Are protesters more informed than thought?

I think it is so interesting how the media describes those people objecting to the policies of the current administration. Even our local media seems to do the same. In the Bee (Aug. 26), David Keyes referred to the people speaking out at town hall meetings across the nation as “hate filled, venom-spewing lunatics.” Does anyone recall the media describing President Bush’s critics in such negative terms? I think they were referred to as patriots.

If the article reporting on the meeting Monday evening fully represented the tenor of the crowd there, it would have stated the loudest and longest applause of agreement occurred when Rep. Walt Minnick said “we have botched the budget so badly, and we are in so much debt, we are looking at deficits this year alone of $2.5 trillion and when you add the “off balance sheet debt,” we are looking at $40-$55 trillion. This is the biggest problem we have.”

From my own observations of the national town hall meetings on television, I would say the current and future deficits, and what a single payer health care system would do to those deficits, is the most referenced comment and concern. Could those “loud” people be better informed than we think?

DEANNA JAMES

Sagle