The three-page document titled:   “Strategic Communications Plan for August: Health Insurance Reform” details various strategies for working district health care events, telephone town hall meetings, press outreach…etc.  Then under the heading of “Coordination” (and they say there is a vast RIGHT wing conspiracy) the House Democratic Leadership states:

The Leadership is working in close coordination with the White House and outside groups (including but not limited to HCAN, Families USA, AFSCME, SEIU, AARP, etc.) to ensure complementary efforts during August. The President, Secretary Sebelius and other principals in the reform debate will be working throughout the month to hold events, promote the message in the press and move the reform effort forward. We are also working closely with supportive organizations to ensure they are implementing comprehensive plans for August that include grassroots efforts, media strategies and anything else that can add to the momentum. In addition, a list of groups supporting health reform has been provided to your offices with information on ways you can partner with them in your districts.

PPM41_aug_strategic_plan_draft__2_ –

The document was reported on by Politico on July 31^st and only a few blogs reported on it, nothing in main stream media outlets.  And, this is understandable as it seems benign on the face of it; no politician is going to release a memo stating that they are going to “mobilize the muscle of the unions and community organizers to fight back and intimidate town hall protestors”.  Of course not.  But looking at the events of August and the systematic intimidation, confrontations, strong-arm tactics and physical violence that occurred at these Town Hall meetings which all seemed to involve HCAN, SEIU, ACORN, Moveon.org and other Democratic Party affiliated organizations, and then back tracking to the HCAN memo and, ultimately the Democratic House Leadership memo, a reasonable story can be told.

Here are the facts (circumstantial though they may be) that show a clear level of coordination from the House Democratic Leadership (“in close coordination with the White House”) all the way down to the SEIU staff members now facing charges for beating Kenneth Gladney:

• July 31^st:  House Democratic Leaders state they are coordinating with the White House and HCAN to ensure they are implementing grass roots efforts in August.
• August 4^th:  HCAN releases an instruction sheet with a plan to “Fight Back Against the Right” with details on security, confiscating posters and leaflets, loading the room with supporters, providing pre-written and rehearsed questions and suggestions on how to keep protestors out of the town halls
• August 5^th:  Speaker Pelosi derisively calls protesters “Astro-turf” and says they are coming to these meetings carrying swastikas.  DNC releases a video calling the protesters an “Angry Mob”.
• August 6^th:  White House political strategists David Axelrod and Jim Messina meet with Congressional Democratics with rules and suggestions for August town hall meetings.  Messina is quoted saying:  “If you get hit, we will punch back twice as hard.”

On the evening of August 6^th, at Rep. Russ Carnahan’s town hall meeting in St. Louis organized by HCAN hundreds and hundreds of protestors were shut out of the meeting while SEIU members were ushered into a side entrance.  The protestors that did get in were shouted down by SEIU plants who were seated in the front of the room.  Outside, while protestors who had been shut out by the union security were demonstrating, two members of the SEIU crowd control team began to confiscate the materials being distributed by Kenneth Gladney.  Gladney was assaulted resulting in the arrest of the SEIU staffers.

Did the White House and Democratic Leadership write a memo telling Elston and Molens to beat people up?  No, of course not.

But, use your ability to reason.  Use the facts that you know are true.  And use the wisdom you possess to reach a reasonable conclusion.

Can one conclude that it is common knowledge that one of the ways unions in America have exercised their power in the past is by using intimidation tactics and physical violence?  Is that a stretch?  And when the Democratic Leadership (“in close coordination with the White House”) charge the unions who support them with the responsibility of coordinating grass roots efforts at Town hall meetings, wouldn’t a reasonable person conclude that they were asking the unions to “punch back twice as hard” on their behalf?

THIS is why Kenneth Gladney was beaten.  And McCowans, Molens, SEIU, HCAN, the House Democratic Leadership and yes, the White House is who did it.

Margarida Jorge

On the evening of August 6^th hundreds of citizens were shut out of the meeting and not allowed to question their elected official while hundreds of SEIU members were ushered in a side entrance to sit in reserved seats in the front of the hall.  This followed precisely the instructions penned by Margarida Jorge of HCAN.

• We need to stack our folks in the front to create a wall around the Member…
• Get to your location early and make sure you set up the venue in a way that ensures that the attendees you want are at the front and that any protesters who come are sequestered as far as possible from the stage.
• Make sure that you assign marshals to take care of moving the crowd, keeping people organized and orderly, and acting as security

According to eye-witnesses, Elston McCowan and Perry Molens approached Kenneth Gladney and began grabbing the “Don’t Tread on Me” materials that he was distributing.  This also was in line with the instructions laid out in the HCAN memo.

• Another way to limit protesters’ ability to hijack your event is to confiscate signs or leaflets that they may bring into the venue from outside.

The climate of intimidation and frustration created by following HCAN’s rules of “Responding to Right-Wing Attacks” led to the confrontations outside of Rep. Carnahan’s town hall meeting.

The St. Louis Police were dispatched that evening to respond to the assault on Kenneth Gladney and arrests were made.  Big Government has already revealed the 24-page police report detailing the police’s own account of the events as well as eye-witness testimony.  The suspects taken by the police that night were booked on assault charges and last Wednesday, November 25^th, more than three months after the incident, charges were finally brought against the suspects.

Elston McCowan

As anyone who has taken a high school civics class can tell you (or, more likely, anyone who has ever seen an episode of ‘Law and Order’), city and county attorneys are responsible for prosecuting suspects who the police arrest.  The County Prosecuting Attorney has ultimate authority over cases such as the arrest of SEIU senior staff members Elston McCowan and Perry Molens.  And the Prosecuting Attorney is an elected official which by definition makes that person a politician.  Who is the politician ultimately responsible for ensuring the crimes against Kenneth Gladney are brought to justice?

Meet Robert McCulloch .  Robert McCulloch  is the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney in whose jurisdiction these arrests were made.  Last year, during the presidential election, Robert McCulloch was a central figure in something called “The Barack Obama Truth Squad”.  This “truth” squad was created at the request of the Missouri Obama for America campaign.  As KMOV reported at the time:

“They will be reminding voters that Barack Obama is a Christian who wants to cut taxes for anyone who makes less than $250,000 a year. They also say they plan to respond immediately to any ads and statements that violate Missouri’s ethics laws.”

McCulloch himself was quoted in the report saying:

“If they’re not going to tell the truth, somebody’s got to step up and say, ‘That’s not true. This is the truth.’”

That is what McCulloch said he would do on “The Barack Obama Truth Squad” in his capacity as Prosecuting Attorney, NOT as a paid employee of the Obama for America Campaign.  Please understand, in September of 2008, St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch  took on as his responsibility as a public official, paid for by the good people of Missouri, the role of “Rapid Response” for the Obama Campaign responsible for informing the voters of what is true and what is not, all the time reminding everyone that Barack Obama is a Christian who wants to cut taxes for anyone who makes less than $250,000 a year.  I think even the most casual observer can look at this and reach the conclusion that Mr. McCulloch  brings with him a certain level of partisan bias when executing his duties as Prosecuting Attorney.

As the KMOV report stated:

“The Barack Obama campaign is asking Missouri law enforcement to target anyone who lies or runs a misleading TV ad during the presidential campaign.”

“The Barack Obama campaign is asking…”  We have already discussed who was in charge of the Barack Obama campaign in Missouri, but I think it bears repeating:

• Buffy Wicks ran the Obama for America campaign in Missouri, Buffy Wicks now works for Valerie Jarret in the White House Office of Public Engagement and was involved in the NEA Conference Calls.
• Sara Howard worked with Buffy Wicks on the Obama for America Campaign in Missouri and Sarah Howard worked at SEIU in St Louis.  The day before the St. Louis town hall she was hired by Rep. Russ Carnahan.
• Margarida Jorge also worked at SEIU in St. Louis, just like Sara Howard and Margarida wrote the HCAN memo on fighting back against the right.
• Just like Jorge and Howard, Elston McCowan and Perry Molens worked at SEIU in St. Louis.  They have been charged with the bloody assault of Kenneth Gladney.

Now, let’s add THIS one to the mix:

• Robert McCulloch worked on behalf of the Obama for America campaign (Wicks and Howard) by aggressively promoting a pre-emptive strike against negative campaigning against Barack Obama.  McCulloch is the person charged with the duty to bring charges against McCowan and Molens for assaulting Gladney outside the town hall meeting of Carnahan arranged by Howard following the volatile template written by Jorge!  (Follow all that?)

So, how did McCulloch do in executing his duties in the Gladney case?  McCulloch handed the case over to county counselor Patricia Redington and washed his hands from that point on.  It is interesting that McCulloch moved so quickly in using intimidation tactics by wielding the power of his office and the threat of legal ramifications for any negative advertising that may have suggested that candidate Obama might not actually lower taxes on everyone making $250,000 per year (have you gotten your tax cut yet?) but he passed the buck when it came to this case.

Meanwhile, Redington let this case languish for months before finally bringing modest charges against the suspects on the afternoon before Thanksgiving (an obvious attempt to let the story disappear).  One week before the charges were brought, Big Government reported:

• Redington hasn’t spoken to Kenneth Gladney
• Redington hasn’t called any of the witnesses on the police report.
• Redington hasn’t contacted any of the Tea Party members that are seen on video
• Redington hasn’t contacted any of the people who shot video that night and whose YouTube urls are listed on the evidence page

Also, despite the fact that Redington never investigated the injuries Gladney suffered and never interviewed the medical personnel who administered assistance to Gladney, she still felt it best to reduce the charges down to an ordinance violation.  In the words of Judge Anthony Napolitano:  “The moral equivalent of jay walking.”

But, make no mistake; this is happening on McCulloch’s watch.  He has the authority to handle this case and to ensure that proper charges are filed, but he has chosen not to.  It begs the question:  If he jumped through the “Truth Squad” hoops when Buffy Wicks asked him to during the campaign, is it possible he has turned his back on this case for similar reasons?

Tomorrow:  We reveal a document linking the activities of HCAN and SEIU in August at the town hall meetings with the highest levels of the Government.

The meetings hosted by HCAN (like the one on August 6^th in St. Louis) were set up using these rules.  Americans showed up at these meetings thinking that it would be an opportunity to address their elected representatives and talk to them about the single most important piece of legislation our congress has proposed in decades.  Instead, they were pushed to the back of the room and shouted down by the well-trained SEIU members.  Eventually, an American citizen who was distributing “Don’t Tread on Me” flags and buttons was assaulted by a handful of the SEIU members.  His name is Kenneth Gladney.

Let’s look at that memo and how it matches the events of August 6^th:

• One advantage to organizing your own Town Hall or public event with Members of Congress is that you will have much more control over the event and limit the other side’s opportunities for disruption.
• Make sure you turn out a substantial number of people from your base and that everyone signs a sign-in sheet upon entering the event. Give everyone name tags so they are easily identifiable. If you want to ensure greater control over turnout, you can ask attendees to RSVP or even issue tickets to the event and require presentation of the ticket at the entrance.
• Choose a venue that is difficult for the opposition to access without being noticed. Get to your location early and make sure you set up the venue in a way that ensures that the attendees you want are at the front and that any protesters who come are sequestered as far as possible from the stage.
• Make sure that you assign marshals to take care of moving the crowd, keeping people organized and orderly, and acting as security should any need arise to ask noisy or disruptive protesters to leave.
• Another way to limit protesters’ ability to hijack your event is to confiscate signs or leaflets that they may bring into the venue from outside. The best way to do this is to make a blanket rule that no one can bring signs or leaflets and to advertise this fact as you do turn out in the weeks preceding the event. You can distribute your own signs in the event and offer them one as they enter if you choose to allow them to enter.
• It’s important that you take away right-wingers opportunities to talk with reporters by making sure that your staff or leaders are in constant contact with the media who attend.

According to Harris Himes an eyewitness at the scene of the town hall meeting the evening of the 6^th:

They let in about two hundred of us but had about 120 seats set aside, marked “RSVP,” and these were for Carnahan supporters. These people were let in by a side door for the “handicapped.” Many had purple t-shirts with “Organizing for America” in white letters on the back and large “SEIU,” smaller “Service Employees International Union” on the front. They shut the doors on about 1000 people around 6:30 pm for the 7:00 pm event. After being introduced, Carnahan spoke but was booed frequently while the supporters stood and applauded…. Finally, Carnahan stood for questions. It turned out that the questions had to be written and turned in. The dissenters booed, shouting that they didn’t know this and hadn’t been given a chance to write any. It didn’t make any difference, because he answered a couple of seminar questions and then announced that he had to leave about 8:30 for an “interview”—after most of the time had been taken up by the panel.

Also on the evening of the 6^th, a town hall meeting organized by HCAN and OFA was set up in Tampa Bay, FL with Rep. Kathy Castor.  An eyewitness describes what is seen on this YouTube video:

This is part one of the Tampa Town Hall meeting on August 6. Left Wing organizers are seen passing out Obama Flyers and signs.  Once they see that right wingers have their own sings, they quickly pick them up and hide them. Hundreds of people are outside trying to get in, many of them who had been waiting for hours while others were able to sneak in the back door. Even with all this, there was still many in the audience that booed once Kathy Castor started detailing the Health Care Plan.

And here is a second description on a YouTube video that shows the “marshals” and security forces in action:

Kathy Castor’s union thugs beat up a guy (in the green shirt – evidence 3:21) and shut the doors to prevent the opposing opinions from being heard. She then proceeded leave, not taking any questions, because “she couldn’t hear.

The Tampa Bay meeting and the St. Louis meetings followed the same templates and they were both arranged by HCAN and OFA.  Both ended with pushing and shoving (in both cases the pushing being done by card-carrying members of SEIU) and both ended with the elected official leaving after only answering a few scripted questions put forth by plants in the crowd.

It is hard to not reach the conclusion that the events of August 6^th were a result that could have been expected given the rhetoric from elected officials in the Democratic Party (Speaker Pelosi saying the protesters carries swastikas) and the President’s Advisers (Jim Messina telling Senators “if they hit you, we will punch them back twice as hard”) coupled with the instructions handed down to obedient union members by their union leaders.  If you agree that HCAN and OFA were instrumental in creating the climate for violent confrontation that led to Kenneth Gladney’s assault, then it is important to learn about the leadership of HCAN and the SEIU members who are suspects in the assault and learn who they are and what might have motivated their actions.

Meet Margarida Jorge.  She works for HCAN and is the person who released the memo that served as a template for the meetings in Tampa Bay and St. Louis.  Ms. Jorge worked for SEIU in Missouri prior to her position at HCAN.  She is often featured at the People’s World web page (a direct descendant of the Daily Worker the newspaper of the American Socialist and Marxist Movement).  In fact, Ms. Jorge was honored with an award from People’s World for her work with an organization called Progressive Vote, or Pro-Vote.  Pro-Vote is a coalition of many organizations including SEIU, HCAN and ACORN.  Their mission:  To fight for progressive issues and progressive candidates.

That is Margarida Jorge.  She wrote the HCAN memo.  In the past she worked with Sara Howard.

Meet Sara Howard.  She used to work with SEIU.  She also worked for a group called America Coming Together (ACT).  In the 2004 campaign, ACT was very active in registering voters on behalf of the Kerry Campaign.  ACT was later fined $775,000 for taking illegal donations (including those from SEIU), the largest FEC fine in history.  She also worked as a Senior Strategist for Obama for America.  On August 5^th, the day before the St. Louis town hall meeting featuring Rep. Russ Carnahan, Sara Howard was named the Communications Director for the Missouri Democrat.

That is Sara Howard.  She is Russ Carnahan’s Communication’s Director.  When she was working on the Obama Campaign, she was under the direction of Buffy Wicks.

Meet Buffy Wicks.  Buffy Wicks is the Deputy Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement directly under Valerie Jarrett.  She was the White House representative on the infamous conference calls involving Yosi Sergant and the NEA which were exposed by Big Hollywood resulting in Mr. Sergant’s forced resignation.  Before her job at the White House Buffy Wicks ran the Obama Campaign operation in Missouri where she was instrumental in get out the vote programs involving SEIU, ACORN and Pro-Vote, where she worked with Sara Howard and Margarida Jorge.

That is Buffy Wicks, Sara Howard and Margarida Jorge.  In their capacities with SEIU and Pro-Vote and HCAN and the Obama Campaigns, they were involved with SEIU Public Service Director and former organizer Elston McCowan and SEIU Business Agent and Organizer Perry Molens.  McCowan and Molens are the men charged with the assault on Kenneth Gladney.

Let me just lay this out once more:

• Margarida Jorge worked at SEIU in St. Louis.  She wrote the HCAN memo on fighting back against the right.
• Sara Howard worked at SEIU in St Louis.  She also worked for Obama For America.  The day before the St. Louis town hall, she was hired by Rep. Russ Carnahan.
• Elston McCowan and Perry Molens worked at SEIU in St. Louis.  They have been charged with the bloody assault of Kenneth Gladney.
• Jorge, Howard, McCowan and Molens were all involved with Buffy Wicks at Obama For America in Missouri.
• Buffy Wicks now works for Valerie Jarret in the White House Office of Public Engagement and was involved in the NEA Conference Calls.

Does your head hurt yet?  If it doesn’t, it will tomorrow.

Tomorrow we will show how this small network of insiders in the leftist political power structure of St. Louis are inter-connected with the very people charged with investigating and prosecuting the individuals responsible for beating Kenneth Gladney.  And, how those same people were also instrumental in the Obama Campaign in Missouri in 2008.  We will show how the three month delay in bringing charges against the assailants appear to be motivated by political and personal relationships in the close-knit family that is the St. Louis Democratic Party.