What if residents of the key states in this debate staged peaceful, sit-ins in the offices of the respective Senators and Representatives blocking reform?
It doesn't take many people to do this at a local office of one of these politicians. A dozen or so would be fine along with a press release that gets sent out just before the event.
People would need to be trained in civil disobedience and need legal support, but it's all doable.
It means small groups forming in key states to do the actions and provide the backup support. The great thing is it doesn't take many resources.
Yes, the risk of arrest is there, so this isn't for everyone.
Sit-ins would certainly get media attention, show the difference between peaceful dissent and town-hall style thuggery and show our elected officials that we take the health care debate seriously enough to get arrested and spend time in jail. I live in Connecticut and am willing to do this. We need people in Nebraska, Montana, North Dakota, Maine, Louisiana, and Oregon as well.
This kind of action is part of a long history of civil disobedience since the 1960s and been used most recently for AIDS protests. You'd be following in the footsteps of many of the heroes of this country by simply sitting down on your rear-end.
If people are seriously interested, contact me offline at gregg.gonsalves@gmail.com since discussions about all of this can't really be done publicly.