RUSH: Marilyn in Dripping Springs, Texas. Now, that’s gotta be a place.
CALLER: It is a fabulous place, Rush.
RUSH: Sounds like it, I mean for somebody to name a place Dripping Springs.
CALLER: Well, that’s what drew us here about 12 years ago.
RUSH: Well, it’s gotta be dripping something.
CALLER: I’ve gotta tell you, it’s a pleasure to talk to you.
RUSH: Thank you.
CALLER: We listen to you every day.
RUSH: Appreciate that.
CALLER: I wanted to give you some information about the town hall meeting that was held in Austin last Saturday.
RUSH: Oh, yeah, with Lloyd Doggett claiming that you guys were an unruly mob and were sent there by the insurance companies.
CALLER: Yes, sir. Well, first of all, my husband and I are senior citizens. And we did attend the meetings as individuals, and we believe that the majority of the people there were there as individuals. We saw all ages, young to seniors. First of all, it was a terrible location. They had it in a parking lot in front of a grocery store, he was not on a platform, there were no microphones for him to use or for people who were trying to ask questions. We feel that this was a grassroots — despite what the information that he’s now putting out on our local TV, he said he’s never seen anything like this in the 15 years that he’s been in Congress. Well, this should certainly be a clue to him as to how people are feeling about this health care bill. We were there to express our dissatisfaction with the Obama health care plan and to state that we do not want the government to run our health care. Many became angry during the meeting and it’s understandable because actually Doggett was unable to answer specific questions about the bill, and it was obvious that the attendees were better informed than he expected them to be about the provisions of the bill.
RUSH: Better informed than he was.
CALLER: Better informed than he was, yes, sir.
RUSH: Well, this is being replicated all over the country. The Politico even has a story today on this, and in the story here’s the nut graph: ‘Angry protesters shouted down Democrats at public events from Texas to Pennsylvania over the weekend, leaving the party only one real hope for getting its message out over recess: a backlash.’ They are hoping for a public backlash against the protests, and that isn’t in the cards. They may try to make it happen. They are hoping for some incident or nutcase that goes berserk, goes wacko, that creates a backlash at these town hall meetings. They are losing. They are losing. They don’t have a game-changer. Even the Democrats in safe districts, like Marcy Kaptur of Toledo, they’re afraid to hold town hall meetings. They do not have a game-changer. There’s nothing in the legislation that will change the game. There’s nothing the president can say that will change the game. What they are hoping for is somebody goes wacko at one of these town hall meetings so they can then point to all of them and say, ‘See, it’s an unruly mob, these people are insane,’ blah, blah, blah, blah. They’re hoping for violence, they’re hoping for something like that. That’s their only hope. They don’t have a game-changer.
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RUSH: We happen to have from Doylestown, Pennsylvania, a guy named Robert. Robert’s the guy who asked Arlen Specter the question that got the most attention at the meeting with Kathleen Sebelius. Robert, great to have you on the program.
CALLER: Well, thanks, Rush.
RUSH: What can you tell us about the whole day?
CALLER: It was an incredible day. I mean we showed up, it was a terrible, rainy day, it was hard for individuals to even get to the protests — or the town hall meeting. And it was through groups like the Thomas Jefferson Club and Kitchen Table Patriots that set up around Philadelphia that were neighbors who have banded together and now these groups are searching the other groups out in order to spread information. I never would have even have known of the town hall meeting if it wasn’t for the fact that, you know, these groups exist and they’re trying to get information out.
RUSH: So these are grassroots people?
CALLER: Yes, grassroots people. I mean I know the people who have founded these groups, and these aren’t political operatives. These are neighbors who are really concerned.
RUSH: They’re not community organizers, they’re not agitators, and they’re not being paid by a branch or a grant from the US government, right?
CALLER: Oh, absolutely not. I mean a lot of these things are being funded by the members themselves. You know, the groups, the way that they’re getting set up is neighbors are getting together and finding out that they share common interests and then once they get together and get a group together then the groups are trying to seek one another out in order to consolidate their efforts, and so they don’t have to put out of pocket in order to be able to do everything that they need to do in order to get their message out.
RUSH: So you’re oriented around issues, not agitation?
CALLER: Absolutely. Absolutely.
RUSH: What was the question that you asked Specter?
CALLER: Well, the question that I asked Specter was, you know, how can we trust health care reengineering to a group of people who don’t have the capability, or at best, the time to be able to read their own legislation. And, you know, that’s what got him on the whole stint about he has to break the legislation up among all of his staff members —
RUSH: I know. We played his answer, ‘and we break the pieces of legislation up because we’ve gotta do this fast,’ and boos and hisses erupted. Well, it’s great to meet you, Robert, even if it is on the phone. I’m glad you called ’cause Richard Wolffe over at NBC was maligning you people, saying that you had been set up and paid for by organized groups and bussed in there; and you really didn’t care about it, you’re just agitating. Glad to know that wasn’t true.