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It was almost a good day to be an American at the Healthcare 4 All PA Single Payer Rally on October 20th at the Capitol Rotunda in Harrisburg.The energy was vibrant and the cohesion was intense. Such great names as Donna Smith, Wendell Potter and four of the Baucus 8 gave the rally and our movement a much needed forward momentum. There was no doubt at all that everyone was on the same page.
My wife Kathleen and I have been single payer advocates since the days of Paul Wellstone and Jerry Brown. In an attempt to learn more about all the organizations present, I accessed Single Payer Action dot org and read an article posted there on the internet, written by "Russell," who is an organizer for Nonviolent Civil Disobedience, which I support wholeheartedly.
I regret to report that there was a great deal of inaccuracy in Russell's story. Wendell Potter was totally misrepresented and downright panned in an article entitled "It's Not Rocket Science."
Russell sites Wendell Potter as a defendant of a watered down public option, as being greeted coolly and as being hissed at.
Here is what really happened: Potter wholeheartedly endorsed Single Payer and the work of those gathered there that day, and was warmly received with a standing ovation.
The inaccuracies reported by Russell would better be reported by Fox News Network.
Single Payer Action needs to better monitor what it prints on its website. It's important to report the news accurately whether one is to the right, left or dead center. I challenge my readers to follow Wendell Potter's presentation from beginning to end on the PCN network and judge for themselves.
From the far left I cry fowl, and claim that an expedient retraction is in order.
Thomas A. Harner and Kate Loving Shenk
Please also see the Single Payer Lensography.
