This post would be more aptly titled, "My Experience with Ron Klein's Staff" since the congressman didn't deem his lowly constituents worthy of his presence today. Sure, they explained that this was never supposed to be a "Town Hall" but rather their routine monthly meeting at the Lighthouse Point Library, where Klein's representatives typically meet with voters to presumably listen to their concerns.
Let's for a moment accept their explanation as valid, and assume they speak the truth. The fact of the matter is, Democrats in Congress like Klein, led by "King Obama" (as many in the crowd of 200+ referred to him) have been relentlessly beating the drum that "our healthcare system is broken," and that the sky is going to fall in if our moral superiors in D.C. don't ram Obamacare down our throats. If the situation from their perspective is so dire, isn't that all the more reason for Klein to act like a man and plead his case, even if he doesn't normally attend these monthly gatherings? To listen to the voices of opposition and have a real dialogue (to use one of liberals' favorite words) with the people he purports to represent? Or is that we now have an "Imperial Congress," led by Queen Pelosi that knows what's best for us peasants, who damn well better learn our place in the new Obama regime pecking order?
If that's the case, the peasants in question obviously didn't receive the edict because over 200 hundred of them vocally and forcefully stood up for freedom today, armed with some of the most disturbing provisions of the bill. As several took their place at the microphone at the front of the room, they displayed not only their palpable anger at Washington D.C. and our president, but also their vast knowledge on the issue. I mentioned before in a previous post that representatives like Klein, Wexler, Nelson and other elected officials had better understand that they are not dealing with MoveOn/ACORN/Obama zombies when it comes to the patriot resistance, but an informed, intelligent majority.
And despite the classic case of liberal media projection, we truly are a grass-roots movement, made up of Constitution-loving Americans of all ages, genders and -- yes liberal media -- even sexual orientation, as affirmed by at least one gentleman who inquired as to whether his HIV treatment would be discontinued as a result of government rationing. There were folks who'd once lived under communist oppression, including women from Iran and Cuba, and a gentleman (my friend Dmitry) from Russia. All fired up the crowd with their true-life horror stories of government-run healthcare. A woman from Canada related her tale about how a life-saving procedure in North Carolina, administered to her husband in an emergency situation while traveling in the US, would never have been allowed in her home country.
We heard from doctors, insurance agents, business-people, senior citizens, homemakers and even young teenagers.
The testimonials were genuine and heartfelt, delivered with an urgency that electrified the crowd. At many points during the two-hour meeting, loud, spontaneous chants of "Vote him out!", "Allen West!" (Klein's conservative challenger in 2010), and "How dumb do you think we are?" (aimed at the staffers) erupted. People would often yell out, "You've awakened a sleeping giant!", "No healthcare coverage for illegals!" and "Vote the bums out!" during the course of an individual's presentation, spurred on by something they'd said and/or read from the bill itself.
When pressed if she'd actually read the bill, one of Klein's staffers responded affirmatively, though many of us, shall we say, had our doubts. In all fairness, she did allow each person their time at the microphone, and at least gave the impression of interest by taking notes, though that didn't occur until my friend Karen angrily called out to her to pay attention, having noticed that the woman was carrying on a private conversation while a constituent was speaking.
Then there was the mother of three sitting behind the set-up at the front of the room who kept banging her shoe on the table, viscerally annoyed by the sheer noise, size and passion of the crowd. She wasn't too happy when one man observed loudly that her gesture was synonymous with the actions of Nikita Khrushchev. I don't know who she was, but it appeared she might have been part of Klein's team.
Be assured: We the People have have had enough and we're not gonna take it anymore! As one man articulated, Obama and the Democrat Congress have no idea what they've done. And perhaps he's right when he states that this is the best thing that could've ever happened to the country because people are off of the couch and involved. To quote another woman, "This is what real community organizing looks like!"
Overall, I came away from the event feeling inspired, though I did have a little incident with an arrogant Sun-Sentinel reporter, Linda Trischitta. She'd asked Ed Lynch, candidate for Congress for FL District 19 (Wexler's opponent) for an interview, prefacing her first question, "Don't you think these events are manipulative? This was never meant to be a Town Hall." Having been standing nearby, I couldn't help but interject, "Manipulative! What is manipulative about citizens exercising their right to free speech and assembly?" Then I walked outside to leave Ed to his response and gather a few remaining patriots, who were immediately angered when I relayed what had transpired.
A few minutes later, we all walked back in and assertively responded to her comment. I asked her why, if the situation is so dire, that Congressman Klein didn't make it his business to be there, and further noted that this is the single biggest domestic issue threatening our freedom at the moment. Therefore, we all have a right to be heard. And when I told her I was quoted in her paper a few weeks ago about my participation in the protests outside of Wexler's office, she sarcastically replied, "How nice for you!" Which of course sums of the attitude of the mainstream media and the Obama Administration rather nicely. Out of respect for Ed and the protesters nationwide who've been falsely accused of violence, I refrained from reacting.
She did admit that she had only been present for the last 10 minutes, before proceeding to grill everyone around her about whether they were a member of an organized group. The old media really is stuck on its own delusional narrative, that's for sure.
Anyway, I also met reporter Andrea Freygang from the local Deerfield paper, Observer, who graciously gave me her card. I will look for her report on their website and add a link as soon as I have it.
Keep up the fight; we are definitely getting under their skin, and we can definitely kill this horrendous piece of legislation before it destroys the best healthcare system in the world. But now is the time to turn up the heat, so stay involved, stay vocal and stay vigilant.
UPDATE: Here's Andrea Freygang's report. And the link to my Facebook photo album.
UPDATE II: Not sure how I missed this, but I just learned from another friend who was in attendance that Klein's staffers actually left behind the forms containing constituents' contact information for the Congressman. Apparently, they were just going through the motions when they passed around the clipboard.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment