Obamas visit to Colorado PartII

This is the second part, of a 3 page piece about my experience during the protest outside President Obama's health care town hall in Grand Junction, CO. In the last piece, I wrote about what I found on the "pro-reform" side. Now I would like to cover a few issues I saw on my own side. One thing that became very evident to me very quickly, was the absolute lack of organization. Now I know there is some sort of stigma about conservatives organizing before a protest, ending in people being referred to as "astro-turf", but I don't care what people on the other side say. I saw buses, a stage, a professional sound system, dozens of pre-printed signs and several professional demonstrators leading all the festivities on the other side. These people were coordinated and well versed in setting up these types of events, and in terms of cohesion and sheer volume, they dominated. The next issue I found on our end was any common direction. People were protesting the health care bill, the stimulus package, Obama's birth-certificate, tobacco taxes and religion. While the message came across very clearly that we were very upset, the subject of said dissatisfaction seemed to come across a bit muddled. Lastly,I want to mention the passion of the people I met last Saturday. Indeed a wonderful thing when kept reigned in to some degree, this can serve to undermine any position if it gets out of hand. On more than one occasion, I witnessed individual from the "pro" side come over to engage in conversation. When this happened, instead of viewing it as an opportunity to present a clear, intelligent position to someone who seemed willing to participate in debate, people began shouting insults and demands that the person "go back to their own side". It is my belief after this experience, that the conservatives of this nation need to ignore all the "grassroots" conversations and gather together in order to organize and formulate a clear, concise message which the majority can stand behind. Simultaneously, people on both sides of this argument need to be educated in our constitution, some basic American history, simple economic ideas and, of course, this bill which threatens to unravel the intricately woven fabric of our great nation.