On the same day that the unions and their thugs officially entered the fray, violence has broken out at a town hall meeting on health care in Tampa.

No word on who started it, but it wouldn’t make very much sense for Republicans — already being falsely accused of being “mobs” by liberals — to start violence as they’re winning the fight through peaceful means already. The only group that would be desperate enough to get violent at this point would be the losing side, which would be the liberals.

Several of the protestor’s 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…

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.

He and his wife, Kathy, were outside the meeting room when organizers tried to close the doors. Randy Arthur and others tried to stop them “and he didn’t give up,” Kathy Arthur said.

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…

“They’re hiding from their constituents. She works for us and needs to listen,” said Karen Jaroch, a Tampa homemaker and organizer for the 9-12 Project, set up by rightist TV commentator Glenn Beck.

Needless to say, the media will turn this into a story about Republicans utilizing violence in the debate and how right Nancy Pelosi was about “mobs” — regardless of who’s actually responsible. If we find out it was a liberal who started it, either the story will be dropped or the detail ignored.

Like I said, Republicans have nothing to gain by getting violent in a fight they’re already winning peacefully. That’s an act of desperation, which isn’t the state of the right on ObamaCare. And the Democrats are arguing that the people opposed to ObamaCare that are attending these meetings are just tools of Washington lobbyists. The smart, wealthy lobbyists are instructing employees to get violent and create bad press to win the argument? Makes no sense.

It seems terribly convenient that this occurs just as unions and the left have announced that they’ll begin fighting back at these town halls. Suddenly, after peaceful earlier meetings monopolized by righties, things get violent? Hmm.