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Unfortunately, at this time there are groups from the more violent strains of the leftist ideology, some even being paid, who are preying on public town halls to wreak havoc and threaten public safety. Threats are nothing new to me and I have gotten my share as a felony judge. However, the House Sergeant at Arms advised us after former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords was shot at a public appearance, that civilian attendees at Congressional public events stand the most chance of being harmed or killedjust as happened there. One Congressional friend had one of his district staff members knocked unconscious and hospitalized this past week after being overrun by a group intent on physical confrontation and disruption.

First of all, how dare gun-loving, NRA-funded Gohmert invoke Gabby Giffords name?Shes worked tirelessly on sensible gun reform laws since she was shot by a mentally ill constituent and he has stood in the way at every turn.And that last bit is emphasized in bold because Gohmert isnt the only congressman using that particular instance to cancel or refuse to hold town halls.

Heres what actually went down: a mother and her 2-year-old daughter were delivering a Valentines Day card to Rep. Dana Rohrabacher at his California office. Rohrabachers staff has been particularly nasty to constituents, locking the door each week and refusing to meet. On Valentines Day, constituents were sliding cards under the office door and high school teacherMegan Blashs 2-year-old daughter went to the door and slid a card under the door, surrounded by local news who captured the adorable moment. Without warning, a Rohrabacher staffer swung the door open, hitting the toddlerin the head. She started crying and another constituent grabbed the door in the confusion. The 71-year-old Rohrabacher staffer tried to yank the door closed, lost her balance and fell. Thats it. Thats the violent mob incident all these congressmen are using toavoid their peaceful (but angry) constituents. Watch for yourself:

As for Gohmerts constituents and their calls to listen to their stories about how the Affordable Care Act has helped them, Gohmerts letter went on to make clear that he really doesnt give a Texas hoot:

I very much appreciate hearing from the most vocal who form part of the very important twenty-six percent who disagreed with my seven year position on Obamacare, and I really believe that if we do the right things after repealing Obamacare, that even most of those who like government control of their lives in Obamacare, will acknowledge that things are better with more personal choices at a lower price, and without the massive cuts to Medicare and our seniors healthcare that Obamacare inflicted.

It appearseverything really is bigger in Texas, including the cowardiceand the denial. See you in 621 days at the midterm election, Rep. Gohmert. Dont get too comfortable in the House majority.

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Tea party Congressman refuses constituent meeting, blames 'violent strains of the leftist ideology' - Daily Kos

Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune(Photo: Enquirer file)Buy Photo

The board that helps decide which tax levies goon the ballot in Hamilton County got a bigoverhaul Wednesday, with Democratic appointees taking over for Republicans and tea party activists.

The move to revamp the Tax Levy Review Committee is one of the first significant policy changes in county government since Democrats won a majority of county commissioner seats inthe November election.

"Elections have consequences," Commissioner Todd Portune, a Democrat, said before commissioners voted on the changes. "And this election has consequences."

Thecommissioners then voted 2-1 along partisan lines to replace six of the review committee's nine appointed members.The major changes include the removal of Cincinnati Tea Party founder Mike Wilson and Republican Dan Unger in favor of liberal and Democratic activists, such asBishop Bobby Hilton, a preacher and civil rights advocate, and Bond Hill attorney Janaya Trotter.

The vote Wednesday immediately transformed a volunteer board that had consisted almost entirely of Republicans to one dominated by Democrats.

The changes did not go over well with the last remaining Republican commissioner, Chris Monzel, who complained he'd been left out of the selection process. In the past, Monzel said, selections to the committee werediscussed publicly and applicants' qualifications wereavailable on the county's website before the commissioners' voted.

That didn't happen this time. Monzel said his aides reached out to Portune's office weeks agoseeking input about the committee, but no one got back to him with names of proposed committee members until Tuesday, the day before the vote.

"This is nothing personal. This is about process," Monzel said before voting against the appointments. "This is far too important a board to be thrown together at the last minute. To me, this was a completely closed process."

The proposal to make the newappointments did not appear as a regular item on the commissioners' agenda Wednesday and wasinstead introduced by Portune as a late addition. "I was taken aback by the entire process," Monzel said after the vote.

The Tax Levy Review Board is influential because it studies and makes recommendations about all levy proposals that require approval of county commissioners before going on the ballot. Although the board doesn't have final say, its recommendations about the need for a levy and the appropriate tax levelcarry weight with the commissioners and often are adopted.

This year, the board will make recommendations about the senior services levy, the indigent care levy and the mental health levy, which together raise more than $90 million a year.

Portune, who was joined by Democrat Denise Driehaus in approving the new committee members, said changes were made because the committee needed to reflect better the diversity in the county. While the previous committee had seven men, two women and one African American member, the new committee will have five men, four women, four African Americans and one Asian American.

Just as important, Portune said, all of the members are qualified and bring strong skill sets to the group. They include attorneys, a physician and a business consultant.

"These are appointments we feel very strongly need to be made," Portune said.

Outgoing committee member Unger, who joined the committee in 2005 and was its longest-serving member,said he had hoped to stay on the job. He said he wasn't shocked the new majority wanted to make changes, but he was surprised by the last-minute notice.

"I got a call last night," Unger said Wednesday. "I'm very proud of our work. We always serve at the pleasure of the commissioners."

He said the committee never approved an increase in a levy on his watch, and he expects that to change with the committee's new makeup. "It was always my view that more people will own more homes if we keep property taxes at a reasonable level," Unger said.

Several of the new members said they don't expect big changes, though they promised to study the levies with fresh eyes.

"I look forward to taking a look at how the county is distributing funds to make sure we're taking care of the people who need taking care of," said Hilton, senior pastor of Word of Deliverance Ministries in Forest Park.

Three committee members will stay: Gwen McFarlin, John Silverman and Mark Quarry. The six new members are Hilton, Trotter, JenniferO'Donnell, Bob Furnier, Jeanette Hargreaves and Ed Herzig.

The departing members are Wilson, Unger, Ed Steiner, Eppa Rixey, Heather Harlow and Chris Habel.

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SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL GREETED BY PROTESTERSWoman confronts Sen. Mitch McConnell about welfare and coal jobs in Lawrenceburg | 0:56

A woman confronted Sen. Mitch McConnell about too many Kentuckians having to rely on welfare while accepting that coal jobs are dwindling due to mechanization. Sam Upshaw Jr./CJ

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Several hundred protesters gathered outside the American Legion Post in Lawrenceburg to rally against Sen. Mitch McConnell. Sam Upshaw Jr./CJ

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Several hundred protesters rallied outside of Sen. Mitch McConnell speech in Lawrenceburg.

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Woman confronts Sen. Mitch McConnell about welfare and coal jobs in Lawrenceburg

Several hundred protesters rally against Sen. Mitch McConnell in Lawrenceburg

Protesters rally outside of Sen. Mitch McConnell speech in Lawrenceburg

Jody Lambert of Georgetown, Ky. uses a megaphone to chant "Ditch Mitch" and other anti-McConnell sentiments outside the Louisville Marriott East with around 500 protestors Wednesday. McConnell spoke at the Jeffersontown Chamber of Commerce luncheon.(Photo: Matt Stone/The C-J)Buy Photo

When Victoria Keith came home to Kentucky a decade ago, she didnt expect to be leading a self-described resistancemovement against the president of the United States.

But the 72-year-old former documentary filmmaker, who lives on her family's farm a few milesoutside Hopkinsville in the western part of the state, said she is horrified byPresident Donald Trumps agenda.

"Its hard just to sit back and listen to all of this and not want to at least begin speaking up, Keith said.

Much like the conservative tea party groups that sprung up in the aftermath of President Barack Obama's election in 2008, citizens who see themselves as liberals,progressives or libertarian-leaning have organized to oppose Trump's policies.Many have used an online document called the Indivisible Guide" produced by a group of former Democratic congressional staffers as a blueprint.

The guide has reportedly spawned about 7,000 groups nationwide, and the main website shows Indivisible chapters oraffiliated groupsin all 50 states.

According to the website of Indivisible Kentucky, which is what the Louisville chapter calls itself, there are roughlya dozen groups in the commonwealth, with representationin all six congressional districts. There are more than four dozen in Indiana.

The 26-page guide, which has been downloaded more than 1 million times, "has made it easy to get going, said Keith, who joined with more than a dozen neighbors to form Pennyroyal Indivisible Kentucky named after an indigenous plant in the region.Its not just completely left up to you, theres a lot of support and help from this network of people.

Indivisible Kentucky was founded by Kim Hibbard and the Rev. Dawn Cooley after the 2016 election results left many in the community feeling angry. 2/22/17(Photo: Marty Pearl/Special to The C-J)

The Louisville chapterwasfounded in Januaryby the Rev. Dawn Cooley and Kim Hibbard, a computer systems administrator, before Trump even took office. It has since protested outside the offices of Republican Sens. Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul, drawing 300 people to McConnell's office in one demonstration.

It also encouragesmembers to get involved in other events,includingMayor Greg Fischer's pro-immigration event last month that attracted roughly 5,000 people outside the Muhammad Ali Center downtown.

Cooley, a Unitarian Universalist minister, and Hibbard met online just as the latter registered the group's website."I reached out to her and said, 'I've got people, and you've got tech,' and about a month ago she and I met and decided to work together and Indivisible Kentucky was created, Cooley said.

McConnelllikened the movement's rise toa tantrum thrown by liberals upset overTrump's victory. He said the protesters "did not like the result of the election,"during a speech in Lawrenceburg, Ky., where he was met with about 1,000demonstrators.

Scott Lasley, a political science professor at Western Kentucky University, said: "It was a pretty hard-fought, bitter election, and part of what you're seeing is a result they (the protesters) did not see coming. ... I wouldn't use the word 'sore losers,' I'd usethe word 'surprised losers.' "

Others have accused liberal megadonors, such as investor George Soros, of bankrolling the demonstrations. Sean Spicer, Trump'sWhite House press secretary,said during an interview on Fox News recently that unlike the conservative opposition to Obama, the anti-Trump protests are an"Astroturf-type movement" made up ofwell-paid activists.

"I mean, protesting has become a profession now," Spicer said. "They have every right to do that, dont get me wrong. But I think we need to call it what it is. Its not these organic uprisings that we have seen over the last several decades."

Hibbardsaid hergroup hasn't received anyoutside fundingand is made up of volunteers. The group sets up a donation box at meetings, she said.

"This is a strictly organic group of people that are willing to give money out of our own pockets to maintain our common goal," Hibbard said. "We are the constituents of Kentucky.We have a voice, and we will be heard."

Cooley attributes the movement'srise to people of different backgroundsfeeling threatened by Trump's action, such ascontroversial restrictions on the travelof immigrants from seven largely Muslim countries. She said the group has heard from immigrantrights groups and others who are forming a coalition and have participated in their demonstrations.

The Indivisible manual borrows from the tea party's early tactics that empowered grassroots conservatives who opposed Obamas $830 billion stimulus package and health care overhaul.The tea party movement'sinfluence was felt in the 2010 elections, when it propelled Republicans to take control of the U.S. House and helped secure Paul's Senate victory, among others.

Cooley said she wouldn't be surprised if members began to consider running for elected office in the near future but that it isn't part of their current strategy. She also isn't sure if those candidates would challenge local and state Democrats in primary elections, as Paul did,or work more closely with the party.

"One of the strengths of Indivisible right now is our very laser focus," Cooley said. "We're focused on stopping Trump's agenda through direct action and lobbying our own representatives."

Lasley said he doubts whether any liberal-leaning movementcan pry Kentucky from conservative hands, especially in rural areas. "Republicans are going to be in pretty good position for the next 30 to 40 years," he said.

Trumpwon Kentucky by 30 percentage points in November, and by even larger margins in large swaths of the state where many are hoping hecan make good on promises such as reviving the coal industry. One of Trump's first moves in office was a measure to end an Obama regulation protecting waterways from coal mining waste thatindustry leaders had said would lead to job losses.

Protesters greet Sen. Mitch McConnell with heated questions

Sen. Mitch McConnell hears it from protesters -- this time in Louisville

Against that backdrop, Hibbard said Indivisible Kentucky isencouragingmembers to get involved with anydemonstration that aligns with their beliefs. The Indivisible guide advisesconstituents to attend town hall meetingsand other public events where members of Congress appear, swarm district offices and clog congressional phone lines.In Utah,Indivisible-affiliated groups made news last month when about 1,000 demonstrators shouted questions at Republican Congressman Jason Chaffetz during a town hall meeting.

In Louisville, Cooley and Hibbard said they planto continueprotesting outside McConnell's office every Tuesday for the first 100 days of Trump'spresidency. They call the protests "Trump Tuesdays."

Indivisible Kentucky memberstried toconfrontMcConnell when he arrived atLouisville's airport on Feb. 10 to no avail. Later, a larger group protestedoutside the Senate majority leader's Louisville houseover the nomination ofJeff Sessions asattorney general.The grouphas a "hunt for Mitch" section that alerts chapters across the state on his scheduled whereabouts.

Other chapters are planning to flood congressional offices with letters and postcardsand are looking for opportunities to rattle members of Congress anytime they return from Washington.

Deborah Hankins, a retired schoolteacher who founded Ashland KentuckyIndivisible, said her group ofabout 40 members want a town hall meeting with Congressman Thomas Massie. She said the congressman's district office said he wouldn't be backduring Congress' recess last week but that she saw a picture of Massie in Henry County, which is in thedistrict.

"I think he's forgotten there's an election coming up that he's going to participate in and thinksthat this movement isgoing away, and he doesn't have an answer that we'll accept," she said.

Massie spokesman Lorenz Isidro said last summer the congressman hosted nearly two-dozen events across Kentuckys 4th congressional district, which stretches from Louisville's eastern suburbs to Ashland.

"He plans to continue this unprecedented level of public accessibility and interaction both through public forums and on social media," Lorenz said."Constituents are encouraged to follow his Congressional Facebook page to receive notices of upcoming public events."

Asked about the rising protests, McConnell spokesman Robert Steurersaid his boss believes that the U.S. Constitution affords all citizens the right to peacefully assemble. "As Senator McConnell has said, 'Going back to the beginning of this country we've had a pretty open ability to complain about whatever you want to and it's about as American as apple pie.' People are free to express themselves," he said.

On Tuesday in Lawrenceburg, McConnell said he was "proud" of the protesters.

While exercising that right, Indivisible Kentuckyleaders stressed that members must avoid embracing anger. Many who carried signs at the McConnell protest in Lawrenceburg, for instance, held signs calling the senator a coward and comparing Trump to Adolf Hitler.

"We don't want to become our enemy," Cooley said. "... We've got righteous anger, but righteous anger is not the same as vitriol, as hate speech and so I don't want to get into thatwhich is against our values."

Hankins said the angeris already beginning to wane in her part of the state, and that it's important for progressive-minded voters and people who live in rural America to listen and persuade Trump voters who are their neighbors.

"We have to point out to people they need to vote in their own self-interests, which has puzzled liberals for years," she said. "And I don't think lecturing from the outside is going to do it, we need to learn how to speak to people."

Reporter Phillip M. Bailey can be reached at 502-582-4475 or pbailey@courier-journal.com.

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Anti-Trump movement may be spawning liberals' answer to the tea party - The Courier-Journal

In this Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017 photo, people react as U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz speaks during a town hall meeting at Brighton High School in Cottonwood Heights, Utah. Some attendees of the contentious town hall hosted by Chaffetz have sent the congressman fake invoices after he claimed some people there were paid protesters. Rick BowmerAP

Ideas

Ferguson was Deputy National Press Secretary and Senior Spokesperson for Hillary Clintons 2016 campaign for President.

On August 25, 2009, Democratic Congressman Bart Gordon held a town hall meeting in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. A local news report called it a discussion about the nation's health care that led to loud boos and heckling from the crowd. On February 9, 2017, Republican Congresswoman Diane Black elected to Gordons seat in the fall of 2010 held a town hall meeting in the same city. A local news report headline proclaimed, Diane Black, GOP lawmakers faced defenders of Obamacare at lively town hall . Sounds similar, right?

The zeitgeist is quickly setting in: Republicans right now face a backlash akin to what Democrats faced from the Tea Party in 2009 and 2010. Some have gone so far as to call this resistance the Democratic Tea Party. Its a convenient comparison: Democrats like it because the Republican Tea Party was successful in 2010, and the media appreciates it as a simple and straightforward story. I've been guilty of leaning on it myself.

But the Democratic resistance and the Tea Party actually differ in a number of important ways, each of which tells a different story about where our country is and where our politics may be headed.

For starters, the Tea Party was forged as an opposition to a societal reality in our country, while todays resistance is opposed to a political reality. The Tea Party began before the election of President Obama, as a reaction to President Bush and the bank bailouts of 2008. Tea Partiers believed that society and the economy had all left them behind. The movements anger was stoked by the realization that the country had changed to the extent that it would elect someone like Barack Obama and support his liberal policies like the Economic Recovery Act (the so-called stimulus) and the Affordable Care Act (scornfully dubbed Obamacare). These members wanted the entire country to revert to a set of values that more closely resembled what they saw on Leave It to Beaver .

On the other hand, the current resistance isn't based on a belief that our country has gone astray from some former golden age. It's a political backlash, borne out of Donald Trumps policies and his presidency. Its participants arent rejecting the social structures of American society. They are embracing and defending our evolving structures of diversity and inclusiveness. The people stepping forward to resist the Trump Administration are standing against an Administration that doesnt respect the core values that this nation holds: that we are all equal and that we can all achieve our own dreams.

Second, these movements were forged in entirely different political situations. Members of the Tea Party believed they had been marginalized and had to fight back against this new oppression. They represented a minority, losing the 2008 elections by almost 200 electoral votes and 10 million people, while Democrats gained a more significant majority in the House and a filibuster-proof 60-vote majority in the Senate. Headlines announced a permanent progressive majority. The Tea Party disapproved of their country going in this new direction, which bred their movements anger.

Todays resistance is almost the complete opposite. While Trump is indeed president winning the Electoral College by approximately 75 votes he lost the popular vote by nearly 3 million. While Republicans maintained their control of the House and the Senate, they lost seats in both. The current resistance isnt reacting to its lost status as the majority in American politics, as the Tea Party was. It is speaking out for the majority of Americans who feel inadequately represented in Washington. This resistance is giving political voice to those the political system has deprived of a voice. They are speaking for the silenced majority.

The third major difference is in how these movements act. There are certainly some tactical similarities both use rallies and town hall meetings to attract attention to their causes but the undercurrents are very different. The Tea Party was truly a movement of anger at the system, at the country and at the movements members declining station in life. This best manifested in their slogan, from the American Revolutions Gadsen flag, Dont Tread on Me demanding that people and government just leave them alone to their familiar ways.

While todays resistance certainly has some anger, the basic emotions fueling it are alarm and fear. We are alarmed by what the current political system, and its leadership, will do to us, our friends and our country. We are fearful that our family and neighbors might be barred from entering the U.S. by a Muslim ban or might lose their access to health care if the Affordable Care Act is recklessly repealed. We are worried that the political system now serves corporate interests and the Presidents far-flung (but undisclosed) business interests, not the interests of the people or their nation. We are alarmed that people we know and love wont be treated equally or fairly under the new Administration. The Tea Party consisted of people angry about their own perceived situation; the resistance is people alarmed and fearful about what might happen to others.

The best distinction between the two movements, though, is the one that is most important to our President: crowd size. The largest Tea Party rallies reported were between 150,000 and 250,000 people, depending on the source. The Womens March last month irrefutably included over 4 million people nationwide a 16-fold difference. Washington, D.C., alone likely doubled the largest Tea Party totals.

While it would be easy and convenient to pronounce that 2017 is merely 2009 redux, the simplicity of that comparison belies the underlying and important reality. The Tea Party sought to fix our country and align it with Tea Party politics; the democratic resistance seeks to fix our politics and align them with our countrys values. The movements may share some tactics, but the spirit that drives them are, and the consequences of them will be, very different.

Ferguson was Deputy National Press Secretary and Senior Spokesperson for Hillary Clintons 2016 campaign for President; before, he was Executive Director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Independent Expenditure.

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The Resistance Is the Majority of Americans Not a New Tea Party - TIME

Three times every day, now and for the foreseeable future, Brina Bujkovsky is placingcalls to Washington D.C. one to her representative in Congress and one to each of her U.S. senators.

So do thousands of other members of Together We Will, one of a number of activist groups that sprouted up in recent weeks to target President Donald Trump and representatives who support him.

The phone calls, which have overwhelmed switchboard operators at the House of Representatives more than once, are one of the tools activists are using to try to regain a foothold in turbulent political times.

They are demanding town-hall meetings, they picket outside congressional offices and they write letters to editors. Their efforts bring to mind many of the same tactics used by the conservative tea party eight years ago.

In recent days, they bought a full-page newspaper ad to try to dragoon Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, to a town hall in his district Tuesday night even though it was likely to be packed with critics.

Instead, Issa made an impromptu appearance as protesters and supporters clashed outside his Vista office Tuesday morning, taking questions from both sides.

The call for town halls has also arisen in East County, where thegroup circulated a mock wanted poster of Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, accusing him of going AWOL onconstituents.

Were trying to shed light on the fact that our Congress members are not making themselves available to speak with their constituents, said Bujkovsky, a San Marcos business owner who is coordinating Together We Wills activities in Hunters 50th Congressional District. A lot of people feel like its an emergency situation.

Hunter has said he will host a community meeting next month.

The wave of activism washing across San Diego County and elsewhere largely centers on the Trump campaign pledge to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the 2010 legislation known as Obamacare.

The resistance movement also focuses on other initiatives pushed by the new president since he was sworn in last month, including immigration policy, climate change regulations and controversial Cabinet nominations.

Many of their strategies come from Indivisible, a playbook for political activism developed by former congressional staffers who watched the tea party movement take root soon after Barack Obama moved into the White House.

The current political landscape is similar to the atmosphere that ignited the tea party after the 2008 election. Eight years ago there was a Democrat in the White House and Democrats running the House and Senate. There is still one party rule, but Republicans are the ones in charge this time.

Like us, you probably deeply disagree with the principles and positions of the tea party, Indivisibles handbook for grassroots activism says. But we can all learn from their success in influencing the national debate and the behavior of national policymakers. To their credit, they thought thoroughly about advocacy tactics.

The handbook gives activists advice on where to sit at town hall meetings (spread out through the room to give the impression of broad support),how to hold a microphone when asking a hostile question (tightly, so that a staffer cant cut the interrogation short without appearing physically aggressive) and to how to get called on to ask a question (look neutral).

Both movements developed their own vernacular, with tea party members labeling Obama a socialist and Trump supporters being called fascists.

The Indivisible guide, which takes its name from a key word in the Pledge of Allegiance, has been downloaded more than 1.7 million times in recent weeks. Almost 5,000 community groups have been set up under its direction.

We want to take something thats really dark right now, with a lot of looming threats all over the place, and turn it into some positive progress, said Kathy Stadler of Indivisible San Diego, one of the local chapters that emerged from the nationwide model.

Iman Salehian is a graphic designer from San Diego who works with Swing Left, an organization focused on electing more progressive candidates to Congress in 2018 and beyond. She said she became involved with Indivisible after attending the Womens March in January.

I did read an Indivisible guide, Salehian said. I think that has formed a lot of people's strategies going forward.

The various resistance efforts are generating a lot of attention locally and nationally, which may contribute to outcomes such as Issa coming out to hear the people outside his office Tuesday for more than an hour.

No matter what side of the political spectrum youre on, people are worried about what the future holds for their health care, Issa told the crowd.

The hubbub outside Issas office was part of a broader effort targeting members of Congress across the nation.

So-called Resist Trump Tuesday protests have been staged in scores of communities every week since the inauguration. Some meetings hosted by Republican members of Congress have showcased angry voters and pushed some lawmakers to cancel or leave early.

Longtime political strategist Bob Shrum said he has not seen the Democratic Party so energized since the Vietnam War. He said that if the momentum keeps up, turnout for the midterm election will soar.

People really care, and they are reacting to events, said Shrum, who teaches political science at the University of Southern California. Republican members of Congress, especially in districts that are reasonably competitive, ignore this at their own peril.

Shrum said the Trump resistance is similar to the tea party not only because participants employ many of the same strategies but because they each grew out of public concern over access to health care. But this latest movement, he said, is more organic.

This is spontaneous, he said. Its like the womens march. This is coming from grass roots. Its coming from the bottom up. The tea party was a mix. It was somewhat from the bottom up but there was a lot corporate money spent too.

Former tea party leader Mason Weaver does not see many similarities between the two efforts. He said the Trump resistance is fueled by an orchestrated drive to de-legitimize a change-agent president and noted the violence that has erupted at some recent protests.

We didnt get paid to demonstrate. We didnt break windows. We didnt start fires, said Weaver, who is an author and keynote speaker. I dont see a groundswell. I see liberal-trained people who are generally dissatisfied.

Weaver said the town-hall meetings his teams attended were always respectful.

Disallowing people to talk was never part of the tea party, he said. Many of these folks are just organized as a mob.

Hundreds of people are expected to attend upcoming events by Hunter and Rep. Susan Davis, D-San Diego.

And Rep. Scott Peters, D-San Diego, held a town hall at constituents urging on Monday night. He said it used to be difficult to get people interested in attending such gatherings.

Unfortunately, it took the election of Donald Trump to remind people that we are fighting for democracy, Peters said.

At the town hall without Issa Tuesday night,Vista resident Minna Riber, 75, said she has not been political since the civil rights movement in the 1960s but she is now.

If I drop dead right now, I know I would have done something I had to do, she said standing outside theoverflow event in Vista. We are a participatory democracy. This is what democracy looks like.

Staff writers Teri Figueroa and J. Harry Jones contributed to this report

jeff.mcdonald@sduniontribune.com(619)293-1708@sdutMcDonald

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Resistance to Trump takes some cues from the tea party - The San Diego Union-Tribune