Tampa Town Hall On Health Care Reform Led by Rep. Kathy Castor, Disrupted By Violence (VIDEO)

Is this occurring in the United States of America? I cannot believe that many in this country have sunk to such low levels, spurred by people like Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and others. The latest scuffle broke out in downtown Tampa, Fla., this evening and the police was called in to calm down an unruly crowd outside a health care reform town hall meeting. According to local media reports, angry protesters screamed, yelled and banged on windows as officers hurried to guard the entrances to the facility, where U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor was trying to discuss the various health care reform proposals being debated in Congress.  Get this,  many of the hundreds of protesters said that they had been inspired by a conservative activist group promoted by Fox News host Glenn Beck and some received emails from the county Republican party, according to the St. Petersburg Times:

Instead, hundreds of vocal critics turned out, many of them saying they had been spurred on through the Tampa 912 activist group promoted by conservative radio and television personality Glenn Beck. Others had received e-mails from the Hillsborough Republican party that urged people to speak out against the plan and offered talking points to challenge supporters

The Tampa Tribune reports that some of the protesters carried racist caricatures of President Obama and added details of more fights and scuffles:

Several of the protesters' signs bore an image of Obama with his face painted as the Joker, an image that drew protests of racism locally when it appeared on a Web site thought to be associated with the Pinellas Republican party.

There were at least two scuffles between protesters trying to enter and organizers manning the doors. One of those involved in a scuffle, Randy Arthur, of Oldsmar said he was injured by those manning the doors and said he would file a police report... Randy Arthur, who owns an air conditioning service company, later talked to police officers, his knit shirt ripped and a few scratches visible on his chest. "They slammed him into the wall,'' Kathy Arthur said.

This is a shame and if we cannot agree to disagree respectfully, then how can we say that we are a shining example for the whole world to emulate? This is disturbing on so many levels. It is a shame. Why am I not surprised that Glenn Beck and Fox News' names came up in the middle of this show of raucous and racist behavior? If Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes do not take heed of the unrest that Glenn Beck and others on Fox News are fomenting, then they will be in for a rude awakening. I am calling on more advertisers to pull their business from Fox News completely. This is a disgrace. Glenn Beck is no better than a common thug on the streets.