President Obama at the Iowa Field House
by Paul Deaton
“Today there are two different wars but we no longer feel powerless. Yeswe can end these wars.”
On Thursday, March 25, President Barack Obama traveled to the University of Iowa Field House in Iowa City to give a major speech on the health insurance reform legislation he signed into law on Tuesday. It was a crisp, clear day and the banners held by demonstrators snapped in the breeze while people lined up at the doors well before they were scheduled to open.
It was a mass of people, some I knew, but most I did not. There were familiar faces, elected officials, candidates and party activists. By chance, I met 5th Congressional District candidate Matt Campbell in person after doing an interview with him yesterday (watch for the interview on Blog for Iowa this weekend). I held a “Veterans for Obama” sign with my friend Ed Flaherty before getting into line. We were there early, so the corporate media perceived this as an “event” and we were both interviewed, multiple times. More than anything, the people present, the media and politicians melded together into a well behaved citizenry patiently waiting for our turn to hear what our president had to say. It was great to be alive.
The geography around the Field House is familiar. Almost forty years ago, I was a freshman at the University of Iowa, living in the nearby Quadrangle residence hall. In the spring of 1971, we protested the war in Vietnam
here. As the sheriff's posse from Scott County approached, coming up the hill, we rolled large concrete drainage tile sections down the hill to slow them down. They pushed us back and tear gassed us in our dormitories. It made us mad. Importantly, it made us feel powerless to influence our government and the interminable war in Southeast Asia.
Today there are two different wars but we no longer feel powerless. Yes we can end these wars. Having worked so hard to elect Barack Obama as our 44th President and seeing him demonstrate his determination to pass the health care insurance reform bills, we gained confidence in his strength and look again to him with hope.
After the speech, the president's motorcade drove down the same street where the sheriff's posse was chasing us so long ago. As I walked across the Iowa River, looking at Old Capitol, I reflected on how far we had come, and how far we have left to go.
~Paul
Deaton is a native Iowan living in rural Johnson County and weekend
editor of Blog for Iowa. He is also a member of Iowa Physicians for
Social Responsibility and Veterans for Peace.
Deaton
Blog For Iowa 
Congratulations, Iowa!! Well done!
R. Sommers
South Missouri
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