Howard Dean Leads Massive Healthcare Rally

Obviously support for socialized medicine is growing by leaps and bounds.

Dozens of health care activists are protesting in the nation's capital against what they call an abusive health insurance industry.

Members of Health Care for America Now gathered at Dupont Circle Tuesday morning, and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and other speakers addressed the crowd. They planned to march through downtown Washington to a hotel where America's Health Insurance Plans, an association of health insurance companies, is meeting for a conference.

Dozens of protesters? So what was it? Twenty-four people? Thirty-six, maybe?

Meanwhile, labor thugs involved plan to "arrest" insurance executives.

Washington might be ground zero for the nation's political protests, but a planned Tuesday rally of labor and religious leaders who will attempt to "arrest" insurance executives sounds like it will be dramatic political theater even in this town.

Gerald McEntee, president of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), told reporters on Monday that his group, along with a few dozen other labor and religious leaders, will march thousands of people to the posh Ritz Carlton hotel with the intent of carrying out a "peaceful" citizen's arrest of insurance executives who will be there to attend a policy forum sponsored by America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), a major health insurance lobbying group.

The purpose: "To expose the high crimes and misdemeanors perpetuated by the insurance industry time after time and year after year, and we are totally sick of it," McEntee said during a press call. "We're going to crash their party and put an end to its injustice."

What is this, a banana republic? If I were one of those executives and this scumbag came near me he'd need to double up on his health premiums.

Oh, and what happened to the thousands of people now that it's reported as dozens?

With promised "disobedience," will this be portrayed as a raucous and angry mob?

Vowing to engage in civil disobedience, a number of progressive and union-backed groups are planning to protest the Washington, D.C., event sponsored by America’s Health Insurance Plans.

Update: I caught an ABC Radio news report and now the guesstimate is the crowd numbered hundreds. They played a couple of clips of very angry, incoherent types reading their prepared, union thug material.