Attacking a staffer? Harassing a pregnant woman? All in a day's work for the opposition to health care reform.

Now, let's be clear: we're not talking about those people willing to engage in dialogue, who recognize our health care system is broken and want to figure out the best way to fix it. We're talking about members of a group that refer to themselves as the "Tea Party Coalition." These extreme right wing activists will go to any lengths to disrupt productive dialogue, and dominate the public conversation--including harassment, intimidation, and physical violence.

Members of this "Tea Party Coalition" showed up to an event last week at the Senator Shaheen and Rep. Carol Shea-Porters' office, where we were peacefully demonstrating our appreciation for their support for health care reform. Although we had the same right to be there as they did, they yelled, shouted, and tried to make us leave.

Olivia Zink, a pregnant staffer, was also at this demonstration. 9 months pregnant, Olivia was sitting down and holding a sign demonstrating her support for Senator Shaheen's efforts to move health care reform when several members of the Tea Party Coalition approached her. They started harassing her, yelling and telling her to "stand up for what you believe in."

Watch Olivia tell her story here:

If you watched the video, you'll notice Olivia was asked, "And what happened to John?" John is our state director, who, while peaceably protesting, was struck by one of these partiers. After refusing to give in to their intimidation, his sign was grabbed, and he was hit in the head. For people who want the government to respect their rights, they seem to have an awful hard time respecting the rights of others. The best part? They gloat about it. Here's a firsthand account of the incident, from the website for their 'coalition':

I had a bit of a run in with one of those Idiots when he jumped into the middle of some of our group that were posing for a picture (with his sign) and we exchanged some up close and personal pleasantries where he accidentally got a bump on the head when I went to grab his sign. Oh well, got to have a little fun at these things.

Harassing a pregnant women, hitting someone, threats, and name-calling: all in a day's work for these so-called "patriots." We cannot let them dominate the most important conversation happening in our country today, reforming our health care system, with their shortsighted message of intimidation and fear. These extremists are not serious about anything other than their own fringe agenda.

Hey Tea Party, it's called activism, not intimidation. As we say on the internets, "Ure doing it wrong."

Fed up with disruptive tactics? Sign our pledge for civil dialogue at http://action.seiu.org/townhall.