The rally in front of FOX sprung from the fact that the majority of Americans actually do support meaningful Healthcare reform that includes a Public Option. This fact appears to this group to be largely ignored by major media, especially FOX. This motivated local groups to organize a rally at FOX TV Center in a strong show of support for Healthcare reform with a Public Option. The FOX news desk was contacted to cover the protest right outside their door, but replied they will probably be too busy reporting on the current fires.
Among signs and banners supporting health care reform, there were also two large banners at the rally that expressed long simmering anger towards FOX News consistently covering what many describe as misinformation skewed heavily to the right. They read: " FOX News is Bad for Our Health" and "Beck, O'Reilly and Hannity - Now there's a Death Panel".
Link to Photos:
http://s584.photobucket.com/albums/ss290/junebloom/Fox%20rally/?albumview=slideshow They drew numerous honks of approval and thumbs up from the many passing motorists on their homeward commute. "Let's do this again next week!" arose from one conversation amongst a few and then spread through the group as a plan to make their protest at this location heard again at 5pm next Tuesday, at least by the throngs of commuters on this busy boulevard, if not by FOX.
FOX News recently took out an ad in the Washington Post chastising the other stations for not covering the anti-Obama Tea Parties that advocate stopping health care reform. The other stations refuted that claim. In sharp contrast, a rising groundswell of frustration is being felt nationally by the "silent majority" of Americans that support reform with the participation of the government, and are unhappy with the current system of health care being controlled by for-profit insurance companies. They feel silent due to feeling that the media is not covering their side of the story.
Attendees included local working residents, activists, nurses and doctors who briefly spoke to the crowd about their strong support for Public Option. They shared personal experiences of numerous patients being denied urgently needed care or having no coverage at all and suffering terribly from it. Such stories are wide spread and easy to find yet largely ignored in the ongoing debate and by coverage by major media sources. Absurd claims about death panels, socialized nazi medicine, unconstitutionally raising taxes and government rationing of care gobble up airtime on nearly all channels.
Dr. Jane George, in a speech at the rally, cited a study by New England Journal of Medicine survey that showed over 62% of respondents of a random sample drawn from AMA's Physician Masterfile support a Public Option as a part of healthcare reform. .
Dr. Casey Kirkhart spoke firsthand of seeing numerous patients' painful experience from not getting the care they need for major and minor health concerns. His own personal story includes anxiety over getting coverage for his family due to exorbitant cost and the likelihood of being denied coverage for little or no reason which is common place in our current system.
Other participants were very outspoken in their support for Public Option:
"A public option is just that, an option for people to choose if they cannot get affordable health care through insurance companies. Pundits and so-called cable news programs who gain viewers by scaring people with distortions and lies are doing the country a disservice. According to the World Health Organization, America is 37th in the world in health care outcomes, behind countries like Canada, the UK and France, which is number one. More than 80% of Americans support a public option. Let's not allow scare mongering and deceit from the likes of Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh to supersede the will of the American people!" Leslie Berliant, Verdecology
"The location of this rally is what pulled people here. You really nailed it with Fox!" -
- Joni Burns, local resident
"I went to the Moveon.org rally earlier today in downtown LA, there were about 400 people there! I'm gathering footage for a documentary that I will submit to Sundance."
-Jon Raymond, filmmaker On the Street Films
Many from the group spoke of their preference for a Single Payer system wherein the government directly pays private caregivers and hospitals for healthcare that is available to all who need it. Medicare is a successful form of Single payer here in the US and it is the only delivery system for healthcare in Australia, Canada and Taiwan. It is interesting to note that they all rate much higher over the US in quality of care while we are #1 in terms of cost both per capita and as a percentage of GDP. "The Public Option is like taking care of someone with a nail in their foot by leaving in the nail and cleaning and bandaging the wound. It does nothing to significantly lower costs, help people avoid bankruptcy due to medical bills it does not pull out the nail!" said Maureen Cruise, RN who also spoke to the crowd.
