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August Reports From Castor, Massa & Edwards Events

Ellen E. reports from the Kathy Castor event in Florida that turned ugly:

The best sign I saw was held by an elderly gentleman.  It read "If I had Obama’s healthcare, I’d be dead by now".  Do these people even know what Medicare is or are they just beyond facts and reason?   Sorry I could not report more.  Castor should have planned better the crowd was huge, and I think think that our side made a good showing.

Eric G. reports that Eric Massa would vote against H.R. 3200 in its current form:

Wide range of ages, about evenly split male/female and pro/anti-reform. Many of the anti’s were affiliated with WeSurroundRochester, which apparently is the local chapter of a Glenn Beck inspired group. These were the least civil participants.

I’d say about 40% were friendly and 60% unfriendly. Friendly questioners were often shouted down with "Ask a question!", while unfriendlies often gave little speeches or asked gotcha questions based on some strange interpretations of the bill, or reality. Massa did a fairly good job of answering, under what must have been fairly intimidating conditions.

He is not a fan of HR3200 and said that he would vote against it in its current form. He is particularly unhappy with the "savings" being taken out of Medicare.

The atmosphere was tense, but in no way was the meeting shut down. It definitely helped that as many pro-reformers showed up as did.

 Mary Beth O. was at the Donna Edwards event:

Clearly there were teabagger plants there with scripts, including:  a lobbyist type waiting in the front row, a PA from Suburban Hospital (MoCo), some AMA type who showed up with a prop of stacked paper wrapped in red ribbon.  Fox loved that last guy.   All of the plants got TV interviews.

Of course the did.

Thanks to everybody who reported back about what happened at the events they attended.  You can sign up for events here, and  report back here.

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Jane Hamsher

Jane Hamsher

Jane is the founder of Firedoglake.com. Her work has also appeared on the Huffington Post, Alternet and The American Prospect. She’s the author of the best selling book Killer Instinct and has produced such films Natural Born Killers and Permanent Midnight. She lives in Washington DC.
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