A few days ago I mentioned that I planned to attend a “town hall” sponsored by Americans for Prosperity, the front group for the Koch Brothers. The meeting was held at the Beaver Meadows Rod and Gun Club, and it was organized by the Carbon County “9/12” group, a very conservative political organization. Linda thought I shouldn’t go alone, made some phone calls with her friend Edie, and 22 of us--labor union sympathizers and anti-Koch Brothers activists--showed up with signs saying “Stop the Koch Brothers--Pennsylvania is not for sale” and “Billionaires speak--Workers are silenced.”
We were not allowed to take the signs into the meeting, and we had to sit in the back behind a ribbon because we weren’t 9/12 members, although the advertisement in the paper implied that all would be welcome.
One difference I noticed immediately was that the meeting opened with a prayer invoking the name of Jesus, who was asked to bless the 9/12ers. Edie added to the prayer “and labor union members everywhere.” Our Carbon County Democrats for Change includes Jews, Buddhists, Christians of various persuasions, and at least three atheists I know of, so we don’t do the prayer thing.
There was a great deal of tension in the room, although I thought our group behaved better than some of the conservatives. Two large men dressed in black walked around the room and warned us not to catcall, although one of them actually turned out to be rather nice. The meeting also had cake available, which was excellent. Finally the leader of the 9/12ers, Sandy Dellecker, was welcoming and friendly, and I find myself liking her.
Tomorrow: The payroll deception bill explained.
No comments:
Post a Comment