There will be about 500 congressional town hall meetings during this summer's recess from Capitol Hill, involving 153 of the 535 members of Congress, according to a database maintained by Knowlegis. That's down from 659 meetings in the summer of 2009, when tea party groups used the gatherings to target Democrats for their support of a health-care overhaul.
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Reprinted from the Washington Post, Published August 27 | Read the complete story
By David A. Fahrenthold
Greenland, N.H. — This is the pitiful state of the American town hall meeting: Even the people who invented it can’t make it work anymore.
“ORDAH!” In the Greenland town hall, a man was yelling at Rep. Frank C. Guinta (R-N.H.) for splurging on glossy paper for his office mailings, while another constituent was trying to interrupt, shouting aimlessly: “Our nation is about to go into crisis.”
“ORDAH!” somebody yelled again. But there was no order.
In this same town, the residents of Greenland gather every spring to settle their differences in a civil, orderly, traditional New England town meeting. This month, Guinta couldn’t even get them to shut up long enough to finish a thought.
“I want everyone who’s here to have an opportunity to give their opinion,” said Guinta, a freshman legislator with the look of a crestfallen teddy bear. “So let’s just try to respect everyone’s time, um . . . ”
He was interrupted.
“So let’s go back to the costs on the glossy!” the first yeller demanded.
Why is Congress so partisan and divisive? Why is American politics so confrontational and contentious? The answer may have something to do with the broken state of the national town hall meeting, a staple of congressman-voter interaction, and of American democracy more generally.
6 comments:
Actually the town hall meetings in many ways are more functional and honest than the how the citizens use the Roundup.
At least at the town hall meetings the participants show their faces and the locals know who is who - while most of the comment writers in the Roundup use the pusillanimous "Anonymous" to hide in the shadows while they make their angry attacks and toss out their helpless labels.
Personally I respect the honesty and the right of anyone to express their views no matter how extreme - if they are willing to stand by their views with their real names. But that takes courage and a real sense of self-worth that many do not have.
The bottom line is angry anonymous comments here in the Roundup should be seriously discounted as shady veracity. For the most part – the angry anonymous comments are based on fear and lack of integrity.
Give me a contentious town hall meeting any day. At least there I can know who my adversaries are and can try to reach a middle ground with them in a civil fashion.
That is what politics most needs these days.
Rocky you are so right. This is supposed to be a blog about how people feel about the local politics not about attacking fellow bloggers. I seldom comment because people tend to use this site for gratuitous anonymous attacks on their fellow bloggers instead of actual comment of the issues of the day.
We need more town hall meetings so that the average citizen can express their opinions freely and openly with other citizens. I have found that when people discuss openly face to face there is less backstabbing and more honest open discourse.
Not all town halls are so functional and honest... one Ohio congressman banned all cameras and video, except for the corporate-owned press.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKA07KSoaSc&feature=player_embedded
Banning cameras is nothing new here; the left leaning League of Women Voters tried to stop me form shooting video at the debate back in May at the Wimberley Civic Center. I refused to stop and they left me alone after I maintained that everyone has a right to record by any means the activities at a public event. I told them they'd have to have me arrested to stop me. So much for freedoms in the liberal Wimberley Valley.
Last Anonymous says:
"...the left leaning League of Women Voters tried to stop me from shooting video at the debate back in May at the Wimberley Civic Center."
That's odd. I attended the same meeting and I submitted a question intended to challenge one of the right wing candidates on his "small government" campaigning when in fact he was a blatant big government politician.
The question was never asked.
I was told later that the question was considered too confrontational for the LWV debate format.
That sounds more right wing - or at least neutral - to me.
I guess it just goes to show our own personal biases can certainly cloud our conclusions and our interpretation of events.
The law allows you to record public meetings but why would you want to record every meeting you go to? I have seen the last "Anonymous" at many meetings with their little video camera recording even when people ask them not to. I guess they don't care about the rights of others as long as they get their way. If your memory is that bad maybe you need to attend fewer meetings and instead go see your doctor about some medicine for your failing memory.
Town hall meetings are for debate, not trying to make people feel uncomfortable and self conscious. A lot of people are uncomfortable being filmed. They do not have anything to hide they just don't like being videoed and maybe ending up as the you tube sensation of the day.
You sound proud that you refused to stop video taping. I guess if being rude makes you feel big then I feel sorry for you. You have the freedom to act like a jackass so don't complain about lack of freedom in Wimberley Valley!
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