Do note the box sitting on top of the garbage next to the bench on the left... we'll come back to that later:
Planned Parenthood was there as well... complete with pink shirts (shame it's not my color):
Hand outs about the bill, unfortunately they aren't the most accurate given they to make the false claim that illegal's will not be covered under the plan:
Those with questions were asked to write their name and city on a peice on a card and put it into one of 3 boxes... Agree, Undecided, and Disagree... only the bulk of the questions on Sunday seemed to be more of the Agree sort... but they claimed to be drawing from all of the boxes equally:
~1 hour to go:
The beginnings of our conservative section:
"Make no mistake... let me be clear... I am not paid to be here":
The above gentlemen wasn't the only one sporting an Obama 2008 shirt:
If it is now fair to use Ted Kennedy's memory to push this bill... is it also not fair to push back and remind people of his actual history?
Fox News was also not a popular group:
This woman wanted to go beyond HR 3200, all the way to actual universal healthcare (as proposed under HR 676)
Despite the box out front, not as many pink shirts were seen within:
This was by far my favorite sign, but not because of the front...
But the back:
"This signs was made by two seniors from garage stuff"... I think it's safe to say that he is a garage logician.
About 15 minutes before the go official starting time, we saw a start of a parade around the room of various people holding their signs, and in all cases getting various reactions from the crowds.
Another sort of professional sign we saw more of on Saturday than Sunday:
Below is by far the sign that got me going the most... (and I'm still kicking myself for not getting a good shot of it)... it said "I (heart) socialism & communism too":
Oddly enough this man's sign was a converted sign for Dino Rossi (two time GOP candidate for Governor of Washington)... which on the other side said something to the effect of "Have you no shame Republicans?"
We even had a couple of SEIU members join us:
Standing room only midway through:
Socialist Alternative... .ORG?
While leaving I noticed something strange sitting upon the trash can:
What is it? The very box that likely the bulk of the "Health Care for America NOW" signs came in, all 41 lbs of them that fit in this first (of 2) boxes:
Who is Health Care for America NOW? A quick read of their About Us page indicates that:
Our Steering Committee includes: ACORN, AFL-CIO, AFSCME, AFT, Americans United for Change, Campaign for America’s Future, Center for American Progress Action Fund, Campaign for Community Change, Children’s Defense Fund Action Council, Communications Workers of America, International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW), MoveOn.org, NAACP, National Council of La Raza, National Education Association, National Women’s Law Center, SEIU, UFCW, USAction, Women's Voices, Women's Vote and Working America.
What's even better... is that it appeared that the person who brought this box (though different than who it was addressed to (who appears to be a rather prolific protester/organizer in the area)) was the same person who was responsible for the "Single Payer Now" banner which was being taken down as I photographed this trash.
For all of the photos, see the Flickr set.
