Massachusetts is thank goodness, a very liberal state. Here we are of course represented by Senators Kennedy and Kerry and a for the most part liberal, all Democratic congressional delegation. Our African-American Governor Deval Patrick went to Harvard Law prior to his friend Barack Obama. Both houses of our state legislature have been majority Democratic for many years now. We were so famously the first state to legalize same sex marriage. We have an, albeit weak, version of universal health care in place. Today, when the wingnuts came out to play, we were ready for them.
Congresswoman Niki Tsongas of the fifth district, representing Lowell and vicinity, held a town hall meeting about health care today at the Chelmsford town hall gymnasium. While Congressman Jim McGovern of the third district held a meeting in Worcester earlier this week, Tsongas is the only other congress person in Massachusetts who has meetings scheduled for this recess. Considering the hostile tenor that such meetings have engendered it was brave of her to move forward and hold her meeting. She is also planning a second one with date and details to be announced.
When I arrived at 9:30 for the 10:00 am meeting there was a crowd of over 100 waiting for the doors to open. Both sides were well represented as people handed out literature and signs. I took a well printed sign from a Service Employees International Union (SEIU) member who had a number of them. It said "Health Insurance Reform for All", which is pretty weak by my standards but I decided it was better than nothing and that it would get the point across. One thing is sure about the other side: they make lousy signs. Definitely all the artist and creative types are on our side! Of course someone from Winglandia was sporting the large photo of Obama with Hitler's mustache. Sadly I guess that is becoming required signage with this group. Someone told me that it is the Lyndon LaRouche nuts who are supplying that particular piece of handiwork. There was someone handing out slick, glossy LaRouche literature, to use the term literature loosely. It said something or other about Nazis of course. The person handing it out was pretty much babbling incoherently. At least I wasn't able to make any sense of whatever she was trying to say. It was sad.
I heard one of the two police officers on hand say that the gym held 200. Once the doors were opened it filled up fast. All seats were taken and people stood along one of the sides and along the back. There were sign in sheets on which people entered their names, towns, and phone numbers but as the event unfolded it proved obvious that this in no way deterred these people from acting like complete idiots. Well actually, I don't think they were acting.
Tsongas provided coffee and doughnuts which those on the right devoured like locusts. Doughnuts were the only thing about Tsongas that they liked. I don't think most of us on the left were thinking about food. And I didn't want to be holding hot coffee in close proximity to such angry people. And they were angry. What a drag to be so possessed by so much anger.
When Tsongas started she said that there were an equal number of people outside who were not able to fit in the room. It quickly became clear to me, based on audience reaction to her comments, that we were well represented. I'd say that the audience was about 60% lunatics to 40% in favor of health care reform.
Tsongas did a great job of explaining the bill and dispelling the myths that are reality for those on the right. She supports the public option. She made that quite clear. She spoke for about twenty minutes and then took questions. The rabid right in attendance held true to their reputation for rabidity. They screamed, they yelled, they booed. They set a new standard for interruption of public discourse. But they didn't win. There were plenty of us there who shushed them and who clapped whenever Tsongas made an important point. They did not own the room.
They were loud. They were juvenile. They were thuggish. Their anger was so extreme that they seemed capable of violence. Now I know what happened to all those problem kids who caused so much trouble in middle school. They "grew up" to populate America's right wing.
But as I said, they did not win the day. Niki Tsongas held her own. And we were there for her. The bad guys will have to try again another day.
This is a first diary.