A Health Care "Pep Rally"

An ominous, overcast sky cast a gloom over Mundy's Mill High School, site of Rep. David Scott's (D) GA District 13, "Health Fair" as it was billed on the school's website. This was his fifth annual event and the first held here at this newly built school. The school is modern and in immaculate condition. Just the place to hold this type of event.

Upon arriving at the entrance to the school's massive parking lot, the first thing one notices is the rather large and very obvious police presence. There were uniformed officers in plain view at every possible location in and around the school. Dozens of cruisers line the drives and are placed strategically at the front and sides of the school as well. There were several TV remote trucks and a dozen camera crews mingling and setting up for live shots and taped footage to be played later on the local broadcasts. There were even a few radio trucks sent there by local stations to do their own reporting. One Station, KISS FM, was blaring James Brown at levels reminiscent of concerts I'd attended in the past. Papa's got a brand new bag indeed! My initial sense of the event was that of a carnival any school would hold to raise money or awareness on the importance of staying away from drugs or some such cause. I half expected to see face painting displays and a dunking booth.

As I parked, I noticed two women getting out of there car just down the row from me. They were obviously senior citizens and both were carrying small signs showing their opposition to reform. One wore a red, white and blue hat with a placard in the front with Obama's name in a circle with a line through it.

Who ya gonna call? Obama Busters!

I walked across the parking lot and spied to my left a row of seven school buses. Ordinarily this wouldn't raise an eye on a school campus but these buses were from another school district. Besides, Clayton County, where the event is held, parks their buses at a central lot to prevent theft or damage. These had obviously been used to bring in large groups of people. "Which groups did they carry?", immediately sprung to mind. I approached the school from the left side and as I came around the corner, I was met by a young woman wearing a Moveon.org shirt. She immediately asked me to sign a petition supporting the president's reform initiative. I made an excuse that I was here to watch and evaluate and not to choose sides. This was true actually. I had made the choice not to prejudge the event in any way. I wanted only to listen and watch to know what I had seen.

It was a rather large crowd and the parking lot was full after all with cars parked on the grounds surrounding the school as well. I'm not sure what I expected to see as I walked around the corner of the school. I'd seen the raucous videos and heard the loud, angry sound bites on the news for weeks. As I walked across the front of the school, what was obvious first was the diversity in the crowd--blue collar, white collar, white, black, asian etc. At first blush, it looked like a good cross section of the residents of Congressman Scott's district. I live in his district and I'm well aware of the demographics relating to race, income and the like.

I strode past the line waiting to gain entry to the school and was again asked to sign a petition. This time, by a young man in a Moveon.org shirt. I shook my head and walked past two men who were talking, they were within earshot so I shot my ears their way.

"I'm going back to the bus. I ran out of stickers. You need anything?" said the first man, probably in his mid 30's to an older gentleman.

"No, I'm ok right now. I'm gonna need more signs though before he gets started."

"I'll just get another box and you can pass them out."

This entire event was beginning to take on a very slick, very organized feel and I had only been there ten minutes so far. I saw a few signs being carried by the attendees in line. They were overwhelmingly in support and most were the kind of signs I had just heard mentioned. Most of the hand painted or made signs I saw were in opposition. The few that seemed in favor made no mention of health care. One read "Racism is UnAmerican" and another read "Stupidity is a pre-existing condition" I suspect these two individuals arrived with an agenda beyond that of health care reform. I walked casually, taking pictures randomly of the scene and the crowd. I walked further down the line, taking in the conversations as best I could from the distance I had chosen to stay from the crowd.

One gentleman, wearing a t-shirt with the words;

"Masters of
Observing
Bullxxxx"

an obvious reference to the "angry mobs" we've all been hearing about in the news, was having a rather spirited debate with the woman behind him about reform. It was passionate but respectful on both sides. They both felt strongly about their positions and neither seemed moved by the other's argument. My curiosity finally got the better of me and I had to go inquire of the man carrying the sign about racism why he chose that particular sign.

I approached him and asked if he minded answering a few questions. I explained I was writing a blog and just wanted to ask him a few basic questions. I had already picked three basic questions beforehand to maintain a semblance of impartiality. The questions I wanted to ask, I thought, would give me and anyone who might read this, a sense of who was really attending and where they stood on the issue.

His name was Eric Smith and he was from Decatur, as were the three friends he was standing with. It's important to note here that Decatur, where these four men were from, is not in the 13th district. At last, I had stumbled upon the "astro-turf" I had heard so much about. He explained that his sign was in response to the swastika that had been spray painted on Congressman Scott's Smyrna office sign. When asked if he expected that kind of sentiment at this event he replied,

"When don't you see it? It's everywhere now man." He turned to one of his friends just then and said, "Look at Bubba Gump over there with the sign."

I turned to see what he was talking about and saw a young black man carrying a sign that read, "Obama = Socialism". He turned back to me and I asked him if he'd read the bill to which he replied, "I don't need to read the bill, that's what them people in Washington are supposed to do." A woman in front of him, who had been listening to us, spoke up as well, "Who can understand that gobbledy-gook anyway? It's not like they're speaking a language any of us can understand is it?" I joked with her that she was right and that Congress had stopped speaking English a long time ago. Thanking them for their time I sauntered further down the line and caught these words as I passed a man in line talking to someone holding a clipboard,

"Now why would I sign that if I don't even know what it stands for?"

Intrigued, I wandered over and waited for the clipboard carrier to move off. I asked the gentleman his name and if he'd mind a few questions.

"My name is Tim and that kool-aid drinker was wasting my time. He wants me to sign a petition but won't tell me what it's a petition for. Stupid Moveon people think everyone thinks like they do." He explained that he lived in Clayton county and was here to ask questions and maybe learn something new. His tone suggested he doubted that but he had come anyway.

"I just want someone to tell me why we have to do it right now and how the hell we're gonna pay for it. I've got health insurance and I don't need Obama messing with it."

Curious about the petition he was asked to sign, I walked over to the young man carrying the clipboard and asked him for a few moments of his time. He was more than courteous and smiled broadly saying, "Anything for the press!"

I explained that I was just writing a blog and the term "press" might not apply in this instance. He simply smiled and told me to ask away.

Miguel Santiago was a member of Moveon.org and had been bused here today from Decatur along with about 25 fellow members to get petitions signed and to pass out signs and stickers in support of the president's reform initiative. He'd been with Moveon for about two years and explained that his resistance to the Iraq war had drawn him in to better organize his protestations of it. When asked if the Congressman had had any involvement in having his people out here today he said,

"Not directly but we can't let this opportunity pass by. We have to get out and stop the lies that the right is telling about health care reform. There are people out there dying because they have no insurance and it's time to stop it. Time to make it better."

He said that someone from his local chapter had contacted the Congressman's office and asked how they could help.

"And here we are!" he said cheerfully.

It was at this moment that my objectivity began to slip as I realized that the organization, the astro-turfing was all one sided indeed and it was the left that was doing it. I met one supporter of health care reform that actually lived in the district. That's not to say that there weren't more but in the unscientific sampling I took, it shook out this way;

For reform - out of 8 people I talked to, only one lived in the district.

Against reform - out of 7 people I talked to all but one lived in the district. (The one from outside the district had grown up in Clayton county and was here with family members who still did.

The only coordination I saw was from Moveon.org and they brought a myriad of people to sway opinion. I stayed for the panel discussion and the town hall but watched the first 15 questions come from people who had been preselected and placed in the front row. Questions were taken for the first 45 minutes by a lottery system and not asked of the audience. The Congressman answered most of these questions with the same talking points that the President had been using.

"If you like your health care, you keep your health care."
"This is not a government take over of health care."
"No one wants to come between you and your doctor."

The one interesting thing he said that drew boos from the crowd was that he intended to pay for reform but taxing the top 1% of earners who can," Afford to give us a helping hand in this."

I turned and walked away knowing that I wasn't going to hear anything of any substance here today. If the Congressman truly thinks punishing the wealthy by excessive taxation is really "giving a helping hand" then there was no further reason to stay.

No, I'm not a journalist. My ability to spot bullshit from a mile away makes being objective in the face of that kind of stupidity impossible.