At 5:00 p.m. approximately seventy-five people gathered in support of health care reform on the grounds of the Johnson County Courthouse in downtown Warrensburg for a rally and march to the campus of the University of Central Missouri. Two individuals addressed the crowd using a bullhorn.
Six opponents of health care reform also showed up bearing signs. They marched with everyone else. Warrensburg Police escorted the march to the campus.
At the subsequent forum in the University Union there were a number of speakers addressing health care reform from either individual or policy perspectives. There was a question and answer session at the end of the forum.
The communication skills of the small group in opposition left a little to be desired.
Yes, that’s [an image of] President Obama leading the march.
Warrensburg Police officers were on hand to escort marchers the several blocks from the Johnson County Courthouse downtown to the campus of the University of Central Missouri.
At the site of the forum in the University Union on campus people could sign petitions and fill out postcards.
Approximately eighty people attended the forum after the march.
A health care reform supporter.
Sarah Bradshaw, relating the realities of being without health insurance, said, “It floors me how brilliantly broken our system is.”
…We’re not living off the system here. We work, we work our tails off…I worked full time through my bachelors degree. I’m working full time through my graduate degree…I’m still uninsured. I’m twenty seven years old now and I’ve been uninsured since I was sixteen years old, since I got off my mother’s health care…
…It’s either groceries or health care…
…It floors me how absolutely brilliantly broken our system is…In a civilized country I can’t fathom the kind of health care system we’ve been living with for this long…
…People have to choose between food and families for health care. What kind of an option is that? That’s all I want to know…
…My story is not unique…
David Sundberg asked, “Who would Jesus deny health care?”
…I only ask one thing, that, which I’ve seen, that we treat each other courteously. But also that we think. And part of I’m thinking, that I’ve seen is…is referring to the President as nazi or as a communist. And that shows an unremitting ignorance of what life was like under those regimes. [applause] But I do hear cries of “I don’t like socialism.” Well I drove here today on a road built by we the people. [applause] I was well educated in these United States, as were my children. In public schools and public universities. [applause]…Those of us who live, are fortunate to live in this community are fortunate to have a good police service, fire service paid for by. [applause] We are the people. We are the government…We are the government. [voice: “We the people.”][applause]…
Great article, great pics!
You got some cajones people!
I grew up in Farmington, but refuse to return. I cannot imagine organizing a march like that in BFE. You do have the U and that helps, but the % of rednecks is SO high in those areas, it is amazing there wasn’t a beef.
Courage and determination were shown by these folks!
Is there an image that better captures the spirit of the tea-bagger opponents to health care reform than Mr. Bersin’s photo above?
I doubt it.
Just take a look at this masterpiece:
On the far right, we see a perfect example of the communication skills exhibited by the anti’s. Isn’t red text scrawled on an orange background the exact visual equivalent of shouting incoherently in a town hall? It’s offensive to the senses, but conveying no actual content… in other words it’s perfect.
In the middle, we have a proud opponent of “Obamacare” who hides his face behind his sign. (A sign that is actually an inverted “diver down” scuba flag, not the universal sign of prohibition, btw.) In any event, both guys on the right are real sharp sportin’ that sexy, sexy t-shirt-jammed-into-jeans look.
But the embodiment of the tea-bagger movement is the doofus on the left. His sign is not only upside-down, it’s an inferior derivative of the sign of the shy fellow in the middle. But the crowning symbol of this bagger meat-head has to be his Dallas Cowboys cap.
The Dallas Cowboys is a Texas team of millionaire criminals and hooligans that purports to be “America’s Team”. He paid cash-money to wear the corporate colors of a business located hundreds of miles away. A corporation who’s events this goof will never be able to afford to see live. (How do I know? If you can’t hold a sign right side up, you will probably never be a high-income individual.)
Q: What could better embody the faux-populist corporate opposition to real health care for every American, than a supporter of the Dallas Cowboys?
A: A supporter of the Dallas Cowboys holding his sign upside-down.
— MrJM
And I’m still gonna fight for affordable health care for these dumb asses.