This week, Remote Area Medical, showed up in Inglewood in South Los Angeles, to provide needed medical care to the uninsured and under-insured. As with the other events, thousands of people showed up.
Dday over at Digby brought up an idea from a reader Fred in the comments section:
Obama should be at this event, talking to people and forcing the media to cover it. He should even invite/dare the three health care CEOs who told Congress they would still use recission to cut costs.
This is a great idea. More below...
As dday over at digby's blog pointed out in the title, there were no protesters at this "Health Care Forum". The New York Times covered it, but most of the media has not. Here is a little of the Times report:
They came for new teeth mostly, but also for blood pressure checks, mammograms, immunizations and acupuncture for pain. Neighboring South Los Angeles is a place where health care is scarce, and so when it was offered nearby, word got around.
For the second day in a row, thousands of people lined up on Wednesday — starting after midnight and snaking into the early hours — for free dental, medical and vision services, courtesy of a nonprofit group that more typically provides mobile health care for the rural poor.
Like a giant MASH unit, the floor of the Forum, the arena where Madonna once played four sold-out shows, housed aisle upon aisle of dental chairs, where drilling, cleaning and extracting took place in the open. A few cushions were duct-taped to a folding table in a coat closet, an examining room where Dr. Eugene Taw, a volunteer, saw patients.
This is the kind of political theater that would not only be a great photo op for Obama, but it would shine a bright light on the sorry state of our health care system (despite the heroic work of Remote Medical).
Dday conceded that "the Malkinites will start looking up the addresses of those being helped [to see] if they have cell phones or TVs or granite countertops", but who cares. "I think the witness of this giant line of thousands of people with no outlet but to practically beg for health care would swamp the nonsense, " wrote dday.
Despite this desperate need for reform, the rabid right has unfortunately made some headway with independents with their astroturf campaigns. This would be a great way to get the momentum back. I don't think there is a better case to be made for changing the system than to show average Americans, many of them who have insurance. Obama is already out west anyway, and I think it would provide a great thrill to the doctors and patients alike.
What do y'all think?
By the way, you can contribute to Remote Area Medical here
Update:
I forgot to put this in there. Obama has shown up to these before, just not while they were going on. Maybe that was by design to not interfere with this organizations important work.
Stan Brock, Remote Area Medical’s founder and among the many khaki-wearing volunteers in the arena, said his organization’s intent was not to become part of the health care debate, but to do what it had done for nearly 25 years: offer charity to people in need. Still, the group attracted attention last month when President Obama visited Bristol, Va., just days after it held a health care event in nearby Wise, Va.
"My position on the Obama plan is that I am delighted to see so much focus on the health care issue," Mr. Brock said. "There is incredible focus on what we do, but that is not my doing."
I suspect the Times, always wanting to appear "fair and balanced", included this quote:
"Regardless if you are employed or not," Ms. Garcia said, "everything in California is expensive, and so I can empathize with everyone here. Looking at this crowd, I think this is what people fear health care is going to be with reform. But to me it also shows the need."
There were most likely several other more heart-wrenching testimonials, oh well.