A disorganized yet audible grassroots movement is finally springing up among the Democratic populace.
A number of separate citizens actions, aimed at building public support for President Obama's health care reform, have taken place in recent weeks -- and we hope more will come.
About 1,000 union workers and others marched last week in support of Obama's health care reform package outside of the glitzy DC Ritz Carlton, where health insurance execs met to discuss their industry's future. Activists wrapped a yellow "Corporate Crime" banner around the Ritz to convey their frustration with insurers' greed.
[Personal note: Hartford would have been a better place for health insurance companies to meet but I guess it made sense to host the conclave in DC since the execs are busy lobbying the capitol around the clock these days. But did it even occur to the organizers to move the meeting to a less jazzy site given the politics of the day? Someone in PR at Cigna or Aetna should lose his or her job.]
Then there is the newfound Coffee Party. CNN aired a story late last week about the Coffee Party, a citizens organization founded by a woman named Annabel Lee to counter the Tea Party.
The aim is not to advance progressive liberal policy per se but to advance civilized and intellectual public discourse about national issues. In other words, the organization aims to (advance progressive liberal ideas :)) and more importantly, snuff out the Tea Party's extreme tactics -- such as shouting out corporate-created nonsense at Town Hall meetings and foolish signs of Obama bearing a Hitler-like 'stash. The first series of coffee shop meetings were held across the country on March 14 and a national event is planned for March 27.
[Personal note: Attacking the Tea Party's anti-intellectual bent is an effective tactic -- if done correctly. The Nazi Party borrowed the word Socialist for its official naming but Nazism is fascism, which is very different from socialism. The Tea Party cannot expect reasonable people to consider their fears about socialism seriously when they don't know the difference between socialism and Nazism. If Dick Armey does not find it important to educate his troops about the difference, we know the purported mission statement is bogus.]
These recent events are very encouraging, and hopefully will help spark massive counter-protests against the corporate machine running the nation. Maybe we should thank Dick Armey's ProgressWorks Republican lobbying group for igniting Democratic public involvement after all.
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