| By Dave Harding, ProgressOhio - Nov 6th, 2009 at 11:25 am EST |
In what Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) called the "Superbowl of Freedom," several thousand right-wing activists chanting "kill the bill!" descended on the West Lawn of the Capitol yesterday to protest health care reform.
The event was organized by Bachmann and Americans for Prosperity (AFP) -- the billionaire-funded astroturf machine -- and endorsed by GOP lawmakers. With promotional help from Fox News and conservative radio, organizers called the event "an emergency house call on Congress" to stop heath care reform. Bachmann urged her followers to "scare" members of Congress, saying, "Nothing scares members of Congress more than freedom-loving Americans."
Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) pandered to the crowd, saying, "Pelosi care is the greatest threat to freedom I've seen in my 19 years in Washington." While conservatives touted a crowd size of up to a million protesters, Capitol Police estimated the crowd was more likely around 4,000.
As has become the norm at Tea Parties rallies, some of imagery was radical and offensive, with one prominent sign showing a gruesome an image of dead Holocaust victims to warn that the Democratic health care plan will do the same for Americans.
The protests came on the same day as two key groups in the health care debate -- the American Medical Association and the American Association of Retired Persons -- endorsed the House Democrats' health care bill. The White House "seemed to pay little attention to events happening only blocks away," and House Democratic leadership is confident that the bill will pass this weekend.
Watch The New Republican Party In Action:
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