Answering the call
Thousands of conservative activists answered Rep. Michele Bachmann’s call to come to Washington and protest the Democratic health care expansions being pushed through Congress.
Standing at the steps of the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, the activists chanted, “Kill the bill,” and cheered Republican members of Congress who promised to vote against it. Conservative stars such as “Liberty and Tyranny” author Mark Levin and actor Jon Voight spoke to the crowd, drawing attention to, as Mr. Levin put it, “the wrecking ball” the Democratic majority “has taken to this magnificent society.”
Mrs. Bachmann, Minnesota Republican, had asked activists to attend her press conference, which she called a “House call,” during an appearance on Fox News last week. And on short order, activists, many of whom had organized previous “tea party” events, began organizing buses and car pools to get there.
Advocacy groups such as Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks also helped get the word out.
FreedomWorks spokesman Adam Brandon said, “This was all put together in less than five days. We alerted our members, who know what to do after a summer of organizing. Within days, buses were chartered from as far away as Georgia and folks even bought flights from the West Coast.”
Others, such as Mike and Bonnie McCaffrey, came on their own. They said they got up at 5 a.m. to drive from their home in Hawley, Pa., to Washington for the event and to lobby their congressman, Rep. Christopher Carney, a Democrat. “It’s important,” Mrs. McCaffrey said.
The Democrats, for their part, think Mrs. Bachmann’s approach will backfire eventually.
Democratic National Committee press secretary Hari Sevugan dismissed Mrs. Bachmann’s event by saying, “If the Republican Party wants to make Michele Bachmann the voice of the party, that’s more than fine with us. We’ll help circulate the petition.”
Mr. Sevugan added that the event was an example of the “extreme, right-wing, rigid ideological agenda that has Americans leaving the Republican Party in droves - and so, if displays like today are what they think is a smart political strategy, all we can say is: ’Go for it.’ ”
Debbee Keller, press secretary for Mrs. Bachmann, said, “The Democrats are completely tone-deaf. The story today is not the press conference that members of Congress held, it’s the thousands of people who travelled to D.C. to tell Congress that they oppose government-run health care.”
Getting arrested
The protest turned ugly when 12 people were arrested at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office in Room 235 in the Cannon House Office Building.
Capitol Police public information officer Sgt. Kimberly Schneider said in an e-mail to The Washington Times that four of the demonstrators were charged with unlawful entry inside the room, and six were charged with unlawful conduct in the hallway outside. Two females were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct outside of the room, she said.
He’s back
Less than a month after declaring that Fox News was “not really a news station” and a few days after the Democrats lost gubernatorial elections in New Jersey and Virginia, White House senior adviser David Axelrod was back on the network giving his spin.
Mr. Axelrod spoke with Fox White House reporter Major Garrett on Wednesday about the elections, saying that the Republican wins in New Jersey and Virginia were state matters but that the Democratic win in New York’s 23rd congressional race was the national story.
“The other races in Jersey and in Virginia were really state races, very much focused on state issues,” he said. “In New Jersey it was very much focused on Gov. [Jon] Corzine, but in New York 23, the issues that we’re discussing every day in Washington were very much on the ballot.”
Unfair labeling
San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera didn’t want parents to start believing sweet cereal could boost immunity and prevent the H1N1 swine flu, so he used his powers under California’s Unfair Competition law to warn Cocoa Krispies about its label.
The Cocoa Krispies boxes stocked on California shelves said the cereal “now helps support your child’s immunity,” which Mr. Herrera didn’t like one bit. He sent a letter to Battle Creek, Mich.-based Kellogg’s, saying the “immunity” claim could “mislead parents into believing that serving this sugary cereal will actually boost their child’s immunity, leaving parents less likely to take more productive steps to protect their children’s health.”
Kellogg’s said the label was never meant to market to parents worried about the swine flu; it was only meant to promote the vitamins that were added to the cereal. In the end, Kellogg’s decided to change the labeling.
“I am gratified that Kellogg’s listened to our concerns and recognized the obligation we all have to convey accurate information in the context of a serious public health concern like swine flu,” Mr. Herrera said. “I know many critics viewed this as a cynical marketing ploy to prey on parents’ fears about their kids’ health, to sell sugary cereal as some kind of new health food. Notwithstanding the health benefits of vitamins, prudence and integrity demanded this step, and I’m glad Kellogg’s took it.”
• Amanda Carpenter can be reached at acarpenter@washingtontimes.com.
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