The Green, Green Grassroots of Home
Rep. Paul Broun of our Congressional district is holding a series of townhall meetings focusing on the health care reform bill. Below are a few pictures, with links to more, that we took while attending one of those meetings in Evans, GA. Rep. Broun, a practicing physician, is a pretty staunch Constitutionalist Republican and needless to say doesn't support the bill currently up before Congress. He is involved in the drafting of an alternative bill. By and large, the audience at this meeting agreed with his views and demonstrated it with emphatic applause during his talk, A few questioners did voice opposition.
Our pictures, unfortunately, end before Rep. Broun stepped up to the podium, thanks to the camera batteries giving up the ghost. We figured we'd post some of them anyway as there's been no lack of negative press surrounding townhall meetings and these at least show one that, while crowded and at times noisy, remained basically civil and orderly. As it's late and we have to get up early in the morning, we'll hold off on a full report until we have a little time to write down our observations.
We arrived fashionably late in our Brooks Brothers apparel (not!) at shortly after the start time of 6pm. Traffic was backed up at the intersections near the Board of Ed bldg. This is the one nearest the B of E . Except for high school football games, traffic backups like this one just don't happen around here.
The Board of Educaton building, parking lot and roads leading in and out of the adjoining middle school, and road fronting the complex were parked up.
The entrance hall was pretty full. The auditorium was at capacity by this point: we weren't too sure we'd be able to get in at all. Eventually the report filtered back that a second meeting would be held after the first ended. A few folks left, but most stuck it out --and more were arriving.
Not too many signs were in evidence; a lady had one in a bag fresh from the print shop. There wasn't a whole lot to do out in the hall: a group calling itself Stop Obama Care circulated a sign-in sheet, then passed an announcement for a rally, hand-written on ruled looseleaf, around. D overheard a fellow behind him mutter something about tearing up the next one that went by, but most of the attendance was sympathetic as far as we could tell.
We didn't see any swastikas, but there was one fellow wearing a confederate kepi and “Don't Tread on Me” T-shirt. (It's Georgia, after all.)
Townhall Meeting, Phase II. Another capacity crowd.
Evidently somebody didn't read the memo.
Click here for the rest of the photo essay, with captions by C.
Our pictures, unfortunately, end before Rep. Broun stepped up to the podium, thanks to the camera batteries giving up the ghost. We figured we'd post some of them anyway as there's been no lack of negative press surrounding townhall meetings and these at least show one that, while crowded and at times noisy, remained basically civil and orderly. As it's late and we have to get up early in the morning, we'll hold off on a full report until we have a little time to write down our observations.
We arrived fashionably late in our Brooks Brothers apparel (not!) at shortly after the start time of 6pm. Traffic was backed up at the intersections near the Board of Ed bldg. This is the one nearest the B of E . Except for high school football games, traffic backups like this one just don't happen around here.
The Board of Educaton building, parking lot and roads leading in and out of the adjoining middle school, and road fronting the complex were parked up.
The entrance hall was pretty full. The auditorium was at capacity by this point: we weren't too sure we'd be able to get in at all. Eventually the report filtered back that a second meeting would be held after the first ended. A few folks left, but most stuck it out --and more were arriving.
Not too many signs were in evidence; a lady had one in a bag fresh from the print shop. There wasn't a whole lot to do out in the hall: a group calling itself Stop Obama Care circulated a sign-in sheet, then passed an announcement for a rally, hand-written on ruled looseleaf, around. D overheard a fellow behind him mutter something about tearing up the next one that went by, but most of the attendance was sympathetic as far as we could tell.
We didn't see any swastikas, but there was one fellow wearing a confederate kepi and “Don't Tread on Me” T-shirt. (It's Georgia, after all.)
Townhall Meeting, Phase II. Another capacity crowd.
Evidently somebody didn't read the memo.
Click here for the rest of the photo essay, with captions by C.
Labels: Dixiana, U.S. Politics
posted by DMinor | 9:08 PM
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