Tornado Alley (PROG)

[StephanieVanbryce]

..........teaparty trash
never forget watch & listen to them ! http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/multimedia/video/video.html?video=951077

Parkinson's patient gains national attention from health-care rally confrontation

Dispatch video of encounter widely circulates on the Internet

A demonstrator at a Columbus health-care rally who was chided for looking for a handout "on the wrong end of town" actually is a former nuclear engineer with a doctorate from Cornell University.

Robert A. Letcher, 60, had no way of knowing that attending the rally would make him a flashpoint in the raging national health-care debate.

But the treatment of Letcher, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, by two opponents of health-care legislation instantly became the topic of Internet chatter and bloggers and was given a prime spot on cable-news programs in the past two days.

A Dispatch video, widely circulated on the Internet, depicted the angry protestors berating Letcher as he sat on the ground holding a sign explaining his condition.

Yesterday, Letcher said he did not fear for his safety and acknowledged that his two antagonists were not typical of the vast majority of the hundreds outside U.S. Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy's district office Tuesday on the North Side.

"It's difficult for people to imagine my circumstances," said Letcher, whose mobility and speech have been slowed by the disease. "I supported health-care reform in principle, but then I got Parkinson's and was more for it."

Yesterday, both sides condemned the behavior of the men who yelled and threw money on Letcher.

"I've seen the video and found the behavior completely inappropriate. Americans for Prosperity certainly does not encourage or condone harassing behavior," said Rebecca Heimlich, state director of the conservative group that opposes the legislation and helped organize the rally.

"Our goal was to send a message to Rep. Kilroy that we oppose this health-care takeover bill."

One of the men carried an Americans for Prosperity sign, but Heimlich said she did not know either of them.

Brian Rothenberg, executive director of the liberal group ProgessOhio, called the exchange "shocking."

"They acted like he didn't have a right to be there. Bob had a right to be there and every right to say what he was saying even if they didn't agree with him."

Kilroy homed in on the incident during a House floor speech yesterday.

"Unfortunately, some of those opposing health-care reform went too far. Instead of making their arguments against the bill, they engaged in abusive language directed at one of my constituents who suffers from the terrible ravages of Parkinson's disease," she said.

"They treated him like a beggar. They threw dollar bills at him. They did not respect his humanity."

Letcher, a Steubenville native, said he has helped design nuclear-power plants, worked as a community organizer and taught at the college level. He has been politically active most of his adult life, usually on the "progressive-leftist" side.

He went on disability five years ago. Letcher is insured through the tax-funded Medicaid program but wants others to have health insurance, too.

Meanwhile, a Washington group opposed to health-care reform apologized yesterday for running an ad in the Cincinnati Enquirer featuring a photo of Rep. Steve Driehaus, D-Cincinnati, and his two daughters.

The Committee to Rethink Reform said showing the children was a mistake. The Enquirer ran a full-page ad yesterday apologizing.

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/03/19/angry-protesters-warp-focus-of-debate.html?sid=101