Via Greg Laden's blog come this video from YouTuber dustyrice of my Senator Al Franken confronting an angry mob at the Minnesota State Fair.
Yes, in Minnesota this counts as an angry mob. From the YouTube sidebar it was apparently a bit more unruly than we see here:
I got to witness something really special. About a dozen tea party activists had staked out Franken's booth, and confronted him loudly when he arrived. But within minutes, he'd turned an unruly crowd into a productive conversation on health care. The discussion went from insurance reform, to the public option, to veterans benefits, to cap and trade. He made a few laugh and even told a touching story that moved a few to tears. A whole lot of common ground was found.
A couple of items of note are how he talks about how healthcare is done in Switzerland where there is no "public option" and yet they do have universal care. The insurance companies in Switzerland are highly regulated though. Perhaps this is the direction in which healthcare in the US will go? The second interesting item is he mentions that Minn. Congressperson Michelle Bachmann has signed on to a letter with Al Franken, Amy Klobachar and others stating they won't sign this bill unless we take care of how Medicare is reimbursed.
I feel relatively hopeful. I still believe that we will get healthcare reform with the public option but even if we don't I feel reasonably confident that what will will get will be something I can get behind because it will address the real problems that people are facing out there.
It is an artful performance. Al Franken deftly rebuts the GOP and insurance industry talking points that a couple of the people in this video are spouting. Who knew that calm, reasoned discussion gets you results? At the end of this turned a few people who were initially against him into, well, perhaps not Democrats but at least he talked them down and gained their support.
That's how it's done. I support my Senator Al Franken and my president Barack Obama
Recommended? No way I deserve it. Thanks though.