Yesterday, PA senator Arlen Specter and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius spoke at a town hall held at Philadelphia's Constitution Center.
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It was not pretty. About 400 people showed up. About 70-100 of them were teabaggers-- right wingers, some of them Anne-Coulter-Ugly lookalikes-- who went there with the intention of disrupting the conversation. They were somewhat successful.
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That didn't stop Sebelius and Specter from accomplishing their goals. Sebelius wanted to get the message out that the reform would make things better. Specter wanted to boost his campaign as a democrat running in PA.
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The town hall started late, with the speakers showing up about 10 after 3:00. After precursory introductions by the head of the constitution center, we were informed that the Q and A session would last until 4:00. That gave us 42 minutes of "conversation."
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The problem was, the teabagger right wingers, wearing bumper-stickers stating "Tell Washington No" were screaming and bellowing so loudly, it was hard to hear anything.
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Before the townhall started, I circulated among some of these bumper-sticker wearers and displayers. Knowing they were right wingers, I chose a different tack. I asked them, "Do you believe Obama is a citizen." About nine out of the ten people I asked said "No," emphatically. The tenth said she thought he was a citizen but not an American, because he was raised outside the US.
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