Great idea? What if a "mass clinic" for uninsured was on the Mall/Capitol steps, so that

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

lawmakers would have to go by hundreds of thousands of uninsured receiving care on their way to vote on a health care bill?

Someone posted this on another forum and it sounded like a damn good idea to me.

It would be a pretty potent visual and make for a lot of interviews with people and their stories in the crowd.

[The Magistrate]

1. An Excellent Idea, Sir!!!!

[Epiphany4z]

3. i like that idea

[dana_b]

2. great idea however

I'm sure they'd be "guided" away somewhere else. They don't really want to see poor people or people who just need a little help. they just want a feel-good sound byte.

[villager]

4. terrific idea....

n/t

[Eric68601]

5. AWESOME IDEA !!

There ya go. MASS FREE CLINIC on the steps of Washington.

[mdavies013]

6. They did this in VA...so it has to be possible....I need to get my heel checked out so I'd go up for

some free care.

[progressoid]

7. Repubes would say it's a fake.

A publicity stunt.

[asjr]

8. It is well known Repubes lie.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

10. Of course they would say that. Who cares what they say really?

They say that there are questions about where the President was born, that a Democratic health care bill would lead to euthanasia, eugenics and Nazism in the U.S., all with a straight (well, red and angry) face.

They have forfeited the right to have anyone not on their team care about what they have to say because they don't respect truth or decorum.

[lunatica]

9. Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!

You're a genius! Oh! Please, please start talking to the people who set up these public health days!!

[jtrockville]

11. I like it. You should definitely contact RAM about this.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

13. I'm embarrased to ask, who or what is RAM?

[DesertFlower]

17. it's Remote Area Medical. here's a link

http://www.ramusa.org/

[jtrockville]

18. RAM = Remote Area Medical

http://www.ramusa.org/

They normally help "third world" areas, but they just held a big event in LA last week:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lopez16-2009aug16,0,3959652.column

[Turborama]

20. I've posted several threads about them lately

& have archived them in my journal for easy reference: http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Turborama

What about in The Mall, much more room there...?

:kick: & R

[sandnsea]

34. They just treated thousands in L.A. - not a peep on the news

A few little peeps around here. So I doubt it would make a bit of difference if they showed up on the mall. I really don't think anybody cares about sick people, at least not as much as they care about their political ideology whatever it is.

[WolverineDG]

42. It was covered on NBC Nightly News every night nt

[enlightenment]

12. How about a modern "Bonus Army"?

Same principle - and I doubt that the President would interrupt his lunch to authorize the Army to remove them (as it is said was Hoover's response . . .)

[niyad]

14. sounds good to me

[SammyWinstonJack]

15. K&R

[T Wolf]

16. They would (a) ban them from the Capitol and (b) arrange to get in via other entrances.

Only by forcibly and physically keeping the pols from entering would any impact be made.

Anything less is mere street theater that changes nothing.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

22. On the contrary I think the theater aspect would be quite valuable.

I realize that most Republicans and Blue Dogs would find some other way in, but Democratic congresspeople (non Blue Dog) could talk with the folks and get a photo op on the way in.

I think we are seeing exactly how useful theater is these last few weeks, and in this case it would have the added benefit of having people with a real beef who aren't raving loonies.

[Staph]

24. Even if they can still get into the building,

they will see the television cameras covering the uninsured getting help. And the MSM will love the story -- anything with great visuals sells -- "if it bleeds, it leads!".

Give the MSM the story in simple terms -- average Americans unable to get health care, and the politicos who refuse to give it to them. I bet we could find some great hardship stories, with adorable, big-eyed blonde children who need a doctor's care. (You know that the MSM doesn't care about brown or black children and their families.)

[onestepforward]

19. This is one of the best ideas I've heard so far! n/t

[PA Democrat]

21. Excellent idea.

Sometimes you have to embarrass people into doing the right thing.

[ecstatic]

23. Clever idea. I like it! nt

[gaspee]

25. I would go

My teeth are going to kill me young (that and my untreated high blood pressure.)

[Forkboy]

26. I like it!

:thumbsup:

[Vinca]

27. That's an amazing idea.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

28. le kickque for PM crew

[Kaleva]

29. An outstanding idea!

[Wednesdays]

30. K&R

:kick:

[KT2000]

31. and keep it there until

health care reform passes. The doctors could revolve in and out and busses could be used to transport people from the outlying areas.

[Ocracoker16]

32. Good Idea

I am sure that the Capitol Police would kick us off the steps of the Capitol. I think that the Mall would be a great place to have a "mass clinic" It is a wide open space where we could fit tons of people. I remember when I participated in the folding of the AIDS quilt on the National Mall. The pieces of the quilt stretched along the whole Mall.

[DU GrovelBot]

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[madmax]

35. Brilliant n/t

[chalky]

36. What do you want to bet some of those townhall screamers would be the first in line

for healthcare at this clinic?

[tj2001]

37. Brilliant

[BattyDem]

38. That's BRILLIANT!

:patriot:

[Kitty Herder]

39. Great idea! n/t

[slipslidingaway]

40. Great idea knr nt

[MrScorpio]

41. Tents on the Mall

and speeches too

I love it

[bobbolink]

43. You're definitely on to something!

I've said many times before that our "Protest As Usual" style hasn't worked in a long while, and that we need to put our heads together and come up with different approaches, but people get very defensive at that, and start attacking.

What I like about this is that not only is it a protest that gets something constructive accomplished at the same time (needy people getting needed treatment!), it not only makes a statement, but it puts people who ordinarily might not speak out, or wouldn't have the time to speak out, right out in plain view, and gives them a voice.

Great idea! Maybe madashelldoctors.com would consider this!

Should be done in EVERY state!

:applause:

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

44. kicque for late night crew

[crazy_vanilla]

45. perfect idea! maybe the media will finally cover it

kick and recommend

[ClayZ]

46. Great Idea!

K and R

[HamdenRice]

47. Great idea! And the infrastructure is already in place with Remote Area Medical!

Can we not just talk about this but help make it happen?

We would need to contact RAM + sympathetic progressive congress persons.

[salguine]

48. The reasons you stated are why it'll never happen.

[conscious evolution]

49. Do it.

[kimpossible]

50. Great idea!

And it would actually get media coverage, since it would drop such easy photo ops in the lap of the Washington press corps.

[tavalon]

51. That is an awesome idea!

[SOS]

52. Remote Area Medical on the Washington Mall!

Kick.

[nightgaunt]

53. They won't let you

You can try but it would put the fear of the people into them and the gov't has guns. But even so if you could get there just throwing all the people out would still be a good visual for highlighting what is going on and showing that things are nearly as good as the Conservatives have been saying. "Only 12 million people are really in distress not 50 million..." kind of propaganda they are all on message for. When they find something that sounds good they all get that memo.

Go for it and see what Obama does.

[lib_wit_it]

54. This would be powerful. KnR

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

55. Well the person who came up with the idea has forwarded it to RAM.

So we'll see.