I WENT TO A TOWN HALL MEETING...

Last week I went to an official TOWN HALL MEETING. There was clapping for favorable remarks and booing for unfavorable ones. An unremarkable event I'd say...Well, except for one 22-year-old man who was legally blind and had beat all odds and predictions that he would never live more than six weeks, at his birth. Fighting back the tears, he wanted to know if the new proposed health care would have let him, and others like him, die. Oh, there was also the young lady, who would turn 90-years-old in two short days, wanting to know if her health care plan would be done away with under the "New Deal"...It had thus far served her well. Come to think of it...there was a retired military serviceman who had read the entire health care proposal and was alarmed at how drastically it was going to affect servicemen and women...especially retirees. I went to the meeting to hear about health care and I got more than I bargained for when one tear-stained woman expressed an inability to even give hope to her two elementary aged sons because clearly, she was not getting anything concrete to cling to from Washington. Charisma and vagueness can only get you so far, Mr. President. People are actually starting to listen to what you say. I have even heard you state something and contradict yourself in only three sentences. I guess the saddest comment of the night was made by a woman who said that for the first time in her life...she was hesitant to put her name on the attendance sheet, of the TOWN HALL MEETING, out of fear of some type of retribution. Mr. President...that speaks volumes about your administration. Is this the legacy you seek? Well, it's the reputation you've got. The first and cheapest health care you could give us now is MENTAL HEALTH CARE...by telling Americans that you are not here to abbreviate one single freedom expressed in the Constitution, but rather to celebrate our rights. It won't cost you a cent, but it will certainly add to the wellness of millions of Americans who are downing antacids in greater number these days.

Note: Washington cannot hear the words of the loudest mime...Get verbal!

May God bless America...and may America deserve it!
Zanne Booker 9-09-09