I went to Representative, John Dingell's (D-MI), Town Hall meeting in Romulus, MI this evening. There was so many people that the emcee from the AARP (don't recall his name) said they will have two Town Hall meetings.
Needless to say, the meeting should have been held in a mental institution with Dingell supporters outnumbered by a minimum of 5 to 1.
There was a long line to get into the meeting place. I got a place in the front along with some other Dingell supporters. It didn't matter. Out of approximately 225 people in attendance, at most 40 supported Rep. Dingell.
Also, out of the 225 people in attendance, only 4 were minorities and one was a member of the LaRouche organization.
The crowd was starting to settle down, when someone from the Larouche Pac organization strolled in with the Obama=Hitler sign which the crowd loudly cheered.
Prior to the start of the meeting, pens and paper were handed out. The emcee from AARP asked audience members to fill out questions and submit them and he would take some to Rep. Dingell (the crowd booed loudly, while some screamed "answer my question.")
After the questions were collected, a disabled woman spoke on how she lost her healthcare in December 2008 and since she has pre-existing conditions.
She was greeted with catcalls, interuptions--"I shouldn't have to pay for your healthcare" and "get government healthcare." Zero sympathy from the anti-reformers.
Then came John Dingell. Dingell, in his 80's, went to the podium and immediately a man with his son in a wheelchair came strolling down the aisle.
Now for some reason, the crowd had sympathy towards this man and wanted John Dingell to answer his question which wasn't a question, but was "your healthcare plan is going to take healthcare away from my son and kill him". When Dingell responded, "No, it will not." The man responded "Liar" over and over again. He finally had to be escorted out (but not arrested by police).
When Dingell tried to answer any question, he was interrupted by someone screaming, "Liar", "the goverment is going to kill us when we are older", "the goverment is providing abortion money", etc.
In the audience were the Liberty Counsel, Republicans, Libertarians, Tea-Baggers, Larouchites, anti-abortion activists and some Dingell supporters.
Actually, the Dingell supporters would respond to the lunatics in the audience and stood their ground. Afterward, they had to go in front of the podium as these unhinged people headed for Dingell creating a wall so as to not let these people through. One did get through though and probably will be on all the TV broadcasts tonight.
Also, this was a media laden event. ABC News from New York was in the house and I suspect other national media, too.
When it was over, this gentlemen told me he "couldn't wait for my end of life meeting" with my Doctor, I guess.
Every crazy thing you have heard about this healthcare plan was brought up at Dingell's meeting. When he answered the audience and it wasn't the answer they wanted to hear--they called him Liar, started yelling over him or just booed.
Outside, after the event, there were a few hundred people. Most of them, not appearing to be friendly to John Dingell.
One thing I do know for sure, HR 3200 needs a strong dose of mental health care--especially for those who can't seem to understand that what they believe is false.
Update #1--Thanks for all the comments. I think if there is a Town Hall in your area that you should go. Try to go with a group of people, if not, bring a camera and take pictures to report out.
One other thing, this event and from what I've read in Florida, these groups are now showing up in force that they are outside the event. At our event, they will try to surround supporters of the candidate and debate and degrade you--eventually trying to get you into a physical altercation. I had a couple guys call me a "chicken", "coward" and they told my son, that "your dad is a coward" because I wouldn't stand and listen to their crazy BS.