The crowd by all
accounts was very respectful, much more so then the other town hall
meetings within the Commonwealth and in other states over the past few
months. The vast majority of the crowd seemed to be in support of the
health care reform laid out by Senator Kerry his staff.

The
most boisterous of the crowd proved to be the quarrelling Service
Employees International Union (SEIU) and the followers of Lyndon
LaRouche. The two opposing groups set up shop right in front of the
doors to the High School, at the front of the line to enter. A shouting
match ensued, the SEIU chanting lines like "50 million uninsured – got
to get this system cured" and "we want you – to have health care too."
The LaRouche group countered with familiar melodies; a cappella and
opera styled renditions of famous songs from composers like Wolfgang
Mozart and Bernhard Heiden with original lyrics like "Doctor easy kill
a man from hell."

This proved to be a good form of
entertainment for the crowd waiting on the other side of the gate to
get into the meeting. Still, they were like sitting ducks to the
emphatic groups of outspoken picketers, with a nearly full moon to boot.

Among
them was Catherine Farrell a 64-year-old out of Newton, Massachusetts.
She stated that she "supports single payer health care" and that
"Massachusetts is not a state in doubt, most of the state is in
agreement on the idea of health care reform, but we need to get the 46
million uninsured insured now." Bobby O'Neill, 23 of Somerville and a
fellow supporter of health care reform came to "see how it goes…T.V.
shows the dramatic battles, we want to see the actual substance."

Eric
Anthony, 60, from Brighton MA was among the opposition in the crowd.
Mr. Anthony was deeply concerned with the bill; "When I took the Marine
Oath I swore to defend the country from all threats, foreign and
domestic," he said, "this bill is one of the biggest domestic enemies
of our time." Although Mr. Anthony is against this particular bill, he
made it clear that he was for health care reform, just not this way,
and that this means is a "direct attack on freedom."

After
overhearing Mr. Anthony's statement, Lynn William, 67, of Cambridge MA,
who was standing right behind him in line, countered by saying
"Medicare is amazing, it covers the cost off almost everything." Fern
Gibbons, 27 of Somerville and a little further down the line said that,
"people in support need to show up, their voices get phased out by the
fringe." On the other side of the gate, however, Dave Funnell, 62 of
Medford, MA stood with his wife Chris with signs against the reform.
Mr. Funnell believes that "so few are representing the private sector,
and if the bill gets passed our country is in worse trouble…it can't
spend trillions more, tax revenue will be diminished from the roll-out
over the future." He also added that "this is all a collusion between
the upper and lower classes, and the middle class will get squeezed
out."

Kaspar Kasparian, 61 of Arlington, seemed to be very
passionate about this reform solidifying. "Two years ago I lost a
friend," he said, "he had fallen ill, was jobless and disabled and ran
out of money. He took his own life because of all of this…the health
care industry is full of vampires, looking for profits rather than
helping."

At around 8:00 p.m. the crowds outside had diminished
to just sixty-five, the rest being within the building that was then at
capacity. The authorities admitted the last 65 into the gymnasium,
where the over 1,500 who hadn't gotten into the Auditorium were sitting
on bleachers and watching a s large screen with video of the hearing.
Many tried to still get into the auditorium, mostly in hopes of getting
their voices heard.

Two physicians from the Lemuel-Shattuck
Hospital were among this group of anxious wanderers, one a psychiatrist
and the other a neurologist. They explained, "90% of all physicians
want single payer health care, yet no one asks us, no one wants to hear
from the physicians." The two doctors went on to describe how the
insurance companies suck money away from the funding mechanism, and
that they look for the most simple and equitable means of going about
their business. "Medicare attempts to ration health care to cut costs,
while the private companies do anything to maximize profits."

Of
vast importance to these physicians was the fact that the primary care
physicians are forced to run a large variety of tests to insure that
they are catching whatever problems a patient is having, rather then
recommending them to a specialist. This is caused by differing coverage
from health insurance companies, and ends up costing the patient not
only more money, but also serious risks of complications and
mistreatment. "The major function of primary care physicians is to
recognize if or there is or is not a problem," one of the physicians
stated, "as well as knowing what they do know personally and what they
don't. The restraints from health care providers impede on their
readiness to take advantage of specialists' specific expertise."

This
health care reform, according to what they say are the opinions of the
vast majority of physicians, will foster relationships between the
primary care physicians and that of the specialists, which is a much
more efficient and effective way of tackling both minor and major
health issues. Also, that it would enable primary care physicians to
act as the front-line, with access to the specific fields that may be
necessary to solve problems.

At around 9 p.m., those in the
gymnasium began to file out, and a short while after the Town Hall
meeting came to an end. Those who didn't get to ask questions or voice
their opinions were handed slips that they could write their contact
information and their questions. The questions were then to be handed
into Senator Kerry's staff, which will be answering all of them in as
timely a fashion as possible.