Town Hall Timeline
6:20 pm I found a parking space, parked the car and started walking towards the school.
6:50 pm There was a long line to get in. Interns were screening people to make sure that everyone was in Jim Moran’s district. Various organizations from both sides were handing out propaganda. People were holding up signs for and against health care. Organizing for America was handing out signs to supporters of health care reform. The signs said “Health Care reform now” on one side and “Thank You” on the other.
7:00 pm I got inside the town hall and took a seat. It was a packed high school gym. It was a little hot on the floor and a little cool in the bleachers. There were a ton of cameras. Fox News, CNN, and a local TV station were at the town hall. There was a 20 foot projector screen set up and fold up chairs on the floor of the gym facing an elevated stage with a podium and a long table with chairs beside it.
7:05 pm Jim Moran and Howard Dean walk into jeers and cheers. It takes the crowd a while to settle down. Jim Moran sets some basic ground rules and receives some jeers and cheers. A rabbi was asked to pray and during the prayer there are jeers and cheers.
7:15 pm Jim Moran outlined the itinerary for the town hall. More jeers and cheers.
7:30 pm Jim Moran went over a list of 11 “Myths of Health Care Reform.” Describes many myths of reform and where in the bill they originated and what the bill really says.
8:15 pm Jim Moran introduces Howard Dean. Cheering and Jeering continues for about 7 or 8 minutes. People get on chairs and start shouting and screaming at Howard Dean, Jim Moran, and at each other. An anti-abortion activist stands on a chair and starts yelling insults and chants at the top of his lungs and this prohibits Jim Moran from proceeding with the Town Hall. A few of his followers and a health care reform supporter start shoving each other behind him. Jim Moran offers the activist the opportunity to speak for 5 minutes if he calms down but he refuses. Security escorts him out and the cameras follow him.
8:30 pm Howard Dean gives a brief statement during which there are loud jeers and cheers. Jim Moran explains the rules for the Q&A session. Questions that the town hall participants submitted when they were in line have been separated into boxes. One box is for questions from people who support reform and the other is from people who don’t support reform.
Jim Moran alternates boxes when he selects the questions. Jim Moran reads the beginning of the question and the name of the questioner then he asks the questioner to come to the microphone and finish their question. It starts off well but some anti-reformers start impersonating questioners and the crowd erupts into jeers and shouts. After about an hour of Q&A I leave the town hall.
A lot of the shouts were coming from the same people. Whenever it got quiet a few people just start shouting "catchphrases"
Here are some of the shouts I heard:
"Don't tread on me"
"No Communism"
"God will save America"
"Serve the constitution"
"Fire Pelosi"
"Tell that to Pelosi"
"Cut Taxes"
"Read the bill" (This is the one most often chanted, even after Jim Moran read the bill)
"You don't pay for it"
"Bull shit"
"Jim Moran Sucks"
"Medicare Sucks"
"Fuck You" (accompanied by double fisted birds)
and my personal favorite "Go Skins"
The sad part is that there were some great questions that were asked about Medicare and Tort reform but the hecklers managed to instigate a shouting match with the health care supporters and I don't think that anyone was able to hear Howard Dean's responses.
Here are some questions I heard and the answer that Howard Dean gave to the questions:
Q:How can we achieve universal health care without a public option?
Dean's answer : Only two countries in the world have universal health care without the government providing insurance. The countries are Switzerland and the Netherlands. They accomplish this by regulating health care like a common good, like water or electricity. They cap CEO salaries and cap the amount of money a person can spend on health care. They require all citizens to get health care.
Q: A lot of people believe that tort reform is the best way to reduce health care costs, why is there no tort reform in H.R. 3200?
Dean's answer: Because the trial lawyers would fight it and the bill already has too many enemies (Shockingly honest). He then suggested a compromise where the government would research and establish a National Advisory that would set a universal standard for medical practice. Then he went into a very detailed legal process through which doctors accused of malpractice would go through. He said that the people in congress he has presented the plan to did not like it.
Overall, it was an enlightening experience but it left me very discouraged about any future prospects for civil discourse on critical issues. Most people came to the town hall with their minds made up and they were primarily there to scream and yell in front of the TV cameras. The crowd was about 60-40 in favor of supporters but it only took a few anti-health care people to incite a screaming match with those in favor of reform.
I don't know why these Congressmen put up with the ruckus. Jim Moran set up good rules for the audience to follow but the rules weren't enforced when people broke them and that just led to chaos. The police should have the authority to escort hecklers out of town halls when they are being disruptive.
I am going to another town hall on the September 2nd and hopefully this one will be a little more civil but I am not hopeful. It is in a district that is much more evenly divided than my district which is more liberal ( I am going to use an old address to get in). I would like to see some progress on this debate because health care is an important issue. If you made it this far then you must really love me.
Movies
I forgot how amazingly well Lucas made Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. I watched it tonight with my Dad and I noticed something about the ending that I didn't catch before.
There is a scene where both Anakin and Padme are receiving medical treatment for life threatening conditions. There are some obvious similarities between there state of beings, for instance, their conditions were brought about by unnatural circumstances and they were caused by people that were close to them.
What I didn't notice was that they were both birth and death scenes. With Padme it is easy to see Luke and Leigh were born and Padme died but with Vader it is a little more subtle. For one Lucas positions Anakin with his legs spread as if he is giving birth. He also cuts away from scenes of Anakin screaming in pain as his mechanical parts are being assembled to scenes of Padme screaming as she delivers the twins. He also cuts from the scene of Padme naming the twins and then subsequently dying to the scene where Vader puts on his infamous mask.
Contrary to what I previously surmised, Lucas defines this moment as the point where Anakin Skywalker dies and Darth Vader is born. The entire process of healing Vader looks more like someone fixing a car than it does someone being healed. He has become a machine and has lost all of his humanity and that is the biggest difference between Anakin and Vader.
Okay yea that was a bit too much thinking about Star Wars but I love the series and I love the how George Lucas uses extraordinary visuals devices scene to explore and express his view of the human condition and social order.
