Upstate NY Republican confronts jeers at town hall meetings News & Observer Republican Rep. Thomas Reed was greeted by scores of boisterous protesters at town hall meetings in western New York. The crowd at a senior center in North Harmony was so large that Reed's meeting was moved outside on a sunny Saturday morning. |
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Upstate NY Republican confronts jeers at town hall meetings - News & Observer
Reprinted with permission from Alternet.
Almost all congressional Republicans are scared of facing voters in town hall meetings over the long Presidents Day weekend. Only 19 representatives and senatorsa tiny numberwill hold town meetings during the first recess of the current session of Congress, reports the Town Hall Project. But the groups listing of these democratic mainstays barely tells the story.
An eye-opening Washington Post accountrevealed that Republican officeholders have been canceling planned town halls because they dont want to face critics upset that they may soon lose their health insurance or see an increase in costs as the GOP plans to undermine Obamacare. Even worse, they dont want organized progressive groups to show up with posters, video cameras, and a determination to challenge them in public while posting the confrontations on YouTube:
According to the Town Hall Project, which collates information about public town halls, there are no availabilities in Utahwhere every federal officeholder is a Republicanover the coming week. Thats not a fluke. Just 19 Republican members of Congress have scheduled traditional town halls over the weeklong recess. Several more, like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY.), have listed ticketed events or office hours; a few more have announced tele-town halls, which allow constituents to lob questions without risking a YouTube moment.
This cowardly response is nothing new from immoderate Republicans; its in line with their partisan ethic that anything goes to win, except playing fair. They cannot win in many states without gerrymandering federal and state districts, which allowed them to seize power after the 2010 Census. They cannot win widely in high turnout elections, hence their efforts to limit participation by creating barriers like new voter ID laws or restricting voting options favored by critics, like early voting on weekends.
Their partisan cowardice goes further by not wanting to reveal who is funding negative attack ads, thus they encourage super PACs to throw mud because they do not disclose donors. In contrast, they never stand up and say all sides should put forth their best ideas and allow citizens to decide, live with that verdict and fight another day. And in 2017, a new twist has emerged: the party that would stamp on others is hiding from voters.
Indeed, Republicans dont like it when the tables are turned on themthat is, when their town hall meetings are not filled with angry Tea Partiers but with aggrieved citizens from their districts and organized progressives.
Since Republicans took control of the House six years ago, helped by angry, viral town halls that embarrassed incumbent Democrats, big public meetings have become rarer and workarounds like the tele-town hall more common, reported the Post. But in the past week, as Indivisible, Organizing for America, and other progressive groups have become more open about demanding town halls, some Republicans have become bolder about shutting them down.
A few are even admitting this is exactly whats going on.
In a letter to constituents first shared by the Knoxville News Sentinel, Rep. John J. Duncan Jr. (R-TN) said that he valued being accessible but would not indulge protesters by holding a public event, noted the Post article. I am not going to hold town hall meetings in this atmosphere, because they would very quickly turn into shouting opportunities for extremists, kooks and radicals, Duncan said. Also, I do not intend to give more publicity to those on the far left who have somuch hatred, anger and frustration in them.I have never seen somany more sore losers asthere are today.
Needless to say, these Republicans are fine when their own propagandists are doing the yelling, namely those in right-wing media and related GOP groups, who conveniently ignore that progressives and others are doing what Tea Partiers have been doing for many years.
The National Republican Congressional Committee denounced a top-down effort to manufacture controversy, according to the Washington Post. Fox and Friends, a cable news morning show that President Trump watches regularly (and praised in Thursdays news conference), has frequently highlighted violent protests and hyped reports that some protesters are being paid.
Such shamelessness is nothing new in Republican circles. It may even be part of their twisted political DNAthe attitude that everything they do is magically patriotic, all-American and justified. The truth is congressional Republicans are running away from the voters in their districts who have ample reasons to be angered at the GOPs uncritical embrace of Trump and the far rights extremist economic and cultural agenda.
Whats the word for elected officeholders not standing by their beliefs in public and facing voters in their districts? Cowardice, plain and simple, and thats just the start.
IMAGE: Angry protesters outside Republican Rep. Tom Reeds town hall in upstate North Harmony, N.Y. on Saturday morning, February 18, 2017, one of only 19 held by Republican House or Senate members over Presidents Day weekend /New York Times video
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Cowardly Republican Legislators Canceling Weekend Town Hall Meetings - The National Memo (blog)
Los Angeles Times | Republican leaders tire of Trump drama, but GOP activists close ranks Sacramento Bee The chaos of President Donald Trump's White House has Republican leaders scrambling to defend what they hope will soon be a functional administration. But cracks in that resolve are starting to show amid a seemingly endless series of self-inflicted ... Republicans in Congress gambled on Trump and won. Here's why they're worried now Republicans hang on for Donald Trump's wild ride Republicans Slow to Tackle Trump's Big Issues |
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Republican leaders tire of Trump drama, but GOP activists close ranks - Sacramento Bee
An effort to create an independent commission tasked with investigating claims concerning Russia and its alleged involvement in last years White House race gained the endorsement of a GOP lawmaker Friday for the first time since being introduced last month by House Democrats.
Rep. Walter Jones, North Carolina Republican, became the first member of his party this week to support a bill that would establish a specialized, bipartisan commission devoted to determining if and how Russia meddled in last years election as widely reported.
Walter Jones deserves credit for being the first House Republican but hopefully not the last to acknowledge that our nation deserves an independent, bipartisan investigation into Russias hacking of our democracy in last years election, Rep. Eric Swalwell, California Democrat, said in a statement Friday.
We expect more will follow in his patriotic footsteps and demand a commission that can fully examine the circumstances, inform the public of its findings and develop a plan to prevent this from ever happening again, added Mr. Swalwell, a ranking member of the House CIA Subcommittee and co-author of the Protecting Our Democracy Act offered last month alongside Rep. Elijah Cummings, Maryland Democrat.
The U.S. intelligence community has concluded with high confidence that state-sponsored hackers infiltrated various Democratic targets leading up to last years White House race in an effort to elect President Trump over his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton. Despite that consensus, however, only Democrats had up until now supported the Protecting our Democracy Act, the likes of which would establish a bipartisan, 12-person panel to investigate those claims on its own if approved.
Mr. Jones joined all 197 House Democrats on Friday by signing his name to the bill, and one of its authors said others could soon follow suit.
The dam has cracked, Mr. Swalwell said, according to the Washington Post. This is the first time any of them have done anything on Russia with us, he added. The Republicans who have been on the sidelines wanting to get on the field, but a little nervous, they dont have to be the first Republican. Theres a Republican on board.
Mr. Jones, 74, has represented North Carolinas third congressional district since 1994. He previously served a decade in the state legislature as a Democrat prior to switching parties.
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North Carolina Republican adds his support to bill to investigate Russia's alleged hacking - Washington Times
Why do conservatives and Republicans get to be the domineering voice of whatever we say or believe today is not only correct and acceptable,but gospel for the ages, even when its wrong, unethical, unpresidential, and scientifically inaccurate?
Is this how you bully your way to power, with a smile and a mouth full of lies and hypocrisy?
Whether its climate change, nationalism, unsecured use of phones by a President, civilian murder in Yemen, or disparaging America to the public (and other countries), there seems to be a louder monopoly of hypocrisy, contradiction, and bully-headed slogans of the voices of the (R)ight.
Its been a theme for years now, unless Ive wrongly observed everything about books, television, radio, the internet, and basic observation.
Is this the same bullish monopoly as regular conservatives, or a disease of those who are always on television and/or running for their seats in districts where their base just wants to hear the same old, tired nonsense?
Do Democrats and liberals suffer the same fates?
LOCK HER UP!!! said the voices of those who have now, tail between their legs, left the administration and are dealing with White House and NSA and Intelligence Agency leaks.
I dont like POW soldiers who get caught,said a one-time (R) candidate who is now commander-in-chief. And yet, that POW veteran, now supports every cabinet pick in lock-step with his party.
Party over country!!! votes the (R) Congress, the party of the Country First campaign of 2008.
And the list goes on.
The sad, dark, arrogant, tone-deaf, unwilling-to-compromise list goes on.
If Democrats and liberals acted like this, would the hyper-masculine and hyper-partisan voices of the right lambaste them as weak, girly, snowflakey libtards, or maturely admit that they are not always consistent in their vocal opposition to Democratic leadership.
The magic (R) is nothing but a weak, throwback symbol to the hyper and toxic masculinity of the last century, and the time of the (R) is up.
One can hope.
Take a look.
In his editorial New Rule, Bill Maher wonders why Republicans have Patriotic Immunity and disputes the notion that they inherently love America more than Democrats.
And the Alt-Right Milo:
And Overtime:
Photo: HBO
Jeremy McKeen is a high school English teacher, coach, musician, and father of three. In addition to his writings on The Good Men Project, he is also a Lead Editor. He has been featured on and written for Huffington Post, Salon, Sammiches & Psych Meds, Ravishly, YourTango, Scary Mommy, BLUNTMoms, Yahoo! Parenting, HuffPo Parents, The Motherish, MockMom, The Gloucester Clam, and Take Magazine. You can find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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Why Do Republican Men Seem to Always Get a Pass? (#First100Days) - The Good Men Project (blog)