Real Voices for Change Forum

I just got back from the Real Voices for Change Forum that was held at the First United Methodist Church in Austin this afternoon, and it was a thoroughly uplifting experience. I have to admit that I have been angry and depressed in recent weeks. Like every other liberal Democrat I know, I've been furious at the lies and distortions being propogated by the right wing media. the health insurance industry, and their political allies (mostly Republican) in Congress, and depressed by how many of our fellow citizens have been taken in by them. But I've also been both disillusioned and angered recently by what seemed to be signs of surrender on the Public Option by the White House and some key Senate Democrats. The White House has since tried to reassure us about this, but I won't be happy until President Obama takes a much stronger position on the Public Option than he has to date. Still, today's Forum made me feel a whole let better!

The Forum started at 3, but my wife and I went a little early, and we were glad we did, because we were some of the last people that managed to get a seat inside the church. It was completely packed, as were two other "overflow sites" the organizers had made available, one at the AFL-CIO Hall and the other at the Texas Trial Lawyers Association. It was a huge turnout and the organizers (MoveOn, Organizing for America, Gray Panthers, Texans for Obama, Texas Democratic Party, Travis Country Democratic Party, and Health Care For All Texans) have every reason to be proud of their efforts and ecstatic over the results.

One of the main reasons we went to this event was that we were expecting to see a large and well-organized group of "Tea Party" types there, trying to shut down the meeting, and we wanted to make sure that Rep. Doggett had plenty of vocal supporters on hand this time around. We needn't have worried. There were some Teabaggers there, alright, with their now familiar signs of "Keep your hands off my healthcare" and "socialist whatever," but they were vastly outnumbered by the pro-healthcare reform folks. Just seeing those angry "Just Say No-ers" engulfed in a sea of happy "Yes We Can-ers" was worth the trip, but what took place inside the church was even more encouraging. One speaker after another brought the crowd to its feet, from Jim Rigby (Pastor of the St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, Austin), who talked about the ethical and moral issues of health care reform with wonderful clarity and humor ("It seems that talking about helping the poor makes you a Christian, but actually doing something to help the poor makes you a Socialist!"), to local physicians Nancy Binford and Andrew Weary, who spoke very movingly about their experiences with patients who have been victimized by the insurance industry, to the keynote speaker, our own Lloyd Doggett, who was extraordinarily eloquent and passionate about the need for real health care reform, and the importance of the Public Option, in particular. With all the noise about "socialism" and "death panels" and "government takeovers" that has been filling the news in recent weeks, it was tremendously encouraging to know that we have such bright, articulate, compassionate and capable leaders working on our behalf, and that there are so many good, committed people right here in this community who are willing to stand up to the bullies and loud mouths on the far right and fight for real change in this country. It made me believe that we can actually do this, if we work together and work hard enough.