We are coming down to the home stretch on healthcare, and we have seen the results of the first couple of rounds of crazy that have been sent forth in an effort to stop the process.
In addition to the Town Halls, opponents are flooding the email inboxes of America's "low information" voters with no end of lies. Those emails are getting passed around and around and around, and by now some of them have probably appeared in your inbox.
But it's summer...and who has time to respond to this stuff?
Well, guess what, Gentle Reader: I've already done the hard work for you.
Today's story is an email response that you can send right back to your "inbox friends". It's a reminder of some of the frustrations that we all share in this country and some explanations of what's being proposed...and a few words about socialism, to boot.
So get out there and copy and paste and forward and reply, and let's see if we can't fight the madness, one email at a time.
We've all been hearing the "Town Hall Meeting" stories the past few days, and the images presented have been of gatherings where you might see some current or former official "death panel" for the benefit of the crowd, where the few people who shout the loudest bully the rest into silence, and where threats of physical intimidation are part of the debate.
I attended one of these meetings, and based on what I saw I'm here to tell you that it is possible to hold an event that features none of the images previously described.
Instead, what I say was an event where people asked their questions, the Congressman answered-and from time to time the angry members of the audience got their shout on, too...but not in a way that was able to ever take control of the venue.
There were helpful lessons that can be applied by others who want to have these meetings, and today's conversation examines what can be done to make them work for you, too.
The Advocate quoted GOP Congressman Rodney Alexander about the town halls he's been holding in his district over health care reform:
"We haven't had anybody who's been ugly with us," said U.S. Rep. Rodney Alexander, R-Quitman. "Most people are concerned but nobody has been rude."
Well, I guess the Congressman and I have differing definitions of rude, because one young woman, Caina Munson, was shouted down by some obnoxious "patriotic authentic American" while the Congressman just stood there and let the man verbally abuse one of his constituents (Ms. Munson starts speaking around 2:45): (hat tip to CenLamar)
Perhaps the Congressman would like to offer us his definition of rude?
The Sinning Senator stated that the "angry mob is always welcome at my events" at his Pineville town hall on Saturday. Well ... he held his first town hall since then on Monday morning. I'll let the video do the talking:
Why not call the Sinning Senator and ask why his event in Jefferson Parish was by invitation only? Give 'im a call:
The question had to do with judges. Mr. McCain's answer can viewed below:
All those people clapping are sadly misinformed about legislating from the bench. If they knew of some of the statutory laws of this country, they would DEMAND that judges legislate from the bench by declaring laws unconstitutional. Here's one such issue I suspect that most Americans would appreciate that a judge legislate from the bench:
(1) to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin; or
(2) to limit, segregate, or classify his employees or applicants for employment in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect his status as an employee, because of such individual's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
That sounds all nice and dandy, don't it? It makes it against the law for any employer to discriminate against his employee because of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin of said employee. Well, here's the part that most Americans don't know:
(1) A charge under this section shall be filed within one hundred and eighty days after the alleged unlawful employment practice occurred and notice of the charge (including the date, place and circumstances of the alleged unlawful employment practice) shall be served upon the person against whom such charge is made within ten days thereafter ...
And guess what happens when you don't file that charge within 180 days, folks? You LOSE.
That last link will bring you to a case called Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire Company. From the dissent of Justice Ginsburg:
Lilly Ledbetter was a supervisor at Goodyear Tire and Rubber's plant in Gadsden, Alabama, from 1979 until her retirement in 1998. For most of those years, she worked as an area manager, a position largely occupied by men. Initially, Ledbetter's salary was in line with the salaries of men performing substantially similar work. Over time, however, her pay slipped in comparison to the pay of male area managers with equal or less seniority. By the end of 1997, Ledbetter was the only woman working as an area manager and the pay discrepancy between Ledbetter and her 15 male counterparts was stark: Ledbetter was paid $3,727 per month; the lowest paid male area manager received $4,286 per month, the highest paid $5,236.
Justice Alito, the kind of judge that Senator McCain wants to appoint to the bench, wrote the opinion for the Court ... here's the compassion that strict constructionists have for us ordinary folk:
Ledbetter should have filed an EEOC charge within 180 days after each allegedly discriminatory pay decision was made and communicated to her. She did not do so, and the paychecks that were issued to her during the 180 days prior to the filing of her EEOC charge do not provide a basis for overcoming that prior failure.
How many of y'all know what your co-workers make? Yeah, I thought so ... ain't it scary that Senator McCain wants to put more Alitos on the bench?
Well, yesterday, John McCain held a staged townhall here in Baton Rouge, according to readers who were there. Well, another reader captured most of the event on video. There are three clips that I'm going to show y'all ... the first one is the answer of John McCain to a mother who asked why he doesn't support the 21st Century GI Bill. It was literally, the ONLY critical question asked of Mr. McCain. Here's his answer, which I should note was met with NO APPLAUSE:
Let me also debunk one of his points ... he contends that the 21st Century GI Bill will hurt the military in retaining soldiers. He mentions a study in his rambling, long answer ...
... David Brignac, an Operation Enduring Freedom veteran and Louisiana state captain for VoteVets.org, said the same study shows the military expects a 16 percent increase in recruitment.
"The least it does is cancels it out," Brignac said.
Brignac said he and other veterans are disappointed about McCain's stance on the bill and feel he is telling some military personnel that they deserve more than others.
(I am working with someone who was there this morning to get video ... hopefully, I'll have it sometime tomorrow. - promoted by ryan)
I got there early, hoping to get a seat. However, I began to get the feeling once I sat down that everything was staged. I was directed to go to the crowd seated behind McCain with other veterans.
McCain gave his scripted address and then began to ask for questions. The audience was directed to raise their hands if they had a question.
My moment of realization that this was a sham..... Certain people just stood up and were called on. I thought to myself, "wait but this is random right?" "These people never raised their hands!"
I have never seen such softball questions in my life. These people were clearly planted in the audience. The only thing sweet in all this is I got two interviews with local media. Oh yeah and McCain looked down at my shirt and saw my VoteVets lapel pin when we shook hands :)
UPDATE: CenLamar has more ... including a question for McCain, whom they call McSame, on why he has yet to sign onto a proposal for rebuilding the 9th Ward.
Well, it turns out that presumptive Republican nominee John McCain will be coming to Louisiana this week. He starts off with a rally in Kenner, LA on Tuesday night. Then he follows that up with a Town Hall meeting Wednesday morning here in Baton Rouge. After that Town Hall event, he's holding a fundraiser in Baton Rouge, where you can shell out $1000 to $2300 to sit down in the same room as him for lunch. The more you pay, the closer you get. If you click on the links, they will take you to a page where you can RSVP to attend the event(s).
I am hopeful that many of you readers in Baton Rouge will use the fact that he's holding a Town Hall meeting here in town to ask him some pointed questions about his views. Here are some news articles to get y'all started:
John McCain Opposes Minimum Wage Increase John McCain Lets Lobbyists Shape HIS Economic Policy John McCain Wants to Privatize Social Security John McCain Defends Free Trade Deals Like NAFTA John McCain Wants To Stay In Iraq For 100 Years John McCain Doesn't Support Giving Children Health Care John McCain Opposes 21st Century GI Bill John McCain Wants To Overturn Roe v. Wade John McCain Defends Bush's Iraq War Strategy
Got any questions for McCain? Put them in the comments! If you go, I hope to hear about your experiences there in a diary!
Well, it turns out that presumptive Republican nominee John McCain will be coming to Louisiana this week. He starts off with a rally in 
