The people, who didn’t arrive in the best of moods, got even testier when they learned that McCollum was not at the office.
“We pay her salary, where is she?” demanded a woman.
“She’s at her son’s wedding,” [staffer Josh] Straka said. …
“Even if my son was being married right now, I would be at this meeting if I were a congresswoman,” yelled one woman. …
“But we weren’t even given notice you were coming,” said Straka, who explained that the only advance knowledge of the gathering came via the grapevine.
A sterling example of conservative logic. If I were McCollum, I would definitely skip my son’s wedding just in case an angry conservative mob decided to show up unannounced. After all, these days, the chances of that happening have become pretty good.
Further illustrating the problem with the health care debate in this country, the teabaggers showed exactly what comes from getting all of your news from conservative talk radio. In particular, they were impressively misinformed about what the health reform bill actually contains:
One man started off on a litany of the evils that he believes are contained in the health care reform bills in Congress.
“It’s loaded up with reparations,” he yelled. “There’s insurance for illegal immigrants; hospitals on the border for illegals.”
You’ve got to be kidding me. How can we have a reasonable conversation with these people?
Someone needs to tell these yahoo’s that if you schedule a constituent meeting with a public servant, you’re likely to advance your cause alot more than showing up as an angry mob. What a bunch of radicals.
I have a deal: let’s all agree to the following rules for town halls: http://www.history.org/Almanack/life/manners/rules2.cfm
Specifically, rule number 58. Let’s all focus on that one, shall we?
If George Washington’s rules on civility aren’t good enough, then no more town halls. How about that?
Showing up unannounced and yelling at people doesn’t sound very productive to me. I’m thinking they have some valid concerns that we should talk about, but because they are so easy to discredit who would know…
But calling them names is also unproductive; even if your name is pretty funny. http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=teabagger
They brought it on themselves. They’re so ignorant, they sound like they’re talking through a mouthful of balls.
I do have some sympathy for these people. Fear and ignorance is never pretty. One very big way that these groups and their instigators are failing at is the confusion of messages they are giving out. This is coming out of feeling completely powerless and not knowing how to actually get their point across. I don’t see Glenn Beck, Rush and the Republican party letting them in on how this politics thing works any time soon.
In other news, Democrats backed off on the “public option”.
I am getting tired of seeing people on television tell us how much sympathy they have for ignorance. Ignorance deserves no sympathy. Everyone marvels about why progressives dislike people like this or people like Palin and Bush, some speculate that progressives just hate pro-lifers or hate Christians or the like. I think the thing that drives the repulsion that I have for the above people is not a particular poltical stance, but a worldview that is not just ignorant, but PROUD of their ignorance. These people do not know how much they do not know and (unlike others who use that as motivation to learn more) and just fine with it.
I second that!
I bet most of them didn’t even live in her district.
That should be a rule: Constituents only at town hall meetings.
Maybe this is a partial explaination for why Paulsen is not having any town meetings. As an Assistant Enforcer of Repug ortodoxy he will predictably vote the party line on this issue. Besides he knows that the firearms carry law in MN does not limit carry privileges to concealed handguns, unconcealed long guns will no doubt add to the civility of discussion as noted in other posts on this site.
So angry constituents show up, big deal. Should they have scheduled a meeting? Certainly. But any congressman worth their salt would schedule more town halls, not less. Ignorant masses? Then educate them.