Supporters of health care reform and a much smaller number of its opponents -- each faction identified by its picket-signs -- gathered for the "town hall" meeting called by U.S. Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) in Lakewood on August 25, 2009. Originally scheduled for Lakewood City Hall, the gathering was rescheduled and moved to Lang Stadium to accommodate an unprecedented mobilization of pro-reform people. Cops estimated the crowd at about 2500. Given the betrayal of the reform effort four months later, such activism will probably not be seen in the U.S. again. (Two of these images -- "Single Payer Is the Solution" and "The tensions of opposites and opposition" -- were published here on October 12 and November 19 respectively.) Photos by Loren Bliss copyright 2009.
