Tonight, along with what i would guess was well over 1000 other people, i attended Brian Baird's Town Hall Meeting in Southwest Washington. A gentleman in the parking lot was holding an "Obama As Hitler" sign and asked, "So how do you like your Nazi President?" This encounter pretty much met my expectation of what i would see upon entering the venue. But once seated, i was completely unprepared for the "Fox News" assault as the Q&A began.
While there were certainly a number of Single Payer and Public Option advocates, it saddens me to my core to report that the majority of those in attendance seemed to be plucked straight from the audience of Hannity, O'Reilly and Beck. There were many cries of Socialism, several references to illegals, one plea to refrain from killing grandma, much talk about reading the Constitution, something i couldn't even get a grip on about AmeriCorps reprogramming our children, a chilling Heil Hitler outburst, and lots of government-is-evil-and-i-don't-want-its-hands-on-my-SUV-much-less-my-healthcare rhetoric. One young man, speaking with great bombast into the microphone, proclaimed, "I'd rather be a dead patriot than a living thief."
If nothing else, this Town Hall really confirmed my worst fears about how effective the anti-reform disinformation campaign has been. To his credit, Congressman Baird really kept his cool with what seemed to me to be a mostly hostile crowd. He did his best to correct the misinformation as it was presented to him, but this was not a gathering where facts were held in very high regard. To give you an example, when one of the facilitators, the name of whom escapes me, mentioned how alarming our infant mortality rate is compared to a number of other countries, he was met with jeers and later compared (with intent to be unflattering) to Michael Moore.
I know this diary won't be here come morning, and that's fine. It's my first diary, and really, its purpose is for me to just get off my chest the horror of what i just experienced. There was a moment when i thought how ironic it was that the current administration is being met with cries of Fascism, when it seemed so clear to me that this grossly ill-informed, impassioned crowd could have just as easily been on the wrong side of history in some of our most challenging global times. If not for the two women in front of me who were obvious reform advocates (one of whom is an insurance claims processor), i think i would have questioned my own sanity in light of the alternate reality i found myself in.
I'm glad i thanked those two women on the way out.
Keep attending the town halls. If nothing else, our applause at the moments of truth can be a powerful statement.
PS: I did not get to ask a question. My number wasn't called.
PPS: I'm going to bed, as i feel wrung out. Perhaps things will look brighter come morning.