Fringe Maybe? Health Care Reform and Dachau.

An image (via dailykos.com) of a banner at today's Republican Party sponsored and attended protest against health care reform in the capital.

Jed Lewison writes:

Keep in mind that this wasn't some Glenn Beck-organized 9/12 stunt. This was an event staged by the House Republican leadership -- actual elected officials, members of the U.S. government.

Other Republican members of Congress were on stage, too: Minority Leader John Boehner (OH), Minority Whip Eric Cantor (VA), Roy Blunt (MO), Jeb Hensarling (TX), Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA), Michele Bachmann (MN) -- who was a key organizer of the event -- Virginia Foxx (NC), Ginny Brown-Waite (FL), Jean Schmidt (OH), Sue Myrick (NC), and many more.

If Republicans wonder why most Americans view them as part of the fringe extreme, they need not look beyond this event. While Democrats were touting the endorsement of AARP, Michele Bachmann and the House leadership were rallying amidst signs like this, shoulder to shoulder with 2,000 teabaggers.

This week, I claimed that the pro life event I attended last Saturday, complete with rubber fetus models, potatoes shaped like fetuses and a giant paper-mache image of the cartoon character Umberto the Unborn, all struck me as fringe. I received a lot of flack for it from "pro-life" groups.

That these groups and gatherings are warranted so much media attention, credibility and influence over public discourse is outrageous and, frankly, a sad chapter in the history of our media and our politics.