Dear Eric,
Unfortunately you may be entirely correct that big pharma is going to end up profiting (even more!!) from whatever health plan is adopted. And I also must agree with you that in every demonstrating group there will be those who are more needlessly aggressive than others. Although I agree with Mike D. that the right to bear arms is one of our basic rights, maybe showing up with guns in a public place is just plain bad publicity!!
As an antidote, I am offering the e-mail exchange below from the Bay Area Patriots discussion list. Apparently, and I have not fact checked this, the owner of Whole Foods has spoken out against the Obama health care proposal, and the Patriots are showing their support for him by calling and e-mailing the store and determining to shop at WF more often. As an aside, I recall that John Mackay, owner of WF, is a Libertarian. It is interesting that it is the Republicans on my various discussion lists that are being supportive of his speaking out.
Regards,
Marcy
I sent a note of support last week. I plan to shop at Whole Foods more
often. Suzanne
Corporate America has had a long history recently of financing these activist groups. They pose as 'free market' types, but really they want subsidies and selective taxation and regulation. We've seen this with oil and timber cartels, for example; paying off phony environmental groups so they can have a pretext for outsourcing and charging hyperinflated prices. It also furnishes a pretext for more regulation, which in turn suppresses their competition.
This is probably where this healthcare proposal is going as well. Gingrich, Murdoch, and Norquist &c. are total puppets of the Wall Street looters. What they'll argue is that government health insurance is 'too expencive'; so they'll compromise by farming it out to subsidised insurance cartels like AIG. Then, the insurance will only cover 'approved' private hospitals who buy their wares from 'approved' pharmacueticals. The right-wing media will proclaim a victory for freedom of choice; but we'll have just as much freedom of choice with healthcare as we do with government-subsidised banks, airlines, schools, &c.
I understand Mike's point about free speech and the 2nd Amendment; but using either speech or weapons to intimidate and silence opponents is contrary to the spirit of these rights. And that's the obvious intention of these protestors.