Angry and wet, AARP members try to burn cards

[sujan]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Members of the AARP, the influential lobbying group for the elderly, tried in vain to burn their membership cards Wednesday to protest against the group's endorsement of the Republican Medicare bill.

A few dozen people in their 50s and 60s gathered in the rain outside the AARP's headquarters in downtown Washington and tried to burn their cards, but cut them up instead when the plastic coating would not catch fire.

"I'm a healthy senior representing a lot of unhealthy seniors," said Genevieve Cervera, 64, part of the group bused in from several northeastern states for the protest, with its draft-card burning echo of the Vietnam era.

http://www.forbes.com/markets/newswire/2003/11/19/rtr1154283.html

[Cha]

1. Go "Gray Panthers"! I hope this gives bill

novelli a wake up but I doubt it. Maybe, though.

[rfranklin]

10. Novelli was probably planted at AARP with this in mind...

This is the way the right wing works--much like the "commies" that they were so preoccupied with in the past, they work under deep cover, pretending to be Americans, and then suddenly driving a truck bomb into the peaceful environs they've frequented for years.

[GinaMaria]

12. agree

removing novelli will be moot, if the bill is passed and medicare privitization begins. AARP will be useless, as will the removal of novelli. Best hope now is to stop the bill. Hope it can be done.

[0007]

16. Hillary gave a great speech on the senate floor this afternoon...

against the bill. It was the excellent exposure of the republicans and this rotten bill.

I've seen a few of the AARP advertisements tonight on t.v. pugging this Medicare bill. Needless to say how it made me feel.

[dusty64]

15. I believe it and

it often seems they managed to plant more than a few in the Democratic party. Hopefully these moles will be outted and booted as they are doing much damage. Not such a bad idea if you think about it, hope they are in turn infiltrating the rightwing.

[sujan]

2. hmm

are there other organizations that have agendas similar to AARP?

[madfloridian]

4. We just quit AARP and joined this one. Link.

http://www.retiredamericans.org

They are the ones who had the rally in the rain.

[meti57b]

9. how did you quit? I have emailed them twice and I just get their stupid

form letter back about why the bill is a good idea .... in their estimation.

[madfloridian]

11. Call them at 1-800-424-3410

I hear they have been busy.
}(

[Cha]

5. Madfloridian turned us on to this one, but it

sounds like one that really wants to help Seniors.

http://www.retiredamericans.org/

[madfloridian]

3. I thought the writer was not very sympathetic.

I may have misread it because I am angry. Sounds like the AARP's little "uptick" in calls was surely played down.

The article sounded a little condescending.

I am proud of the seniors for doing that.

[htuttle]

8. I agree

They made the focus of the most read part of the article -- the first few paragraphs -- the fact that these people couldn't get plastic-coated paper to burn in the rain.

After that introduction, readers are already ready to dismiss them as 'kooky'. At least readers who don't use their brains will think that. And there are unfortunately a lot of them.

[54anickel]

6. This article seems to downplay what we here at DU and the AARP

message boards were seeing when this story first broke, along with the AFL-CIO poll:

A poll commissioned for the AFL-CIO, which opposes the Medicare bill, found that only 19 percent of registered voters at 55 and above supported the Medicare bill. For AARP members, who represented 57 of the poll's 604 respondents, the figure was slightly lower, 18 percent

[Rose Siding]

7. Maybe the author is part of AARP's $7 million ad buy

:grr:

[sujan]

13. It's from Forbes

so figures.

[goforit]

14. Fight fight fight!!!!!!...............You will win!!!!

Burn those cards and start an authentic AARP the II

[0007]

17. Your heading makes it appear that the seniors have failed...

wish you'd edit it to make it sound like at least the senior aren't senile.

[Rose Siding]

18. It's the real title

LBN rules- gotta use the published title. Blame Forbes

[sujan]

19. not my rules

[farmboxer]

20. Everyone I Know Is Going To Resign From the AARP!

Those adds made me extremely angry! I will call them a tell them what I think! I will join some other Org. I feel like the AARP is a traitor to all seniors, except for a few millionaire and billionaires, such as Bush's and his rich, crooked pals. AARP=Drug Industry! AARP supports Bush! Let the drug industry join AARP, I through with those hypocrites! My father is quitting, my father-in-law has already quit!

[mw]

21. American Association of Republican Partisans nt

nt