Inside The Mob Outside The Grand Junction Health Care Town Hall (VIDEO)

The Huffington Post went to President Obama's town hall in Grand Junction, Colorado on Saturday to learn what makes health-reform protesters really tick.

In an effort to get beyond the virulent sound bites heard on TV, we asked those against reform pointed questions based on what HuffPost readers told us they wanted to know more about.

Below is a video slideshow of our day spent in the crowds. As it turned out, the anti-reform protesters were greatly outnumbered by those supporting reform. Both sides became excited. There was shouting (keep reading below the videos).

	1 / 5		Obama Is "Not God"

Organizing for America, the successor to the president's campaign apparatus was out in full force with a concert, free drinks, snacks and many signs. The contingent against health care reform hugged a corner opposite those for reform, shouting loudly to drown out their counterparts' chants.

One thing was clear throughout the day: People against reform were troubled by more than just Obama's health care plan. Almost every anti-reform demonstrator we talked to expressed fear of what they perceived to be increased government control, spending and invasion into their daily lives. A number of people told us that this isn't just about President Obama. Some have been angry since the Bush administration, others don't trust government at all. A few people spewed out remarks against the president that were reminiscent of those seen at campaign rallies for Gov. Sarah Palin last year. We even met two Birthers -- obviously misinformation was strongly represented. When we asked people for evidence or to clarify their positions with the facts they just continued with their talking points.

The rhetoric is nothing new. The president took time during the town hall to rail against "dishonest" arguments. However, what is new is that many of the people against the president's agenda -- "dishonest" or not -- are using the health care debate as a vehicle to campaign against him. After eight months of a new administration, we're hearing language similar to what dominated the airwaves during the final months of the election. So much for change, at least for those who didn't want change brought by Obama in the first place.

Follow Katharine Zaleski on Twitter: www.twitter.com/kzaleski

Comments

[kashifsaeed]

I agree. Ignorance is something most Americans aught to shun.


My blog:
http://next-world-war.blogspot.com

[Steve Haldane]

the ignorance here is so much scarier than the guns

[readyfornewleadership]

March on Washington for Health Care Reform – September 13th

pass it on

[pantherburns]

I WANT MY COUNTRY BACK! Well you know, we did too, back in 2000. And guess what? We had to wait eight long years and two elections. So I think what all you repugs need to do is wait until you win an election. That's how it works in this country, and I'm willing to bet that we leave it in much better shape than you did. Don't worry, seven and a half years isn't that far away. Maybe by then you'll have a leader under 70 who can speak in complete sentences.

[megawhy]

Your country is what the USSR used to be.

[bobm0001]

Well, President Ob.ama, you have a choice. You can roll over in the face of ignorance that is perpetuated by Fox News and those of their ilk, or you can ignore them all and do what you know is right.

Whether motivated by racism or politics, they aren't going to change their minds. If you actually believe that the Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats are ever going to get on board, you're kidding yourself.

[PamperedHousecat]

Dear President Obama:

I was one of millions who voted for you and voted against the foolishness that has passed forgovernment for the last 8 years.
DO NOT BACK DOWN!!!
If you forego the public option, Blue Cross-Blue Shield wins again. We will just continue to see more commericals funded by the RX companies telling us how much we need their drugs only to find months later that these same drugs we needed are being pulled from the market, because they were not what we were told they were.
If the public option is pulled it will business as usual. I was with UnitedHealthCare until my COBRA ran out. When my daughter was in a car accident, she was taken to the public emergency room; we didn't get a bill for the ambulacne until 11 months later and UHC said we should have submitted the claim 30 days after the accident. WE DIDN'T HAVE A BILL TO SUBMIT! So guess who paid?

These screamers aren't concerned about "health care"...like one of them said "I would have voted for him if he was Clarence Thomas" and "I don't have a drop of racist blood in me".
Well, I hope if he ever gets cut his insurance will cover it and he won't go to a public hospital.
And I hope he remembers to thank Dr. Charles Drew, if he needs a transfusion.

[BobDobbs757]

I'm amazed at the debacle of these drone like republican protesters. If we switched to UK taxation and healthcare which excludes social security. Your average joe family making 50K gross income would recieve a pay increase of 25% (12K) per year after taxation and healthcare. The average joe family recieved 2% wage inceases during Bush era while top 1% earners took the majority of wage increases. Heck, I'd sure love that extra 240K over 20 years to be able to retire earlier than currently planned.. but I got a bunch of drones spoonfed their misinformation and it makes me ashamed of my country.

If you don't believe my math.. Feel free to verify at: http://bobdobbs404.blogspot.com/

[JohnMayer]

I can’t help thinking these people were not really listening to what the speaker had to say.

[JNagarya]

That's exactly the point: they DON'T listen, becaues they DON'T want their views altered -- even by actual facts.

They are anti-intellectual; they reject education. They are, therefore, BIGOTS.

[megawhy]

I beg your pardon....who is not paying attention to facts? YOU!

[rascalofearth]

where were all these 'patriots' when the bush admin was kidnapping people off us streets and sending them to syria for torture? where were they when we found out bush illegally tapped all of our communications? where were they when us troopers were having thier tours in the military extended against thier will?

these folks are not pro US Constitution and Liberty. They just want Iran in the US with religious tyrants controlling all aspects of our lives.

[JNagarya]

They were for it because in their fanatasies only non-whites/Muslims were being "sureveiled".

Well, you can be ceratin the far-right lunatic fringe gun-nuts are being watched.

[jeff90125]

I was saying that what he was doing was unconstitutional and he was saying that the Constitution was a G.D. piece of paper.

By the way, there is no Constitutional provision for the government to be in the insurance business.

[Scrunch]

How do those at Fox feel about what's going on?
They're successful probably far beyond what they expected.
So they've used their techniques of wretched dishonesty ...

(Sorry, those of you who are Fox fans, Fox is indeed wretchedly dishonest. I'll sit down with you and explain it to you. But I'll warn you, I'll be getting into things like logic, rational thinking, how you arrive at conclusions, how you make correlations, taking things out of context. It has to do with thinking. Have I lost your interest?)

... to get what they want. Though I'm not clear on what they want other than for their enemy to fail.

This is a good example of "The end justifies the means."
Which is fine if all you're interested in is getting what you want, are indifferent to morals, and don't care what kind of person you are.

[Jompa]

The network be@ting a de@d horse again. Next!

[arcticterrier]

Here is a question...How many people who supposedly can't afford health care fall into any of the categories below..

Have a car payment half their rent/lease/mortgage payment

Have the latest 3G or equivalent cell phone with all the bells and whistles and unlimited everything

Make sure they have the latest video gaming system and latest games ASAP

Have satellite/cable HD with a nice flat screen TV to pick it up

The list could go on...give up ANY one of the above or cut back on ANY two and you can pay for health insurance. Priorities people!

[petef59]

Thanks BIG BROTHER.

[Wingit]

One visit to the emergency room and the bill was $5,700. End result: I was given a Rx of antibiotics and sent home. That $5700 is more than half the value of my car. Now lets add up four ER visits (easy to do, if you have kids). Still think that all you have to do is give up a few luxuries?

[punkindmb]

Huh? In order to have enough money to cover what a lot of insurance companies won't, you'll have to give up more than that latest video game system ($399). How about trying to decide between medicine or food? Medicine or electricity during the hot Texas summer? The operation that will save your life or a roof over your head?

[Kendall Hawley]

I have a car payment for a car I bought wen I was very comfortably employed.

I have a smart phone, because for my work I need easy access to my email at all times. It's a very limited plan.

I have absolutely no video gaming system or games.

I don't have television at all.

I am a young woman of child-bearing age and I cannot afford health insurance. I am not asking for a hand-out but there has got to be a better way of doing things than what we are doing now. There are so many people in this country with no health insurance, generalizing and putting them all into one box is the equivalent of hiding your head in the sand.

[KellyKay]

Remember the man in the movie "Sicko" with insurance that could only afford the reattach one of the two fingers that were severed from his hand.

[arcticterrier]

Make you libs a deal.....

When the government proves it can administer ANY of the following without massive debt and operate with at least some measure of efficiency I'll consider government health care as an option: Medicare/Medicaid, Social Security, or the VA. Pick one..any one. All have a health care function of some sort. Besides the fiscal mess all of these programs are in, a trillion here and a trillion there and pretty soon you're talking real money, just ask anybody who has to deal with any of them their opinion of efficiency and/or service. I have to deal with two and am not impressed.

I'm a Libertarian...let ALL of us keep what we pay into any of the above programs instead of confiscating it..let US use that money to buy insurance, if we wan't it, and WE will certainly do a much better job of it. Can you not take care of you better than our oh so efficient government?

Scariest sentence in the English language.."I'm from the government and I'm here to help."

I don't mind throwing a bone to the helpless but I have no sympathy for the clueless.

[deliberateDem]

Libertarian = clueless

[Reiziger]

Libertarians are no different than the guys who watched their neighbors dragged off to the camps in Germany: "Hey, it's their problem, not mine!" Libertarians are the worst sort of Americans because they don't believe in the Constitution.

[FdeBear]

Make copies of your medical bills, letters from insurance companies that reject coverage and other relevant correspondence and send it to the White House and every legislator on the Hill. Pay a little extra for a delivery receipt (make them sign for it). Do not fax it or email it because they can jam the fax and ignore your emails. For my brothers and sisters out there with no coverage or with preexisting conditions that make you uninsurable, send them a photo of yourself and/or your family with a brief bio and the statement "I/We need a single payer health care plan" . Let's flood the White House and Capitol Hill with REALITY. You may also consider making a little poster with your legislator's picture with the caption, "This person enjoys a government sponsored single-payer healthcare plan at my/our expense". Pair it with a picutre of yourself/your family with a brief description of your situation i.e. "No health care security for me/us". Send as many as you can afford. Help each other. This is not expensive. If you can handle it send them a copy of the funeral program or obituary of a loved one who passed away because the insurance company refused to pay for treatment.

[evgolightly]

Yes, send them to the blue dogs. My aunt was just diagnosed with astrocytoma grade 3. No insurance. It's a nightmare. 200k so far ... and this is only the beginning.

Thanks for your post. I am angry and depressed about our depraved health care system.

[Eris23Skidoo]

Shiny happy people holding hands?
Stupid crazy people waving flags....