Unlike Republicans, Democrats do not as a rule pre-screen their Town Hall meetings to include only those that agree with them. This is now being exploited by AstroTurfers that are being bussed into the districts where Democratic legislators are hoping to hear from their constituents with the sole purpose of stifling, rather than facilitating, debate on the issue.

 It occurs to me that this can be easily thwarted without having to resort to anti-democratic Republican-style tactics. Since these meetings are for the purpose of representatives hearing from their constituents, then just limit attendance to those that actually live in the district. This would eliminate the "professional disrupters" that are being bussed from meeting to meeting for no other purpose than to prevent conversation and debate. People could then be known by their own communities as either facilitative of, or averse to, democratic debate. After all, it's a bit more intimidating and a lot less rewarding to be a complete jerk in front of your own neighbors, especially when your only goal is to keep them from being heard or answered.