The media, far from honestly covering the paid people bused in from all over the nation to shut down Democratic legislators’ town hall fora, are playing "Let’s Pretend." As in CNN’s "Let’s pretend that there isn’t a clear-cut villain here and that Democrats are equally at fault".

Dear CNN: The story here isn’t that Democrats are accusing the GOP of being behind the teabaggers out to shut down the August town hall forums. It’s that the GOP really is behind these actions. Or did you not get the memo? You know, this one?

The memo above also resembles the talking points being distributed by FreedomWorks for pushing an anti-health reform assault all summer. Patients United, a front group maintained by Americans for Prosperity, is currently busing people all over the country for more protests against Democratic members. Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), chairman of the NRCC, has endorsed the strategy, telling the Politico the days of civil town halls are now “over.”

Or how about this news concerning a disruptor, Heather Blish, of Congressman Steve Kagen’s (D-WI) town hall forum:

A woman [Blish] who initially identified herself as "just a mom from a few blocks away" who was "not affiliated with a political party" was outed by a reporter as a GOP operative who worked for Kagen’s election opponent John Gard as well as the Republican Party of Wisconsin and the Republican National Committee.

CNN, what more do you need?

Ah, but CNN’s not the only pretenders. The word’s apparently gone out among the wingnut columnists and radio jocks to whine about "free speech rights" being allegedly infringed upon. I heard local WCCO drive-time winger Michelle Tafoya spout that very line yesterday afternoon, and wingnut writer Timothy Carney was allowed valuable column space in the San Francisco Examiner to push this canard. Neither Tafoya nor Carney mentioned, much less condemned, the following acts:

— the hanging in effigy of Congressman Frank Kratovil (D-MD)

— the death threats received by Congressman Brad Miller (D-NC)

— the assault of a freshman Democratic congressmember, as reported by Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA)

— the actions of teabaggers at a June 22 event held by Congressman Tim Bishop (D-NY) that were so extreme the cops had to be called in to get the congressman out safely

— a teabagger, professional astroturfer and buddy of Michelle Malkin, James Bancroft, telling Democratic Senator and cancer victim Chris Dodd to kill himself at a recent forum

— the fact that Republican Congressman Todd Akin of Missouri thinks that death threats against his Democratic brethren and cistern on Capitol Hill are really funny

— the fact that one of the people inciting the teabaggers to these actions is David Koch, the 19th richest man in the world and the guy behind Americans for Prosperity, the teabag group that lynched Kratovil in effigy

But let a conservative be kept from doing any of this stuff, and suddenly people like Carney and Tafoya get all OUTRAGED! over the STIFLING! of FREE! SPEECH! Jeebus Crispers.