The area chosen to gather after the initial rally, which was held on the west side of the Capitol , was on the south side of the building, as there was a balcony near the House chamber.  The crowd was down close to the building, so as to be heard as they chanted, and one would have to walk down a slight decline to get to them. 

 

The left’s efforts started with several individuals on bicycles, which they were walking through the crowd (I assume so they could use the bicycles as a shield between themselves and us).  These individuals would go from person to person and challenge their opposition to healthcare reform, being very persistent in their position.  This effort was more or less ignored by most, or was shrugged off by others, as these instigators were more of the intellectual type, and, therefore, not very aggressive in engaging people, and, eventually, these instigators withdrew.

 

The second wave was several individuals with what appeared to be Haitian accents, who came down into the crowd and very aggressively challenged those present.  I heard one refer to us as rednecks and racists.  It was quite an experience as a natural born American citizen being insulted and ridiculed by immigrants, legal or not, as they demanded that our government, and our tax dollars, provide something for them.  One of these individuals was escorted out of the crowd by the Capitol Police, as he was getting very close to accomplishing his goal.  These instigators came and went throughout the night, each time being as aggressive as they could be without drawing the attention of the Capitol Police.  One of these final efforts resulted in one of these instigators doing something in the crowd that caused a loud bang, although I could not see what that was, upon which he bolted from the crowd in a dead run with 6 – 8 policeman in chase.

 

The next effort was the kook from Code Pink, who’s name I cannot remember…small woman with short blond hair.  She came through the crowd with another gentleman carrying a homemade banner on a pink sheet, promoting healthcare reform.  Most did not take her seriously, although, several crowded around the banner as she walked through the crowd, to prevent it from being seen.  Not sure if this was effort was coordinated with the others, or if she was doing this on her own.

 

The next attempt was a couple of individuals with very large professionally made signs, one stating ‘Public Option Now’ and the other a oversized picture of Obama and Biden.  Again, these two waded down into the thickest part of the crowd with these large signs, attempting to block out the anti-reform signs and banners.  This resulted in some very spirited jockeying for position by each side, until finally, a Capitol Policeman intervened.  After a little undercover work by one of ours, who went over and professed his support for their effort, he was told that the signs were provided by MoveOn.org.

 

The final attempt was by young college age kids, as several groups of 6-8 would come into the thickest parts of the crowd and start counter-chanting, in support of the bill, as those around them were chanting ‘kill the bill’ or what have you.  Again, this got quite contentious, and I was sure that something was going to happen.  One group would go in for as long as they could, then would pull out, only to be replaced with another group.  This continued up to the actual vote, and once the results became known, the group in the crowd at this point became very obnoxious, attempting to get into our faces.  Again, kudos to the Capitol Police, who, once they realized what was happening, very quickly forced the group out of the crowd.

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Interestingly, there always seemed to be an ‘independant’ journalist or two trailing in the background of most of these occurances…

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A long story I know, but this experience showed me firsthand how vicious the left is in their tactics, then all I hear the past two days is the media reporting on how angry and violent the ‘tea party movement’ is.  To put it bluntly, it’s a blatant misrepresentation of the truth!  And, this double standard will continue if we don’t start demanding fair treatment.  The civility and restraint on the part of the conservative protestors was nothing short of inspiring, as their attention all along was on having their voices heard by our so called ‘representatives’.  It’s a sobering thought when you realize that the real story of what’s happening in America, a great awakening of it’s citizens, is being buried by ideologues pushing a far left agenda.  Will journalistic integrity ever return to our media?

Tom Tillison