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Single Payer Docs Arrested Outside Baltimore Hotel While Obama Speaking to Republicans
Two single payer doctors were arrested this morning outside the Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel where President Obama was scheduled to speak to a retreat of House Republicans.
Dr. Margaret Flowers and Dr. Carol Paris (Photo Credit: Bill Hughes) Dr. Margaret Flowers and Dr. Carol Paris were carrying a sign that
said: Just Letting You Know: Medicare for All.
"We were on the hotel property holding our sign," Dr. Flowers said. "The Secret Service said we had to go across the street. We said we would go across the street if our letter was delivered to the President. The Secret Service said that wasn't possible. They said if we didn't go across the street we would be arrested. We refused to leave because we didn't want to continue to be excluded, marginalized and ignored. And they arrested us."
Flowers and Paris were taken to the Central Police headquarters.
They were separately questioned by the Secret Service.
The Baltimore Police charged them with trespass and they were released.
"Every time they said - if you just go across the street, everything will be fine," Dr. Paris said. "And we would respond - that is the problem. We are always asked to go across the street. And nothing changes. This is putting into practice what Howard Zinn taught us. Go where you are not supposed to be. And say what you are not supposed to say. And that's what we were doing."
(See Bill Hughes video here.)
Dr. Flowers went to the White House yesterday to deliver a letter to Obama asking him to consider a single payer, Medicare for all health care system.
She was turned away at the gate and told that for security reasons, the White House doesn't accept hand delivered letters.
During his State of the Union speech on Wednesday, Obama said he wanted to hear from people on a better approach to health care reform that will "bring down premiums, bring down the deficit, cover the uninsured, strengthen Medicare for seniors and stop insurance company abuses."
"Let me know, let me know, let me know. I'm eager to see it," Obama said.
Flowers, Paris and the majority of doctors and nurses in America believe that approach is a single payer national health insurance system.
Obama himself, when he was a state Senator in Illinois in 2003, said single payer was the way to go.
But last year, he cut deals with the pharmaceutical and health insurance industries in a now failed attempt to get through tinkering reforms.
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224 Comments so far
Show AllHow FASCIST AND SICK to arrest 2 doctors who are just standing there holding a perfectly plausible sign!!
WHAT THE HELL???!!!!! We are in a fascist country, no doubt. When they keep shutting down the opposition like this, there is only one way to go --- to keep repressing the people further and further into submission until a total Fascist country exists.
Arrested for what??? Wanting health care for their patients???!!! How come the dirty Republicans who want to kill kill and kill don't get arrested? I know I know --- don't bother explaining it to me.
Very good rant, and totally true.
sElected politicians have become the new aristocrats, the kind that were cut down in the French Revolution for "Freedom, Equality, Solidarity".
Look at how they surround themselves with a court, cut off from ordinary living and lives, keep servants, consume excessively, and inflate their importance far beyond the people they supposedly represent. Just look. Where's the "Equality"?
During his State of the Union speech on Wednesday, Obama said he wanted to hear from people...
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People?
He must mean the newly invented Corporate People.
Obombya said he wanted to hear from people. He didn't say he would listen to them.
They need to sculpt a statue with Obombya's head on one side and Herbert Hoover's head on the other.
They were arrested because they were obviously not PERSONS.
Only the Corporation is a PERSON.
And the mistake they made was thinking they could speak for free. Free speech must be purchased.
Arrested while protesting in China or Iran and the MSM plays it up as a violation of basic rights and non-democratic.
Arrested while protesting in the US and MSM ignores it or treats the protestors as left wing kooks.
These people are far more dangerous than the tea-baggers carrying loaded firearms (who of course are not arrested)...
They each actually have a brain which is the real threat.
Exactly what burns me up: Mr. Obama "cut deals with the pharmaceutical and health insurance industries" and says in the S of U address that companies and their lobbyists must be restrained in their contributions to political campaigns.
Then two physicians in Baltimore are arrested for holding a sign saying Single Payer.
Remember Dr. Howard Zinn: "the power of the people on top depends on the obedience of the people below. When people stop obeying, they have no power."
– Howard Zinn, November 11, 2009
"Dr. Margaret Flowers and Dr. Carol Paris were carrying a sign that said: Just Letting You Know: Medicare for All."
Your activism continues to inspire me! Thank you!!
What, actually, were the charges filed against Dr. Flowers and Dr. Paris? Does anyone know?
I remember reading that when Howard Zinn was arrested for "disturbing the peace," he stated, instead, that he was "arrested for disturbing the war."
Being natural persons in possession of an unregistered opinion. CNN would carry the story if only they were in Tehran.
2003: Single-payer. 2008: Single-brayer. 2009: Single-prayer. 2010: Single-betrayer! And so it goes: BOWEL (Barack Obama's Worth Ever Less) Movement. Down and OUT: 2012! Only 1085 days To GO!
If you're on private property that allows access by the public then you're on private property open to the public. That's not trespassing. They can only tell you to leave if you're blocking the way.
but the bigger point...
These doctors have a lot of heart.
Dr. Flowers "was turned away at the gate and told that for security reasons, the White House doesn't accept hand delivered letters."
How about a well-aimed asteroid instead, with outsized letters reading "Medicare for All"?
So much for "the people's house"!
-30-
You really have to see this video of the arrest (also linked in the story, above):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53RbYauyv_8
God bless Drs. Paris and Flowers for standing firm. The goons were there to intimidate them, but these doctors, unlike Obama, didn't fold,but kept speaking out for the rest of us.
"The power of the people on top depends on the obedience of the people below. When people stop obeying, they have no power."
– Howard Zinn
Thanks, petrkrop, for the link! I just watched the arrests of Dr. Flowers and Dr. Paris.
Evidently, they were arrested on charges of trespassing. I heard the words "private property."
Shameful! And, the doctors are right -- we've all been marginalized.
Overwhelmingly, "we the people" want and need single-payer health care reform.
Do doctors have to break laws just to make a point? Email and snail mail is there for them. There is no excuse for trespassing whatsoever. They should learn their lesson soon.
Is this for real? There is "no excuse" for trespassing "whatsoever?" You are joking, right? Please tell me that comment was over-the-top satire and I missed it, right?
I suppose that segregated lunch counters and water fountains and bathrooms were fine, and trespassing to change discriminatory practices was just totally irresponsible. We should have emailed and asked those nice KKK southerners to please let the blacks just have a seat, and it would have worked, right?
Oh, sorry, there was no email then. Perhaps that is why it was justified. (Was it justified EncinoM?)
Anyone who thinks laws should be obeyed simply because they are there is missing the big picture, or missing the functional part of their brain that recognizes the big picture.
What about hiding Jews in the basement during WWII? That was against the law, no? Would you hide some Jews buddy, or obey the Reich and politely ask the SS not to be so unreasonable?
I also imagine you've never sped, jaywalked or ran a stop sign. There are no excuses for it. Even if you are on the way to the ER. So strap in and be patient, we have unreasonable laws to obey!
Somebody needs to learn some comparative perspective.
What are you talking about? Email didn't exist during racial segregation. The Southerners weren't making laws. The lawmakers were the ones to ask. It did work out in the end.
Your comparison of Jews and hiding to this makes no sense.
I never got into trouble with the law on trespassing because I checked first. Emailing, phone calling, and snail mail exist today and are accessible compared to those times past.
Talk about comparative perspectives.
It is difficult to answer this question when you have no idea how important protesting is, and this is especially true of protests that break the law. EncinoM does not seem able to comprehend the fact that when those you have elected to govern are breaking all of your laws, that you are going to have to break some laws in order to correct this situation. How could anyone's citizenship in any country be considered important to them if they were not free? And I am absolutely amazed at the amount of naivety that our friend is showing concerning the abilities and history of the American people being misled by those in elected power.
This has nothing to do with emails, etc, and everything to do with encinoM's inability to understand the conversation.
I will talk about comparable perspectives!
You can break as many laws as you want at your own peril. You're not in trouble unless you get caught. Whatever Flowers and Paris wanted from Obama is irrelevant because they knew that they would get themselves into trouble trying to crash in as if they were superheros. You want single payer and I understand that but they went about it wrong. Shout all you want about it but it doesn't change the fact that she was charged with trespassing. I'm stating facts, not opinions. You're living in a dream world. Protest unpeacefully if you want but I'll play it safe and sound.
In reply to the guy that thinks these doctors deserved to be arrested for trespass. Ah..excuse me. But the steps of the capitol, the White House, the streets of Baltimore, are public property. This is still a free speech country...or don't you agree?
Go tell that to the police yourself. I'm only stating facts.
You seem to be unaware that we all, and the physicians for single payer in particular, have been politely writing politicians and the White House for years regarding this topic, to no effect.
The otherworldly naivete of you remarks are stunning.
We are going to get results when we can mobilize a million other people to get arrested along with the two doctors. Direct action gets the goods.
So please tell me how you can convince millions of people to prepare for government to radically take over the insurance companies. Why do you expect the American people to buy into this idea of replacing one monopoly with another? How about a public option so that government and private insurance companies can compete so that we can see which side turns out better? That wouldn't be so hard to pass and if government does its job then single payer automatically wins.
You clearly have no fortitude, nor do you understand that "getting into trouble" is not the concern of these doctors one way or the other. Their concern is economic justice.
They'll worry about economic justice only after getting arrested. It's getting fame until then. They knew that single payer was dead after writing thousands of emails to the White House.
This is non violent civil disobedience.
Medicare is not dead is not going away and it can be expanded if people keep demanding it.
By getting arrested... that is a good point and makes it civil disobedience.
Your point is the same as any obedient person who never got involved in the great changes of history.
Uh huh. And single payer will pass instantly. What a dream ! Thanks for the laughs.
No, social justice does not come instantly...
Only your ignorance is that swift.
Uh huh. So let's see what universal care we have 10 years from now and you can thank Flowers and Paris if it exists.
OK. We'll see.
Hello Enuchino,
It would seem that a whole lot of "we the real live living, breathing people" out here in America want a hero. I want a hero! I thought we had one in Obama. Back then I believed. Now I see the folly, the whole system is junk! So very much corrupt.
The problem is that I don't know everything, and that's why I haven't given up on him -- Obama,... entirely, ...and absolutely, ...forever. However, I'm feeling a little more than discouraged. I think the best bet is to stick together. It would seem it's all up to us, the little people. Through these acts of selflessness, (and that is what it is), Dr. Flowers and Dr. Paris are the heroines that shine on!
Tell me where, tell me when.
Yea the lesson you learned which is "Just Shut Up and Support the President" I seem to remember the GOP telling us the same thing when it came to Bush and now an ObamaBot is telling us the same thing.
BigDawgJohn hits the nail on the head!
Never said that but nothing to stop the Naderites from pissing in the wind. Nader Republicans !
Bravo for these two fine lady doctors. This IS what Howard Zinn was talking about. What a fine example to us all on exactly how to keep the fight alive. I'm getting my protest clothes out and ready. Whether our government wants to hear from us or not, they're GOING to hear from us if we MAKE them hear. These ladies have made a good start. Now it's up to the rest of us. I'm ready. Anybody want to go with me????
Howard Zinn would be proud of this civil disobedience-- something Obamabots can't comprehend.
Last May,Zinn had discussed Dr. Flowers and other doctor/activists arrests during the Senate hearing on DemocracyNow.org. He was proud of them.
Zinn's passing is a great loss to many.............
Dr. Zinn never argued that trespassing and getting arrested was the way to make a point. Zinn supported peaceful protests, not law breaking.
Howard Zinn was arrested countless times in acts of civil disobedience!
So Howard Zinn gets arrested and miracles happen? That's not how it happened. Dr. Flowers got arrested so where are her efforts going? Nowhere.
I think it your efforts that are going nowhere. Its your efforts that have went nowhere for the past 50 years. It was that long ago they first tried to get Universal Health care.
So you are saying wait on Obama because he is different then Clinton?
Universal health care can be interpreted differently. 50 years ago was a different setting. They didn't try to pass the same thing for the past 50 years. It was changed. Clinton's health care plan was a failure because it was too bureaucratic and both parties couldn't understand her plan. At this plan should get public option to minimize the bureaucracy of government provided care.
Immaterial. It was your claim that all one had to do was write a letter and change would happen. Americans have wanted change for 50+ years and have been writing letters and it only gets worse.
Waiting around writing letters accomplishes nothing.
How did people get a minimum wage? Do you think it was by writing a letter?
They went out on the street and blockaded companies. They formed Unsions in defiance of the law. They had their heads beat in by police with billy clubs.
They prevailed.
Today's technologies on security are different from yesterday's. Today, you can afford to type here but you can't afford to get into trouble with the law unless you can afford an expensive lawyer. Breaking the law didn't accomplish anything. There were no laws against unions or minimum wages. Try getting yourself arrested for trespassing while fighting for single payer and see if it passes in 10 years.
Last I checked, getting arrested does not constitute violence on the part of the arrested. Damaging inanimate materials - glass, metal - isn't violence either.
But the pigs doing the arresting can get pretty violent.
Single payer is dead in the water. The public isn't ready for government to replace the insurance companies. A competition between government and the private companies would have been a good compromise just like the German system. Shout and dream all you want but that's reality.
There have been numerous polls showing with various questions that a majority of Americans would prefer a Medicare-for-all type of program. You are simply buying the Republican talking points and repeating it a million times won't make it true. The only reason single payer is "dead in the water" for now, is that the current reactionary government won't put it on the table for open discussion. Hence such spectacles as doctors interjecting themselves into meetings with Max Baucus and getting thrown out. These people are brave, they are not stupid.
Polls aren't always accurate. The questions that were actually being asked and the people who were actually surveyed must be carefully looked at. When a poll is given on an idea, certain questions are asked and certain questions are eliminated. If the poll asks if people want government to step in and help, then we should expect a favorable response but if the poll asks if people want one monopoly to replace another, then the response would be different. The Republicans don't want the government to compete with private insurance companies. The single payer advocates do not want insurance companies to compete with the government. Public option allows both the government and the private companies to compete so that we can see which side turns out to be better. If the government does its job, then single payer wins hands down. If doctors had been wasting time bugging leaders and rulers to be insurance monopolists, you wouldn't be enjoying the modern medicine and cures you take for granted.
Sounds like somebody got jealous and decided to flag my comment. Don't like the facts, do you?