Protesters greet Bachmann, Paul speech
Many groups turned out to protest against Michele Bachmann and Ron Paul at Northrop Hall, on the University of Minnesota's Minneapolis campus September 25. By 5:30 p.m., the first few people trickled onto the lawn with their signs, and by 6 p.m., protestors against Michelle Bachman outnumbered a much smaller group of her supporters.
Billionares for Wealthcare was the most colorful of the protest groups. Billlionairesforwealth.com These three women formed a small comedy group that said things like, "Well, it's not our fault if they have a pre-existing condition," while holding their champagne glasses and adjusting their feathered hats.
The atmosphere, while sometimes hostile, did not get out of hand, as U of M security guards were supplemented by hired security. Leroy Duncan, from "Students Organizing for America," reveled in the chaotic situation and decided to escalate it further. Holding a sign that read, "Who would Jesus cover?" he began to walk around and ask Bachmann supporters to answer the question. Responses ranged from, "We don't have an answer" to "If Jesus was here, he would tell us to repent" to "He has provided for everyone in salvation in Christ."
Finally, after about the tenth person, he found an answer he was satisfied with: "'Who' is everyone," said Stepheny Phiepontius. "'How' is the question."
Many of those protesting against Bachmann were students in their twenties. The majority of Bachmann's supporters, on the other hand, were middle-aged men and women.
Will Tajibnapis, one of the older protesters, said: "The cost of health-care is dragging our economy down... give us a huge disadvantage in our competition with other countries... I'm very worried, because I'm really old, that it will bankrupt me... we have got to fix it."
As the starting time for the event neared, protesters started filing in to the auditorium. Many of them said that they were having problems with security.
"When I came in a guy in a tux said that there was no protestors allowed and that I would have to leave," said Matt Kempainem.
"They won't let us hold our signs up because they will be seen on camera," Joe MacDonald, a med student, "but a lot of people were holding Ron Paul signs up and they were not asked to put them down."
A security guard said that they were telling people with signs to move to the side sections of the auditorium where they could stand up and hold their signs, but if they wished to remain in the middle they must be seated.
While most of the groups focused on the health care, one Bachmann supporter from the Revolutionary War Veterans Association, which focuses on guns, tried to convince me to come and learn to shoot -- for free! -- in Apple Valley.
The Twin Cities Daily Planet is an edited news source produced by professional journalists working in collaboration with citizen journalists from the local community. We publish original reported news articles, articles republished from media partners, and some content (Free Speech Zone articles, reader-submitted blog entries, comments) that is moderated but not edited. Click here for a complete description of our editorial policies. Support people-powered non-profit journalism! Volunteer, contribute news, or become a member to keep the Daily Planet in orbit. |
Sophia Nordberg (sophia@tcdailyplanet.net) is a student at Augsburg College and an intern at the TC Daily Planet through the HECUA program.
We're people-powered journalism! Click on story links (below) to see more story information, and then email editor@tcdailyplanet.net if you want to report.
• 
Comments
Idiots
American idiots protesting freedom. We didn't abolish slavery - we just keep making the plantation bigger and bigger.
And why again is it my duty
And why again is it my duty as an American citizen to pay for your healthcare? Being FORCED to pay for something that I do not want to, at gun point (IRS), is tyranny and theft. If you want healthcare, you all get together and pool YOUR money together and have YOUR OWN healthcare fund, I will not argue with that. Yes there are rich people who are bad, and some of them have stolen from us to get where they are and they must be punished. But taking from someone who has legitimately reached financial security to finance your wants, is oppression. Do you not see that??
Forcing me to finance the wants of others is why our founders developed a Constitutional Republic (inalienable rights rule), NOT a Democracy (mob rule). They knew that one day people would try to enforce their wants and needs on the other half of society using the fist of big government. The half that is self sufficient and self reliant, and practices responsibility are being punished for the other half that has has bought into the "government can save me" paradigm.
Government cannot save you. They cannot save themselves, LOOK AT THEIR TRACK RECORD!! They are a corrupt group of of oligarchical war mongering aristocrats whose only purpose in DC is serve serve big business. It is called fascism and we live in it. Do a little research and see who is actually the biggest lobbyist for health care reform, it is none other than the insurance companies. Yep those evil insurance companies that you all are against are the ones that benefit most from state run health care. It turns every single American into a customer.
I sure hope freedom and liberty win over greed and oppression. I sure hope that people can break free from the shackles of the welfare state before those of us who were never in them, are put into shackles, by them. I sure hope that reason and rationale will rule over ignorance and acquisitiveness.
But hey that is just my opinion, and at least I am still entitled to that in designated areas......
well said
very very very well said my friend. thank you.
if theres one person who
if theres one person who shyouldnt have 'first amendment rites' its ron paul. that nutcase needs to be locked up in some assylum. his ideas are randoma nd nonsense. he says health care is not a rite. well he shouldnt haev the rite to spout nonsense everywhere. healthcare is a rite and as a member of several health reform groups who was there i can say ron paul is a nazi and michele bochman is a fashist just like all the other conservitves. they both need to be locked and see what its like to not have anyrites! we werent allowed in the place with our signs but all the jesusfreaks were. they could do whatever the hell they wanted an d the rentacops protected them.
Wow, such great spelling and
Wow, such great spelling and grammar. You truly are a wonderful representative of your cause. Not to mention your Salem Witchcraft rhetoric, the call for locking up someone who speaks of true freedom and liberty is a breakthrough in serfdom collective thinking. You represent true brilliance, and it is represented by your hateful call to burn someone at the stake for disagreeing with you. Your true objective thought process is epitomized by calling to "lock" up Ron Paul, a person that has been fighting his entire life for TRUE freedom, and defending your right (<--notice I spelled it correctly) to say what you say.
Never will you hear Ron Paul advocate the imprisonment of anyone for speaking their mind. Ron Paul is the antithesis of fascism(<--again I spelled it correctly) Obviously you think the idea of freedom is YOU getting what YOU want at the expense of others. You think that you can use this tyrannical government to implement your personal wants. You post is a great example of how the hateful left/right propaganda matrix that we live in works. You think you are a caring person yet you disseminate hateful rhetoric. You feel righteous and noble for supporting health care for all, yet you care not of anyone else's wellbeing. Well said my friend, well said.
It looks like you have put as
It looks like you have put as much effort into learning how to spell as you have researching how products and services can be confused as rights. The idea that health care is a right makes people sound ignorant. Regardless of whether or not you are for or against reform I don't see how anyone can claim that health care is a right. It is a service and a crappy one. It is a hugely monopolized system that exists only because of over regulation and government interference. This is not going to be socialized medicine it is going to be corporatism. I am sure you dislike large corporations judging by your other views, so why would you want insurance companies getting even bigger and becoming more of a monopoly?
Your hatred spilleth over!
Let me get this straight. You feel the 1st Amendment right should not apply to someone whose opinion you don't agree with? You also think he should be locked up? You called Paul and Bachmann a Nazi and fascist, respectively and you lump in all conservatives for good measure and you want to lock them all up too. You disparage "Jesus freaks" and imply that they were doing something other than the purpose for which they attended. I won't even get into whether or not you wish to curtail the freedom of religion of those with whom you do not agree, that seems to be a foregone conclusion. It seems pretty obvious from the article that the writer clearly had a bias in reporting and that bias tainted any objectivity on the subject. It's also clear that your fellow protesters were intent on depriving the speakers of their 1st Amendment right and the attendees of their desire to hear the speakers of their choice. In case you are unfamiliar, the 1st Amendment you referred to in your comment is the right to free speech. From your own account, no one prohibited you from protesting outside the event, that was your 1st Amendment right. I've never been a fan of Bachmann, but clearly you sound like more of a fascist than her. In the one commentary on healthcare reform when I had the occasion to hear her views, and she does advocate in favor of reforming the healthcare system, she strongly urged reform of tort litigation (frivolous lawsuits) and insurance portability across state lines. If you are truly an advocate of healthcare reform, I'm surprised that you wouldn't be advocating for anything that would dramatically bring down the cost of healthcare, thus making it more affordable for everyone. Finally, name calling is the tactic of bullies, and has no place in civilized debate. Your arguments might have far greater impact if you could be a bit less offensive and lot more rational. If you'd care to do a little research, the Nazis were far more interested in making their point with a hammer than with convincing point and counterpoint. Ponder that if you will.
and were the ones trying to
and were the ones trying to fix healthcare and all these commies wanna do is bitch about everything and they wouldnt let us in and i came all the way from georgia!
Protestors
It was really nice to have those who opposed Michelle there and listen to Ron Paul. They learned something, and by the end were clapping and talking with the rest of those who support him. Liberty is contagious, Socialism is not.
The Idea of redistribution of wealth is wrong,
The Idea for me to be responsible to pay someone elses healtcare is wrong.
People need to wake up and realize that PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY has died in this country and needs to come back.
free stuff please
I want my free health care now! Gimme my free stuff government. I dont care who you tax to get it as long as im assured that you will take care of me for the rest of my life. If you dont wanna pay for my health then you should quit your job cause i wants me some free stuff from the mother government. They have never screwed us before so what are all these people so afraid of, just let the government take care of us all. We can trust them to do the right thing. And it will be cheaper in the end! Just look at how good a job they have done with social security for petes sake. Free stuff FTW! We should have mandatory free health care for all non citizens as well as people who dont even want it. More taxes! More government waste! More free stuff for me! I feel so safe and secure wrapped up in the blanket of big governement. I mean people are actually dying in the streets because without insurance, hospitals will not admit you. So its really the only compassionate thing that we can do as a nation. Screw the free market, trying to fix our current healthcare system is a ridiculous idea. More competition would never drive down the cost of insurance. All we need to do is let the government control it and everything will get better.I cant believe that people who are againts free health care have the nerve to stick up for liberty and the Constitution, hasn't anyone told them that we are a global society now? Health care is a right dammit. Why do i have to pay my own way in life when the government can just hook me up?
If there is one person who
"if theres one person who shyouldnt have 'first amendment rites' its ron paul."
First Amendment Rights (correct spelling) are the rights of Individuals. This means everyone without exception. That is the natural law definition of equal rights.
"that nutcase needs to be locked up in some assylum. his ideas are randoma nd nonsense."
His ideas are his ideas. You advocate locking someone up for their ideas? Hmm, sounds like totalitarianism...
"he says health care is not a rite."
It's not. Some individual(s) have to be employed to provide that care. You do not have a right to my time or skills as a heath care provider. If you did, it would be slavery.
"well he shouldnt haev the rite to spout nonsense everywhere."
By that logic, you condemn yourself to the same fate.
"healthcare is a rite and as a member of several health reform groups who was there i can say ron paul is a nazi and michele bochman is a fashist just like all the other conservitves."
The kind of "reform" you are talking about is exactly the kind of "reform" the insurance companies want. They want you to believe you have a right to someone elses skills and facilities. To secure this right, requires the forced cooperation of those providers, and the resulting "care" you recieve will be regulated as well. You will only be given what "care" the regulators deem you deserve.
Corporate control by Government is what nazism, facism is. You call Ron Paul a facist yet ayou yourself advocate for this particular brand of forced compliance so long as it suits your purposes.
"they both need to be locked and see what its like to not have anyrites! we werent allowed in the place with our signs but all the jesusfreaks were. they could do whatever the hell they wanted an d the rentacops protected them."
So you wanted to go in and "do whatever the hell" you wanted and were stopped from just doing whatever the hell you wanted and you are surprised at this? Miffed? Upset? Why? Because you want what you want and everybody else be damned, locked up and forced to provide you with all the "care" you want? At no expence or effort by you? Do they not matter in your world? Or are you the ONLY individual with rights?
Learn to read. Learn to spell. Learn the meanings of the words and ideas you profess. Learn what the history is surrounding the means by which you wish to gain your ends. You will discover that HOW you get what you want is more important that the WHY you want it or the ends you wish to achieve.
I have posted twice on this
I have posted twice on this article already, the second post and then a reply to the same guy you replied to, that spelled fashism like that. I read rational responses like this on sites like this and it fills me with hope. To hear logic and reason portrayed in a respectful manner like this is refreshing and inspiring.
Keep it up my fellow friend in liberty.
Deefburger
Well said my friend. Comments with logic, reason, and respect like this fuel my optimism about real change. You must have a Ron Paul google alert set up like me as well. I also saw a 'Deefburger' on the examiner article that tried to link Paul with Beck and limbaugh. I am guessing that is you. You commented right above me on that one.
I have the second post on this page, and I also responded to the guy who spelled fashism like that. We are dealing with a blind, easily swayed by propaganda, willingly ignorant facet of society, and we must not stoop to their level, but simply shed light on their irrational thought process and close-mindedness, just like you so excellently did. Thanks for doing something my friend in liberty.
M Savoy
Post new comment