[View photos from the event here]

To whom it may concern:

I would like to give you my first hand account of the Town Hall with Rick Larsen yesterday.

We  arrived at the stadium at 2:00. About 12 of us set up the big spools we used for a table and a stage for our speakers, the 4’ x 8’ Seeds of Liberty sign, a big yellow Renew Liberty banner and another table for information. We had lots of flags and signs. The level of camaraderie was high. There were 2 dems setting up their table. When they tried to bait us by yelling an incendiary remark we turned the tables by walking over to them with our hands extended for a shake and a personal introduction. We took them by surprise but for the next half hour till the crowds showed up we were civil and friendly.

Shortly after 3:00 I would estimate that about 200 people were in attendance. The numbers were fairly equal between sides.  "Jane Citizen"  began to speak using a small microphone and standing on her makeshift platform. For the next hour and a half those with the opposing views chanted  "Liar, liar, liar",  "racist, racist, racist"  and  "shut up, shut up, shut up". They completely drowned out what she was saying. Jane Citizen was FANTASTIC! She stood up there, strong and confident and continued to speak even though no one could hear her.

KOMO, KING, KIRO and KCPQ Fox 13 were a few of the media sources there. They appeared to be filming and interviewing many. Our side did not shout back. We stood around Jane Citizen and a couple of other speakers and tried to listen. It was very obvious who the mob was.

You will notice that when presenting the side that is opposed to the current healthcare legislation, all of the local media used film of the few LaRouche people with large signs of Obama with a Hitler mustache. I’d like to point out that there were a few of them and hundreds of US. I only saw 2 or three signs on our side that had the name Obama on them. Most of the ‘against government healthcare signs’ were attacking the issues, not the people. Seeds of Liberty wants to engage in real conversation, not name calling.

One man with a bull horn was wandering through the crowd literally shouting in our ears “Repeal the Bush tax cuts, repeal the Bush taxcauts!”

Democrat representatives from every district were in attendance with name tags. I did not see even one official representative of the Republican Party or any representative of an Insurance company.   

Many in our group walked through the opposing crowd, extending our hands and taking part in discussions. One woman I approached held a sign that said “tax the rich” Her companion had a sign that said National Socialist party. I extended my hand, introduced myself and told my short story about being a successful small business owner and entrepreneur. She yelled at me ”An ox will gore you! An ox will gore you!”  I said God Bless You, She replied Marx bless you. Interesting.

One sentiment that the opposing side seemed to share is that everyone has a right to healthcare and that the rich should pay for it. Over and over I was told that the problem is greedy rich people and that business should not make a profit.

I think we have a fundamental difference of opinion.

I asked each of the people I spoke with where they were from. Not one of them was from Rick Larsen’s district.

The stadium was packed full with thousands. The first 9 or ten questions were solely from speakers that were against the current healthcare legislation. Out of all of the questions, only a handful were from people who supported the bill. There was lots of cheering for our side. 2/3 of the crowd was clearly against the proposed bill.

Our signs were homemade. The opposing signs were preprinted from Planned Parenthood, SEIU, LUNA, Organizing for America and Barackobama.com.

Rick Larsen avoided the questions. His answers were rambling and left me asking myself “what did he just say?”  He told many outright lies. He made a point to disparage Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck.

It was abundantly clear that we are becoming the not so silent majority!

It is my opinion that we MUST step up the noise right now! We are gaining momentum and we should not let anything get in our way. Search out the next town hall. Make a sign and GO. Make a sign and get some friends to stand on the busiest intersection in your home town. Write an email. Make a phone call. Do whatever it is that you as an individual can do. Do not let apathy set us back now. We are on the way to taking back our Republic.

Thanks for reading,
-Julie Martinoli

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