WASHINGTON -- Just before protesters evacuated Freedom Plaza because of a tornado watch Thursday evening, social activist Patch Adams made a quick stop to speak to Stop the Machine protesters who have been camped out there for more than a week.
Adams, made famous by the 1998 Robin Williams movie about his life, came to Freedom Plaza after visiting with Occupy DC protesters in McPherson Square.
"The revolution starts when you decide, in my case, market capitalism is the thing that will make us extinct this century," he said, telling The Huffington Post that President Obama's health care reform efforts have been meaningless. "It's nothing, zero. He sold out."
Dressed in colorful clothing and sporting a blue streak in his hair, Adams urged the small crowd of about 100 protesters and onlookers to "teach love!"
In an interview with The Huffington Post, Adams said he came to the nation's capital not to greet protesters, but for a meeting at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to create an initiative for "really damaged soldiers" to take clown trips to "reconnect with their loved ones." During his short visit in Freedom Plaza, Adams spoke to protesters about his clown trips around the world.
Dave Jugenheimer, a protester and member of MoveOn.org, was impressed by Adams' speech: "If the people on Wall Street would do half the good he does, we'd be in a much better world."
Adams spoke words of hope and action in his speech to protesters. "Nothing I study makes me think we're going to survive this century," he told HuffPost. "There are many great activists and movements, but I don't see a trend, everything is getting worse."
