Over at his blog, The Lowdown, Great Falls Tribune Helena Bureau Chief John S. Adams has some video posted of protesters both for and against health care reform. While the dominant narrative that came out of Obama’s town hall event in Belgrade Friday was that it was a civil, even sleepy affair, Adams notes that that description best sums up the actual Obama speech inside the hangar. Outside in the “Free Speech Zone,” however, was a slightly different story. Nothing too crazy, but a decent amount of shoving and shouting. Left in the West currently has a number of accounts up from pro-health care reform demonstrators who also felt the environment was a bit more hostile than most news accounts.
From John S. Adams:
The town hall itself was mostly packed with Obama supporters, so it didn’t turn into a shout fest inside the airplane hanger. However, the demonstrations–which took place about a quarter mile from the hanger itself–were far less civil. You can see from the signs in the video the stark contrast between the pro-reform and anti-reform activists.