A PERFUNCTORY PEP RALLY. I attended President Obama's health care speech at George Mason Universiy's Patriot Center this morning. In a nutshell, it was a perfunctory pep rally offering the same old bromides to the adoring minions.

The Patriot Center opened it's doors at 9 am, with several thousand lined up outside. I was seated by 9:45, and then we waited ... and waited ... and waited. This picture was taken shortly after I was seated; at this point, the Center was about 1/3 full, with 80-90% students and a (very) few obvious faculty in attendance.

At about 10:30, the "invitees" (read as Democratic activists) began arriving, and by 11 am, the activists had occupied the other side of the Center (facing Obama), the standing area in front of the podium, and the area behind the podium (right side of picture). At the time the president arrived, the Center was roughly 2/3 full, about 7,000 bodies if the Patriot Center does have its advertised seating capacity of 11,000. The area pictured is a bit over 2,500 seats ... I counted.


Shortly after 11, the show began with a (brazenly political) invocation, pledge of allegiance, and national anthem. Following his "grand entrance", Obama's speech was largely a boilerplate stump speech. Applause lines included:

• ObamaCare is the Patients' Bill of Rights on steroids.

I don't recall the Patients' Bill of Rights ever doing much to either improve health care or lower costs.

• "Free" preventive care for everyone.

No copayments for preventive care - is this new?

• If you like your plan, you can stay on it.

He neglected to mention that there's no requirement for the employer to continue to offer it.

• You can stay on your parents' plan post-graduation.

Big applause line, but I don't think the students were aware that their parents might not be able to afford the premiums that will accompany the "benefit."

• Small businesses will be able to access the same health care plans as does Congress.

Assuming they can afford it.

• ObamaCare will bring down the cost of insurance ($3,000 reduction in employer costs; 14-20% for individuals).

Dang. I was hoping for that 3,000% reduction.

• ObamaCare will bring down the deficit by $1 trillion.

After increasing the deficit by $2 trillion.

• ObamaCare is the moral thing to do.

I have a hard time understanding what is moral about slavery.

There was the obligatory veiled swipe at "some media" (Fox News) and "Leslie Banks" allegory for why Obamacare is necessary. And the speech ended after about 20 minutes

A final thought or two. I met a few protestors (pictured here) at the Braddock Road turn-in to the campus. There were no protestors at the Patriot Center; they were chased away by the Event Center staff claiming fear of fights breaking out. One staff member was overheard saying that "this is a pro-Obama health care rally; not a townhall meeting." The disaffected were tolerated, not welcomed.

And finally, this was an incredibly amateur event - poorly planned and poorly executed - unless it was specifically for the purpose of getting free air time on the major media.

Which it was.

UPDATE: I had heard that there was a separate protest site as I was waiting in line, but none was visible from where I was. Here is a YouTube video of the protest. Link from Instapundit.

November is coming.