AstroTurf protests not what they seem

Across America there's an organized effort to disrupt town hall health care reform meetings. These meetings are intended to openly discuss all health care views. However, the problem is that disrupters destroy true democratic debate, unable to win discussions on merit with facts. The method is thrusting signs in the air to block views and shout down everyone, turning the meeting into total chaos, and thus destroying debate.

The disruptions are organized in stealth, giving the appearance of a grass-roots movement, yet that's not the case. The strategy employed is called "AstroTurfing" which means posing as a grass-roots movement when in reality being nothing more than a fringe group, therefore not real grass but AstroTurf.

These disruptions are organized by the anti-government propaganda group called FreedomWorks, which was founded by Dick Armey and Jack Kemp, both Republicans utterly opposed to social programs of any kind. They see nothing wrong with America having no social nets such as Social Security, Medicare or a national health care plan, rather an America of every man for himself, or in other words, social Darwinism.

Recently, these well dressed white "protesters" arrived by bus at an African American suburb of Cincinnati. Their ruse didn't work as everyone knew they were from outside the community.

America used to be the best, but today our health care is among the worst of developed nations, with government run by corporations, for corporations, and of corporations, without regard for working people. Insurance companies benefit from the insurrection generated by FreedomWorks, their surrogates.

America must relinquish Reagan's "Me Generation" strategy of selfishness and re-establish Jack Kennedy's vision of America united under the goal of being number one.

Anthony Bravos

Woodstock