Shuck and Jive


Thursday, July 30, 2009

A Right, Not a Privilege: Speaking Out in Bristol

Joseph Fitsanakis of Democracy Now! Tri-Cities has posted about our press conference in Bristol yesterday that coincided with the visit of President Obama to Bristol, Virginia.

As always, Dr. Fitsanakis provides insightful commentary. He is teaches political science and contributes to IntelNews. Check the story:


NEARLY 50 TRI-CITIES RESIDENTS from all walks of life gathered yesterday on Wagner Street in Bristol, VA, a couple of blocks down from the Kroger store visited by Barack Obama, to voice their support for radical reform of America’s crumbling healthcare system.

Numerous SEIU members were there, as well as several DNTC members and supporters, APEC volunteers, members of the First Presbyterian Church in Elizabethton, as well as DRC volunteers from Johnson City.



Photographs showing the SEIU rally made The Associated Press, including this nice photo showing a sign held by a DNTC member attending the event.



Unfortunately, the coverage by The Bristol Herald Courier, reached its usual depths of anti-union and pro-conservative bias.

The articles in today’s paper focus mostly on the handful of anti-Obama protesters who were in the area, drawn from the usual mix of neo-confederate “don’t-tread-on-me” groupings and ultra-right identity movement fundamentalists. The paper, which supported John McCain in the 2009 presidential election, gave token coverage to the SEIU rally.

Since you can’t depend on our region’s press to find out about the details of the event, you can click here to see photographs from the rally. For another report of the rally see John Shuck's blog, here.


DNTC wants to thank the tireless SEIU organizers who put the rally together, as well as everyone who turned out to support healthcare reform.


It is about time for America to join the rest of the industrialized world in recognizing that HEALTHCARE IS A RIGHT, NOT A PRIVILEGE!



Yes! Thank you Joseph!

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