Irony, Now In 55-Gallon Drum Size

I've had several commenters in the last couple of days complain that only "liberal thugs" are causing any violence at the Town Hall Blitzes, and point to the case of one Kenneth Gladney. There are two things wrong with Gladney's situation: the video showing him being "brutallly attacked and assaulted" is fishy as hell, and as Steve Benen reports, the guy has no health insurance because he was laid off.

Yesterday, about 200 conservative activists held a protest outside the SEIU office in St. Louis. Gladney was there -- bandaged and in a wheelchair -- as a featured guest. Some of the activists held signs that read, "Don't Tread on Kenny." Reader R.D. alerted me to this tidbit in the local news account of the protest:

Gladney did not address Saturday's crowd of about 200 people. His attorney, David Brown, however, read a prepared statement Gladney wrote. "A few nights ago there was an assault on my liberty, and on yours, too." Brown read. "This should never happen in this country."

Supporters cheered. Brown finished by telling the crowd that Gladney is accepting donations toward his medical expenses. Gladney told reporters he was recently laid off and has no health insurance. [emphasis added]

Wait, the conservative opponent of health care reform, fighting (literally) to defeat a plan that would bring coverage to those who lose their jobs, lost his coverage because he got laid off?

I'm not in a position to say whether Gladney sustained genuine injuries or whether he's exaggerating for 15 minutes of Fox News fame and a lucrative out-of-court settlement.

Either way, the new right-wing cause celebre needs to take up a collection to pay for his medical bills because he doesn't have health insurance. It's a fascinating sign of the times.

That's correct.

Kenneth Gladney is a hero to people crusading to stop the government from providing affordable health insurance because he was "beaten", chose to seek medical treatment, and has no health insurance to pay for it.

In other words, Kenny doesn't have health insurance because he was laid off and cannot afford health insurance, and he is the symbol of the people who want to keep people like Kenny in that system.

You cannot manufacture this kind of irony. It's thick enough to walk on. You want to talk about voting against your own self-interest, Kenny is apparently voting against his own self-preservation.