War Anniversary Demonstration

Litchfield, CT

For years the small town—and county seat—of Litchfield, CT, was the venue for a persistent group of demonstrators staging quiet but determined protests each Sunday beginning with the start of the Iraq war in 2003. After a brief absence from the green, the group announced a resumption of demonstrations this past Sunday, the anniversary of that 2003 invasion. It is also the second day of "Coalition" military action in Libya. About 30 demonstrators showed up, most of them veterans of decades-long protest activity.

I have photographed here before and many of the faces were familiar (and several people recognized me, or maybe my cameras).

When I covered the protests by this group in the past (if you're curious search on "demonstrations" in the label list at this blog and at WP) there usually were counter—pro war—demonstrators present, generally at about one fifth the number of anti, or less. None were there Sunday.

In earlier protests I noticed that they had many positive responses from drivers going by the Town Green, and very little negative response. But this time, the response was overwhelmingly positive. Someone in a Hummer blasted the horn and showed a thumbs-up while his passenger flashed the peace sign. Someone in a Hummer? Farmers and tradesmen, working on Sunday as they do seven days a week, drove by in their diesel pickup trucks and sounded their horns. That didn't happen before. During an hour and a half, I only twice heard a driver yell something incomprehensible, but presumably negative, at the group. Is something changing at the small town, local level, even if nothing changes in DC? Maybe.

"Drain the Swamp Rally," VII

Hartford, CT

Hartford, CT

"Drain the Swamp Rally," V

Hartford, CT

Hartford, CT

"Drain the Swamp Rally," IV

Hartford, CT

Hartford, CT

"Drain the Swamp Rally," III

Hartford, CT

Hartford, CT

"Drain the Swamp Rally," I

Hartford, CT

 Hartford, CT

Last Saturday several hundred people turned up for a rally on the grounds of Connecticut's state capital, in Hartford. The organizers were a number of groups associated with the "Tea Party Movement" and most of the speakers during the two hour event were running for political office. Each speaker was invariably introduced as a True Conservative and Real Patriot. They denounced generally all incumbents, but especially the "communists and socialists" they assert are running Washington, DC. A theme that every speaker seemed to stress was that to fix the dire condition of the state and nation, they wanted to cut government, and cut all non-defense spending. As though economic problems have nothing to do with funding the military industrial complex, or fighting two (going on three) foreign wars.

The audience seemed to have a broader range of concerns, though all expressed from an extremist right wing viewpoint. For the next few days I'll post pictures from the event and let the slogans on the signs and T-shirts speak for themselves.

Tax Day Rallies, II

Hartford, CT

Middlebury Deserves

Middlebury, CT

Demonstration

Waterbury, CT

Congress on Your Corner

Waterbury, CT, 9/1/09

Democratic Congressman Chris Murphy, from Connecticut's Fifth Congressional District, is holding open-access meetings with constituents for an hour each morning this week, while Congress is in recess. I thought this might make for interesting pictures of democracy in action, and I wasn't disappointed. Today he was at Library Park in Waterbury. A crowd of about seventy-five came out.




It was clear that health care and related budget/deficit issues were the primary, nearly the only, things constituents wanted to talk about. It was also clear that in this group sentiments were running about two to one against reform, or against Obama administration policies in general. Murphy is a second term Congressman who won the Fifth District seat in 2006 in an upset, unseating long-time Republican Congresswoman Nancy Johnson. Pro-reform and anti-reform groups had signs and slogans, but the anti signs were bigger and more plentiful.




Feelings were running high and there was some shouting, but there were no incidents of screaming or shouting down as have happened at more formal Town Hall meetings held across the country. The format was wide-open "ask your Congressman." Some people were more interested in stating their position, or reading it from computer printouts, than in asking a question so the Congressman sometimes prompted them to get to the point and make it a question. A couple times he had to intervene to keep questioning directed to himself instead of letting it drift into crosstalk and shouting between pro and anti proponents. At one point two gentlemen standing in front of me repeatedly told each other, "shut up, I came here to listen to him, not you."



The questions were varied. Some repeated familiar talking points but others were very personal. One man said that his private health insurance, with an insurer that has about half of such policies in the state, had informed him it would not cover his 18 year old son when he left to attend college in another state. What could the Congressman do about situations like that? A woman said she had just adopted a special needs child, how would health care reform affect her family?



Toward the end of the event, one woman went on at length and Murphy, to clarify, asked her if she meant she was against all government involvement in health care, to which she gave a resounding, "Yes!" So then he asked if she wanted to do away with Medicare, to which she said "Oh, no, I don't!" That brought a loud round of mixed guffaws and groans from pro-reform people in the group.

Scheduled to last from 8:00 to 9:00 AM, Murphy's aides finally pulled him away at 9:15 to head for his next appointment. The New Haven ABC news affiliate station had a reporter and videographer there and ran a short segment on their noontime broadcast. I didn't recognize any other press at the event.

"Medicare for All"

Litchfield, CT, 8/30/09

"Single Payer"

Litchfield, CT, 8/30/09

Pro-Reform Demonstration

Litchfield, CT

Sunday, 8/30/09. A small group gathered on the Litchfield village green to demonstrate in favor of health care reform. The passing cars and motorcycles had mostly positive reactions with at least half honking or waving and something like one in twenty showing a negative response.

Demonstrators and Signs III

Torrington, Connecticut

Torrington, Connecticut

Audit

Litchfield, CT

Protest

Litchfield, CT

Demonstration

Litchfield, CT