Boswell’s Town Hall Becomes a Campaign Rally

This morning the Des Moines Register demonstrated extremely poor judgment when it published an article about the Town Hall hosted by 3^rd District Congressman Leonard Boswell this past Sunday. I have to question whether the reporter credited with authoring the article was even in attendance or if he allowed a member of Boswell’s staff to pen the article. But alas; near the end of the article the proof that it was indeed not one of Boswell’s staffers that authored it. At one point the article even misrepresents a comment from Boswell, an error that even Boswell’s staff could not possibly overlook. I am not going to go through the article to point out the inaccuracies or the author’s bias. Instead I intend to provide you with a true recollection of the event as I was in attendance.

The very first thing that I noticed was before the event ever began. As I was pulling into the parking lot I witnessed a large group of what can only be called organizers. But contrary to what has been published in the mainstream media it was not a conservative group organizing. It was none other than President Obama’s perpetual campaign team Organizing for America recruiting people to attend the event in support of the presidents health care agenda. They were passing out signs and signing people up to support the president’s ungainly monstrosity.

Once I entered the venue I felt like I had walked into a political rally. The atmosphere was unreal. You could hear the people belittling those that opposed the plan. People were passing out signs supporting the Democrats health care reform proposals. In addition to this obvious organization was the large presence of members of AFSCME. The public employee union that determined that its members needed a raise as millions of other Americans have been forced to cut back. Of course they were there to support the folly that is President Obama’s health care reform plan. Once again there was absolutely no evidence of conservative, Republican, or even insurance industry organizing to oppose health care reform.

Now don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with anyone organizing a group of like minded individuals to make sure that your points are heard. But when you are going to condemn one side for imagined organization you had better condemn the other for blatant organization. The lack of comment from the party of debt about what they themselves have termed “Astroturf” or false grassroots movements clearly demonstrates their hypocritical nature. As a matter of fact Congressman Boswell seemed to encourage the organized supporters.

As I have stated already, the atmosphere within this Town Hall seemed more appropriate for a campaign rally rather than a serious discussion and debate on the future of health care in our nation. The level of ignorance demonstrated by those in support of the legislation was astounding. It seemed that these people were more willing to believe a politician rather than doing the necessary research to understand the bill themselves. In the end this event was nothing more than a reelection rally for Leonard Boswell. And the Des Moines Register once again proves it is little more than the propaganda arm of the Democratic Party.