Protesters, young and old, held signs, some simple and homemade, some that looked professionally printed, and drivers honked from cars passing by outside of Rep. Russ Carnahan’s office on Bailey Rd in Crystal City.  Annette Rey was quick to explain the flagpole she held with the American flag hung upside-down.   “It was from our history, our naval history,” she said.  “When a ship was in trouble they hung their flag upside-down.  It was a symbol of distress, and it is my opinion that America is in distress.  Our republic is threatened.” 

One protester who wished to remain anonymous said that she is currently without insurance due to injury-related job loss.  “I am one of those the whole country is fighting over,” she said.  “I would like affordable health insurance, but not at the price of freedom.” 

The protester said that she believed if she were required to buy health insurance, she would have a hard time paying her mortgage and managing the costs associated to homeownership.  “I am an exceedingly responsible person and no one has ever paid one of my bills, and I mean that, no one,” she said.  “I do not go to doctors.  I heal myself.  I take vitamins.  I eat right.  I am active.  If something happens, I pay my bills.”   

Several protesters wore shirts with Constitution Party logos.  “There’s nowhere in the Constitution where it’s authorized for the government to control healthcare,” said Donna Ivanovich, State Chair for the party.  “The purpose of the Constitution Party here today is to recruit candidates to run for office against these globalist traitors, to take back our country and bring it back to Constitutional government.”

Cindy Redburn, State Secretary for the Constitution Party, ran against Carnahan in the 2008 congressional elections.   “Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution clearly defines and delegates responsibilities to the federal government,” Redburn elaborated on the party’s position regarding the appropriate way to handle healthcare.  “There are 19 of these delegated powers.  That’s the only legitimate authority that congress has to act in these areas.  Anything that is not in there is reserved to the state and the people.”

“It says that Congress has the authority to act in the general welfare for these delegated powers,” Redburn continued, “but those are connected only to those that are authorized.  It did not give them a blanket endorsement that they can begin to operate in all levels of our lives, and so healthcare is absolutely not authorized for the federal government.” 

Redburn said that the federal government’s involvement in Medicare and Medicaid is unconstitutional, and while the Constitution Party supports a gradual shift towards state authority, for her personally, it’s a liberty issue.  “When you are taking something from one group of people to give it to another group of people by force, that’s tyranny,” she said.    “The free market worked in the past, and it will work again. But once again, the federal government has to get their hands out of the free market.  They’re in there with both feet.  They’re over-regulating us to death.  One step further, the proper role for healthcare, for charity, welfare, all of these issues, is with individuals first, family, community, churches, and charitable organizations.  Our country has taken care of the needs of the people for hundreds of years and we’ve done well without government interference.”     

Ivanovich returned to the conversation, expressing some of her concerns with the major parties.  “Neither party, Republican or Democrat, they have no intention of doing anything to get back to the constitutional government,” she said.  “We have got to draw the line, stop compromising, stop voting for the lesser of two evils, and get back to the Constitution.” 

“Your body is basically your most important property that you have,” said Richard Blowers Jr., Jefferson County Chair of the Constitution Party.  “You’re supposed to have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, which basically is property.  When you lose control of your body, when you don’t have control over what happens to you medically, I have a problem with that.  It’s not the government’s job to come in and tell me what to do or run the healthcare system.  There’s some things that need to be fixed.  Everybody agrees with that.  But complete government control, or the possibility of complete government control, when I look at the bill, I see a lot of things that have to do with health control, not so much healthcare.” 

Blowers expressed concern about other aspects of government, too, including bureaucratic structures and the auto industry bail-outs.  “We have three branches of government and they’re balanced,” Blowers said.  “Who’s going to enter into a business contract if the government’s going to come in and change it however they feel fit?  As far as I’m concerned, if they were to just back off of this whole thing and let nature take its course, you would have a lot faster recovery, the weak would fall aside, new businesses would come up and take their place, that would be better managed and be stronger and more beneficial to the country.”

Blowers said that individuals interested in the Constitution Party can find out more at the state website, www.constitutionpartymo.org, or about the party’s activities in Jefferson County at their blog: http://www.meetup.com/Constitution-Party-of-Missouri-Jefferson-County/.   

“I’m sick to death of watching our government piss our money away,” explained Terry Pease who attended without a political party affiliation.  “They’re irresponsible at every turn.  I don’t want them involved in my healthcare.  I work hard for my healthcare.  My way of looking at things, everybody makes choices in life.  If you make a good choice, you reap the benefits.  If you make a bad choice, you pay the consequences.  That’s how it should be.  I think that’s what the founders intended.”   

Rey, waving the inverted flag, describes herself as a grassroots, independent person and said that she has been politically active since February because she “could see how things were moving.”   

“I am just a person like so many other people turning out across this country whom this regime has underestimated,” Rey said.  She doesn’t want to see any government plan approved, and would like to see representatives work with programs like Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security and the Veterans Administration.  “I know many veterans who have to wait two months to see a doctor.  That’s a poor way to treat our boys who are coming home without all of their limbs and any other veterans from any other war.  We know that socialized medicine causes delays in care, causes rationing, which in the end can cause death.” 

Rey spoke of a British woman she knew thirty years ago whose mother died of uterine cancer while on a two-year waiting list for a hysterectomy.    “Now here in America, a hysterectomy is like pulling a tooth,” Rey said. 

Rey addressed a man in an SUV.  “America is in distress!  That’s what this means.  This is not disrespectful.”

“Yes it is,” the driver responded. 

“This is a sign that America is in distress,” Rey said. 

“No you don’t ever fly that flag, ma’am, you don’t ever fly that flag like it is.” 

The two exchanged a few more comments, and a man in attendance defended her choice.

“That’s alright,” Rey said.  “I knew that this would cause disruption with some people.”

Appearing slightly shaken after the confrontation, Rey quickly regained her composure.  She explained later in an email that while Flag Code allows for displaying the flag with the union down as a signal of dire distress, it hurt her to hang it that way.  “It hurts me to think that the circumstances dictate that move.”

“There’s people that just don’t bother to do their homework and they just buy whatever the mainstream media says,” said Adam Sharp, who has posted photos and video clips of the event on his blog, www.sharpelbowsstl.blogspot.com/. 

The next driver to stop expressed his support for Rey and the others that congregated on Bailey Rd.  “I don’t want to be identified, but I own a business on Main Street,” he said.  “Half these people here were not organized.  They heard about it and they came running here.  It reminded me of what I read about through the Revolutionary War.  There’s old people, there’s young people, there’s black people, there’s white people.  In the 60’s it was long-haired dope-smoking flower people.  This is Americans.  My neighborhood came rushing down here.  This is like the Revolutionary war.  It really is.  I’m a history buff.  I’m a college graduate.  These are not freaks.  These are Americans.  These are Democrats and Republicans and Christians and non-believers and everybody.  I own a business and I’ve never seen anything like it.” 

Russ Carnahan has not responded to JeffCoScribe’s request for an interview.