Op-Ed: Disabled Marine Speaks Out at Town Hall

A former Marine takes Congressman Brian Baird to task over a comment made comparing protesters at Town Halls to Brown Shirts and gives him a history lesson on the Nazi party.

“What we’re seeing right now is close to Brown Shirt tactics,” Baird, D-Vancouver, said in a phone interview. “I mean that very seriously.” Baird must have known he had said wrong as he began to yank his foot out of his mouth, because in an announcement for a town hall which was held on August 18 he apologized for his remarks. In a statement released he said:

In the heat of the moment, I compared the threats and disruptive tactics to “brown shirt” tactics and a “lynch mob” atmosphere. At no point, did I compare opponents of health care reform to “Nazis,” certainly I do not believe that to be the case. Nevertheless, my words were unfortunate and I regret them. I understand how people who have legitimate concerns about health care or other policies came to feel that I was speaking about them personally rather than about the specific tactics and rhetoric of a few. I also appreciate that any reference to “brown shirts” or “Timothy McVeigh,” on either side, left or right, is itself inflammatory and counterproductive. Again, I regret that and apologize for it.

That apology did not deter a disabled veteran and former Marine, David Hedricks, from taking him to task for those remarks as well as the actions of congress. In a youtube video uploaded by Hedricks he is shown admonishing Representaive Baird as well as reminding him of the history of the Nazi party and how he feels it applies more to the current workings of government than the actions of the protesters at Town Halls. David Hedricks began his turn at the microphone identifying himself as a former Marine and then saying," And like you I did swear an oath to defend my Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic." Hedricks touches upon a previous statement made by Baird about education and expresses his displeasure with a statement about being "allowed" to keep his chosen health coverage. Hedricks did not feel that he needed the permission of a congressman to be allowed to keep his chosen insurance. He then continued onto his next point about comparing Town Hall dissenters to brown shirts. "Well I have heard recently in the media, you and some other people on the national political stage call us 'brown shirts' because we oppose..." Baird interrupted him with saying, "No I did not. No I did not, what I said was... and I have apologized for it." Hedricks continues, "Well thanks for apologizing but let, then I won't speak to you I'll speak to the others. I'll remind you, a little history lesson, that the Nazis did not, that the Nazis were called the National Socialist Party. They were leftists, they were. They took over the finance, they took over the car industry, they took over healthcare in that country. If Nancy Pelosi wants to find a Swastika maybe the first place she should look is the sleeve of her own arm." And the crowd went wild giving David a standing ovation. He expressed to Baird that as a Marine he has kept his oath, and he wanted to know if Baird would keep his. Baird said he would. On his Youtube page David Hedricks wrote about the night:

I, David William Hedrick, a member of the silent majority, decided that I was not going to be silent anymore. So, I let U.S. Congressman Brian Baird have it. I was one questioner out of 38, that was called at random from an audience that started at 3,000 earlier in the evening. Not expecting to be called on, I quickly scratched what I wanted to say on a borrowed piece of paper and with a pen that I borrowed from someone else in the audience minutes before I spoke. So much for the planned talking points of the right wing conspiracy.

David is not the only person speaking out at Town Halls across the country. People have been passionately taking to the mic to be heard by their congressmen, and obviously they are being heard. There are now talks amongst various members of Congress and the White House about dropping the public option on health care and a new found timidity on further legislation that might cause a stir.