," Fransetta said. "We have talking points that simply list questions that would help people better understand and articulate their concerns. They have been denied that right."

Connie M. McKee, a Harris staffer, said Congressional ethics rules made it illegal for people to distribute political information during a town hall meeting.

"All of the material is still here, and they can pick it up when they leave," McKee said. "They just can't take it into the hall. The ethics laws do not allow us to let them take it in. We have to be very, very careful that there are no laws broken."

But Harris distributed her literature to attendees. One flyer detailed how Bush's economic plans are restoring confidence and creating growth through fiscal discipline. Another highlighted the many benefits of Medicare reforms passed in June.

Wonder if Harris will be turning herself in for breaking these supposed laws herself? Oh, wait, I forgot -- it doesn't count if you're a Republican!

Sometimes you have to ask yourself just how dumb Republicans think the rest of us really are. Does Harris really expect us to believe that fliers are prohibited from town meetings? That this wasn't just a hastily concocted excuse not to have to deal with hard facts and a group of righteously angered senior citizens?

You know, I got a kick out of watching this game when Calvin played it. But I lost my taste for it during the 2000 Florida Debacle.

[A tip o' the Hatlo Hat to Maia Cowan over at Salon's Table Talk.]