Screaming constituents, protesters dragged out by the cops, congressmen fearful for their safety — welcome to the new town-hall-style meeting, the once-staid forum that is rapidly turning into a house of horrors for members of Congress.Gee, the American people are fed up and they don't want to take it anymore. Instead of looking at the level of anger and readjusting their behavior, the tendency of these congressmen is to dismiss the protesters and cancel the meetings. While I don't approve of a mob blocking a speaker's right to speak, these groups represent a real anger that their representatives would do well to address. These elites may have found all the "tea bagging" jokes amusing when the Tea Party protests were held earlier this year, but the numbers and intensity involved have not dissipated. People are angry and they're taking advantage of their access to their representatives to make that emotion felt. They would do better meet with members of the protesters and answer their questions than to simply decide to shut down their meetings. That would be treating the symptom rather than the cause.
On the eve of the August recess, members are reporting meetings that have gone terribly awry, marked by angry, sign-carrying mobs and disruptive behavior. In at least one case, a congressman has stopped holding town hall events because the situation has spiraled so far out of control.
“I had felt they would be pointless,” Rep. Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.) told POLITICO, referring to his recent decision to suspend the events in his Long Island district. “There is no point in meeting with my constituents and [to] listen to them and have them listen to you if what is basically an unruly mob prevents you from having an intelligent conversation.”
In Bishop’s case, his decision came on the heels of a June 22 event he held in Setauket, N.Y., in which protesters dominated the meeting by shouting criticisms at the congressman for his positions on energy policy, health care and the bailout of the auto industry.
And now they know how conservative speakers at college campuses feel.
7 comments:
The Conservative speakers aren't the only ones, try having an honest discussion using conservative arguments with just about any campus Lib and they'll shout you down fast than you can say "hypocrite."
Still, I do agree with you, cutting off the discussion just means they aren't listening. Now if these Rep's really wanted to solve the problem, they would actually try to have a rational discussion, rather than writing the protestors off as a bunch of idiotic yokels.
Hey Betsy!
You made it all the way to real Clear Politics!
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/
Woo Hoo!
Two best videos on health care I have ever seen. Communicates the message clearly about the pitfalls of ObamaCare.
Some of the Democrat legislators were given a class by their staff to get them up to speed on what is in the bill and how to answer their constituents when they go home. I guess they are like Conyers and do not want to read the bill themselves - it is just too hard for them to understand.
Last night a Republican Representative from my state tried once again to insert language into the bill coming out of his committee saying that they would all have to join the same health care plan that the rest of us will have to live under. The Democrats on that committee made sure THAT did not happen.
American Power tracked-back with, 'Did Obama's Secret Service Draw Guns on Conservative Protesters?'.
One of the things that really does keep politicians up at night is the awareness of protesting as normal and a populist protest that indicates the situation is not normal. College students, Latino kids in all black and ancient Pete Seeger wannabes and Greek fisherman caps might get violent sometimes but really represent no threat to the current order.
But aside from at first only seeing what seems to be golfers and soccer moms protesting seems tame until the depth of the anger becomes apparent and doesn't ebb because U2 is in town. It's not the proletariat the scares the politician but it's the bourgeoisie out on the streets with baby strollers and polo shirts that keep him awake at night.
Pat Patterson,
"Cash for bourgeoisie mini-vans" ~ the next opiate of the masses.
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