Immanentize the Eschaton

I attended Sue Myrick’s town hall meeting Tuesday night (8/25/09), which was at Weddington High School. I wasn’t sure what to expect, since Myrick is an opponent of HR 3200, and to my knowledge the event hadn’t been publicized very much (I received no mailings nor phone calls).

The scheduled start time was 6:30, so I figured I’d get there around 6:10. I’d probably have to park in the bus lot and sit in the back, but that wouldn’t be a big deal. Lo and behold, I had to park across the street, since all the school lots were full!

I went into WHS, only to find that the auditorium was full. The cafeteria was set up as an overflow room. Myrick’s staff set up an audio feed, but we didn’t have video. The Charlotte Observer reported that the crowd was estimated at 1200 people.

When Rep. Myrick began speaking, it became apparent that that audience was 90% – 10% against the House bill. She was loudly applauded every time she criticized the bill. She encouraged supporters of the bill to speak their minds, and quieted the crowd when she felt the questioners could not be heard.

My impressions are that people do not like what they hear about the bill, and they resented Congress trying to ram it through. They do not trust the government to run a health care system. We were well informed; when a speaker said (and I’m paraphrasing) “the previous speaker said he loves Medicare. That’s socialize medicine! That’s a single-payer system, and he loves it!”, we responded with “Medicare’s broke! It’s trillions in the hole!”

There were those who came to put on some political theater. One man came in a top hat and said he was a representative of the insurance lobby and was there to present Rep. Myrick with an award, since she “has been one our best investments.” Sue received him with good humor (no “What planet do you live on” from her!).

While Rep. Myrick is on our side, she kept repeating that she had no input on the bill; the democrats are responsible for each and every word, comma, and period.  So what’s the point of this exercise?

In all, the audience was angry, but the main current I got was fear. People are afraid of this plan, and this administration. One person near me said that for the first time, she’s afraid of her own government.

I’m with her. I think the Dems will push this through, piecemeal if they have to. I think they’ll get the 60 votes they need in the Senate; there are too many RINOs in the Senate who never fail to do the wrong thing.

We are doomed.