Brownbaggers Are Real Grassroots, Not Astro-Turf Like Teabaggers

They'd get more coverage if they had placards of Obama that screamed "socialism!"

The media has spent an awful lot of time and energy on pumping up-- some would say inventing-- the bogus tea party "movement," a rag tag collection of racists, xenophobes, and self-righteous malcontents. Meanwhile a real grassroots movement, one not being pushed by Dick Armey's partisan, lobbyist-driven agenda, or by Glenn Beck's psychosis or thirst for ratings, is being ignored by the media. People who depend of the mainstream media would have no way of knowing that the Brownbaggers even exist, let alone how rapidly they are growing.

When the brownbag vigils started in January, there were 22 vigils; last month there were 67 peaceful, energetic vigils at congressional district offices throughout the country. On Wednesday there will be... well 82 are solid but there will certainly be more that get organized between now and then.

As one of the organizers of the events, Progressive Democrats of America (PDA), points out, "On March 10th, 65 members of Congress voted to end the occupation of Afghanistan. Yet only 14 have publicly committed to voting No on funding the same war. A $33 billion supplemental spending bill for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq is expected to be voted on in April or May." And that's at the crux of what the brownbaggers want of their representatives-- a commitment to vote against funding the wars the Pentagon-- regardless of which party controls the White House-- is pushing.

Vigilers, who support a shift in resources from warfare to healthcare, are also asking their representatives to join the growing movement calling for "Medicare for All" by demanding passage of the Kucinich amendment facilitating state-level single-payer healthcare and by offering their support to single-payer efforts moving forward in state legislatures, including in California, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Maine, Minnesota, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

Among those congressmembers whom brown bag vigilers have been pressuring and who voted to end the Afghan war on Wednesday is the Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee David Obey (D-WI). Obey said last June that he would not support any more supplemental war bills, said last October that he was not inclined to fund an escalation in Afghanistan, and said last November that he would not fund wars unless a war tax were created to pay for them. Another vigil is planned
for Obey's office on March 17th... Vigils have been planned in the following districts. These are almost all at noon on Wednesday, February 17th, but a few are at odd times or days, so check the details:

AZ-01 Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (D)- Flagstaff (March 16)
AZ-05 Rep. Harry Mitchell (Blue Dog)- Scottsdale
AZ-06 Rep. Jeff Flake (R)- Mesa
AZ-08 Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (Blue Dog)- Sierra Vista
CA-01 Rep. Mike Thompson (Blue Dog)- Woodland
CA-02 Rep. Wally Herger (R)- Yreka, Redding
CA-04 Rep. Tom McClintock (R)- Granite Bay
CA-05 Rep. Doris Matsui (D)- Sacramento
CA-06 Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D)- Santa Rosa
CA-09 Rep. Barbara Lee (D)- Oakland
CA-10 Rep. John Garamendi (D)- Walnut Creek
CA-18 Rep. Dennis Cardoza (Blue Dog)- Modesto
CA-22 Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R)- Bakersfield (March 18)
CA-23 Rep. Lois Capps (D)- Santa Barbara
CA-28 Rep. Howard Berman (D)- Van Nuys (March 18)
CA-29 Rep. Adam Schiff (Blue Dog)- Pasadena
CA-30 Rep. Henry Waxman (D)- Los Angeles
CA-31 Rep. Xavier Becerra (D)- Los Angeles
CA-33 Rep. Diane Watson (D)- Los Angeles
CA-34 Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D)- Los Angeles
CA-37 Rep. Laura Richardson (D)- Long Beach
CA-40 Rep. Ed Royce (R)- Orange
CA-41 Rep. Jerry Lewis (R)- Redlands (March 15)
CA-42 Rep. Gary Miller (R)- Brea
CA-44 Rep. Ken Calvert (R)- Riverside
CA-45 Rep. Mary Bono-Mack (R)- Palm Springs
CA-46 Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R)- Huntington Beach
CA-48 Rep. John Campbell (R)- Newport Beach
CA-49 Rep. Darrell Issa (R)- Vista
CA-50 Rep. Brian Bilbray (R)- Solana Beach
CA-53 Rep. Susan Davis (D)- San Diego
CO-04 Rep. Betsy Markey (Blue Dog)- Ft Collins
CT-01- Rep. John Larson (D)- Hartford
FL-07 Rep. John Mica (R)- Maitland
FL-09 Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R)- Tampa
FL-10 Rep. Bill Young (R)- St Petersburg
FL-17 Rep. Kendrick Meek (D)- Miami Gardens
ID-01 Rep. Walt Minnick (Blue Dog)- Meridian
IL-07 Rep. Danny Davis (D)- Oak Park
IN-09 Rep. Baron Hill (Blue Dog)- Jeffersonville
KY- Sen. Mitch McConnell- Paducah
MA-01 Rep. John Olver (D)- Pittsfield
MA-02 Rep. Richard Neal (D)- Springfield
MA-03 Rep. Jim McGovern (D)- Worcester
MA-05 Rep. Niki Tsongas (D)- Lowell
MA- Sen. John Kerry (D)- Boston
MA-10 Rep. Bill Delahunt (D)- Hyannis
MD-04 Rep. Donna Edwards (D)- Silver Spring
MD-07 Rep. Elijah Cummings (D)- Baltimore
ME-01 Rep. Chellie Pingree (D)- Portland
MI-09 Rep. Gary Peters (D)- Troy
MS-01 Rep. Travis Childers (Blue Dog)- Hernando
MS-04 Rep. Gene Taylor (Blue Dog)- Gulfport
NJ-04 Rep. Chris Smith (R)- Whiting
NJ-06 Rep. Frank Pallone (D)- Long Branch & New Brunswick
NY-15 Rep. Charles Rangel (D)- NYC
NY-18 Rep. Nita Lowey (D)- White Plains
NY-20 Rep. Scott Murphy (Blue Dog)- Hudson
NY-28 Rep. Louise M. Slaughter (D)- Rochester
NY- Senators Gillibrand and Schumer (D)- NYC
OH-06 Rep. Charlie Wilson (Blue Dog)- Bridgeport
OH-13 Rep. Betty Sutton (D)- Akron
OH-17 Rep. Tim Ryan (D)- Akron
OR-02 Rep. Greg Walden (R)- Bend
OR-04 Rep. Peter DeFazio (D)- Eugene
OR-05 Rep. Kurt Schrader (Blue Dog)- Salem
PA-01 Rep. Bob Brady (D)- Philadelphia
PA-02 Rep. Chaka Fattah (D)- Philadelphia
PA-07 Rep. Joe Sestak (D)- Media
PA-15 Rep. Charlie Dent (R)- Bethlehem
RI-01 Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D)- Pawtucket
RI-02 Rep. James Langevin (D)- Warwick
SC-01 Rep. Henry Brown (R)- North Charleston
SC- Sen. Lindsey Graham (R)- Greenville
TN-05 Rep. Jim Cooper (Blue Dog)- Nashville
TN- Sens. Alexander and Corker (R)- Nashville
UT-03 Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R)- Provo
WA-02 Rep. Rick Larsen (D)- Bellingham
WA-03 Rep Brian Baird (D)- Vancouver (March 18, 25)
WA-06 Rep. Norman Dicks (D)- Tacoma
WI-03 Rep. Ron Kind (D)- Eau Claire
WI-07 Rep. David Obey (D)- Superior

Some local media outlets, on the other hand, are covering the brownbagger vigils. The Bakserfield TV stations did a good job last month: