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When U.S. Rep. Rob Woodall took questions at a forum in Lawrenceville Thursday evening, he called most of his questioners by their first names.

Thats because there are few regulars at the United Tea Party of Georgias monthly meeting the four-term Republican doesnt know. What was missing was angry commentary about the health care bill passed by House Republicans last month or uncomfortable questions about the latest in the Russia investigation.

Thats because Woodalls appearance was a closely guarded secret. An email from the group Monday touted a special guest speaker but withheld the name.

For reasons that will be made clear at the meeting we are not announcing our speaker, but he is very knowledgeable on on the politics of the day, the email said, especially at the federal level.

While there were communications to the group suggesting that Woodalls staff asked that the event not be pre-publicized to avoid protests, Woodall said that was not the case.

That would stun me. That is not our policy, he said.

But Woodall did not publicize the appearance at the meeting, held in a restaurant at the Gwinnett County Airport, on his social network feeds or his Congressional web page.

David Hancock, United Tea Party co-chairman, said there was back-and-forth communication between his group and Woodalls staff over keeping the event quiet. Nobody wanted to deal with protesters, he said.

I wanted to have a meeting just like we had last night, he said That was a dream meeting. If we had four or five people there whose job it was just to disrupt, we wouldnt have gotten that.

Woodall, one of the more conservative members at the Capitol, told the tea party group he had no intention of providing a forum for protests from the left.

It is true that we have been protested. Weve had more meetings people have tried to take over in the last six months than the last six years, he said. And where do you think they learned the techniques they are using? Its tea party doctrine right down the line.

Hes right about the tea partys claim on town hall activism. In 2009, tea party groupsharassed congressional town halls from coast to coast, billowing their ire over Obamacare to the point that, like today, members of Congress stopped holding them.

But Ilene Johnson, communications director for the Gwinnett County Democratic Party, said that doesnt give Woodall a free pass to hide from people who disagree with him. Virtually every post on his Facebook page includes a comment demanding a town hall.

He has an obligation to hear all points of view, Johnson said. He is obligated to represent everybody and not just the people who voted for him.

Gabe Okoye, chairman of the Gwinnett Democrats, said plans are in the works for a District 7 town hall for everyone, whether or not Woodall attends.

It wont be secret. Everybody can come, he said. Well leave a chair for Mr. Woodall in case he shows up.

Okoye said members of congress should be expected to hold in person meetings with a broad range of constituents, not just reporters.

He doesnt just represent the Republicans, he represents all of us, he said.

Town halls down sharply

Woodall, R-Ga., has avoided traditional town hall meetings since President Donald Trumps inauguration despite constant requests to do so. But he is hardly alone among his congressional colleagues.

In a story this week,Politico.com noted that Congressional town halls are down sharply during this months legislative break compared to the April recess not not just among Republicans. While GOP town halls are down drastically, such forums from Democratic members of Congress fell 14 percent when comparing the two breaks.

The drop off raises the question of whether members of Congress have an obligation to hold more public forums in their districts, even if it means facing hostile crowds.

Woodall has represented the 7th District since 2011. Before that he was chief of staff for former 7th District Rep. John Linder, who handed him the keys when he retired.

Georgias 7th District stretches from Snellville in the south up to Cumming and has been pretty safe for Woodall. He didnt have a primary opponent last year and clobbered a political unknown in the general election, taking 60 percent of the vote.

Since Trumps election, Woodall has done some town halls by telephone, a preferred alternative to those eschewing the face-to-face type. But in past years, hes also held regular, honest-to-goodness town halls.

Its not like he didnt get criticism then. One frequent online critic who attended a town hall last year in Cumming went on the congressmans Facebook page to tell him his comments on drug pricing were pretty dumb.

And the telephone town halls dont insulate him from criticism either. Angry callers were on hand for one such conference call in February as Woodall gamely defended the president against those worried about conflicts from Trumps business interests and ties to Russia.

What I love about the outsiders that have taken over the White House is that it gives us the ability to look at the world through new eyes, Woodall said,according to a story in the Gwinnett Daily Post. I think one of the ways President Trump looks at the world through different eyes is Why are we still fighting with Russia 40 years later?

The Post reported that his reply prompted shouts and name calling.

No responsibility to help protesters

Woodall took some tough question at Thursdays gathering too. Tea party members held his feet to the fire on enacting tougher immigration standards, fighting for tax reform and supporting the president.

To his credit, Woodall did not always tell them exactly what they wanted to hear, including his support for visas for the high-tech industry and agriculture and his insistence that Congress has a duty to counterbalance presidential power. But in the end, folks lined up to shake his hand rather than jab their fingers at him.

For the folks not in the United Tea Party who missed a chance to question their congressman, Woodall said hes happy to meet with them in his office.

Folks dont think your congressman will sit down with you, he said.

Johnson, the Democratic activist, allows that Woodall does take appointments to meet with constituents. But she said not everybody can take off from work to upbraid their elected official. Town halls, usually held in the evening, are more responsive, she said.

For that opportunity, its likely she will keep waiting.

I feel no responsibility to help protesters protest, Woodall said.

As AJC Watchdog, Ill be writing about public officials, good governance and the way your tax dollars are spent. Help me out. What needs exposing in your community? Contact me at cjoyner@ajc.com.

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Watchdog: Woodall holds hush-hush forum in district, ducks town hall - MyAJC

Cabinet News

Jun 2, 2017

MONT VERNON The Mont Vernon Historical Society Museum will be open from 1-4 p.m. Saturday, June 10, featuring a spot of tea from the Boston Tea Party. The museum is located on the second floor of Town Hall.

A small portion of tea from one of the chests tipped into the harbor during the infamous Boston Tea Party in 1773 will be on display this year. Ask a docent how it came to the museum.

Another display includes the recent gift of a David Dutton clock that is unlike others in the collection. Dutton was a mechanic who lived in Mont Vernon and designed and built shelf clocks in the mid-1830s. The inner workings were originally made of wood, then later of metal. Other clocks of interest include two rare antique Nutter clocks.

Lamson Farm and Grand Hotel memorabilia, and a quilt made by the Kings Daughters organization that includes a square that is more than 150 years old, are also on display.

The museum will be open from 1-4 p.m. on the second Saturday of the month from July through October. There is no charge to visit, although donations are accepted.

Submitted by Mont Vernon Historical Society

MILFORD Sports programs at the middle and high schools comply with federal rules requiring equal opportunities ...

LYNDEBOROUGH It took 37 years, but the location of the corner of Wilton, Milford and Lyndeborough on Carnival ...

WILTON Nineteen volunteers armed with blue trash bags and several with mechanical picker-uppers ...

LYNDEBOROUGH Work has resumed on Mountain Road, completing the roadsides, grading, hydo-seeding and preparing ...

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Boston Tea Party tea at Mont Vernon museum - Cabinet.com

The newest POLITICO/Morning Consult pollis filled with terrible news for Donald Trump.

Every single demographic except evangelical Christians believes the country is on the wrong track. Meanwhile, support for impeachment has jumped from 38 percent to 43 percent, and among Democratic women, the figure is a whopping 75 percent.

One number in particular, however, is absolutely stunning: According to the poll, 36 percent of tea party supporters believe Trump should be impeached.

The tea party movement rose to prominencewith a series of protests against President Barack Obama in 2009 and 2010 that swept a far-right Republican House majority into power. Representatives elected by members of this movement went on to found the Tea Party Caucus and, later, the Freedom Caucus.

This is significant because, despite a few minor scuffles, the Freedom Caucus is largely working with Trump to pass his agenda, most notably his push to strip millions of low-income and sick people of health care. Yet more than 1in 3of the right-wing activists whose movement swept these congressmen into power now want Trump impeached.

Even while the tea party fractures over the issue of impeachment, House Republicans maintain a unified front in defense of Trump, and have evencolluded with the White Houseto underminethe Russia investigation. This reveals a basic failing of Republicans to listen to their own voters further evidenced by the refusal of the vast majority ofGOP representativestohold town halls.

If Republicans continue to ignore the warning signs from within their own coalition, they will be massively vulnerable in 2018 and beyond.

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Even tea party supporters are starting to think Trump should be impeached - Shareblue Media

Surely Im not the only person whos wondered at times what got into John Kasich. This is the man who kept company with the militant right as a young congressman in the 1980s, preached the gospel of tax cuts as House budget chairman in the 1990s, then served up conservative commentary on Fox News in the 2000s.

Perhaps more to the point, its the same man who swept into the Ohio governorship in 2010 on a wave of Tea Party enthusiasm and anti-union rhetoric, and proceeded to push through a law curtailing collective bargaining rights for public employees. Its the same governor who promoted budget reductions that cut deeply into the fiscal health of cities.

But if the Kasich of those years were to meet up with the Kasich of 2017, its not clear that they would find very much in common. By the end of last year, as he reached the midpoint of his second term, Ohios Republican governor had engineered an expansion of Medicaid, come out against tough restrictions on immigration, refused to vote for Donald Trump for president and supported renewable energy standards over the opposition of most Republicans in his legislature. He had become an outspoken champion of aid to the poor, calling himself an advocate for people in the shadows and insisting that the Lord wants our hearts to reach out to those that dont have what we have.

What happened to this previously predictable politician? The simplest answer, you might think, is that nothing got into him -- that he moved left to promote his campaign for president in 2016. But that isnt a very good answer. Kasichs turnabout did bring publicity to his presidential run, but it foreclosed any chance of winning the nomination. Nobody gets nominated as a Republican these days by tacking left. Beyond that, it probably eliminated him as a force in national Republican politics for the rest of his public career.

Some trace Kasichs conversion to a different event: the repudiation of his union-busting law in a statewide popular referendum in November 2011. Chastened by an embarrassing defeat, the argument goes, the governor suddenly became a new man. But this wont really do either. Kasich has moved too far on too many diverse subjects -- and continued doing so for too long -- for one defeat on one issue to be the explanation.

The more I think about this, the more it seems sensible to look beyond single events or political calculation and say that what happened to Kasich is what happens to ideologues in many states over the course of their tenure as governors: They become pragmatized.

Kasich was one of 17 new Republican governors lifted into office on a conservative electoral tide in the Tea Party election of 2010. All but one (Tom Corbett of Pennsylvania) were re-elected in 2014, so at the start of this year 16 were still serving. These governors vary enormously in temperament, ambition and political competence. But one thing can be said of most of them: They have governed more or less from the center, sometimes bewildering the conservative activists who helped them get elected. Some have behaved as centrists from day one; others, like Kasich, have undergone well-publicized transformations. But as a group, they tend to reinforce the idea that a governorship is a moderating influence on most people who come to hold one.

It isnt always easy to tell a change in core beliefs from a change in image. Nikki Haley of South Carolina reflects that ambiguity. A member of the Tea Party Class of 2010, she staked out a position in her first gubernatorial term as a conservative loose cannon, more interested in scoring political points against her personal enemies in the legislature than in pursuing any particular policy agenda. She handed out report cards to individual lawmakers and told visitors to the legislative chambers to take a good shower when they left the Capitol. The state House speaker, a fellow Republican, accused her of having a penchant for middle-school insults.

So its hard to imagine the Nikki Haley who took office in 2011 being chosen as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, even by a president as unorthodox as Donald Trump. But it wasnt the Haley of 2011 who got the U.N. job. It was the seasoned second-term governor who had developed a reputation across the country as a voice of moderation and compassion in tragic times. When nine African-Americans were murdered by a white supremacist in Charleston in 2015, Haley responded with symbolic but powerful gestures of sympathy, ordering the removal of the Confederate flag from the state Capitol grounds and mandating that state police wear body cameras as a check against discriminatory conduct.

Everything Ive done leading up to this point, Haley said in her second term, has always been about diplomacy. That wasnt remotely true, but it was emblematic of the public figure she had become. In the months before she left office, Haley was still quarreling with legislators, including some whom she tried to oust in primaries in 2016. But it wasnt her streak of residual pettiness that had come to define her in the public mind; it was the statesmanlike qualities she had managed to exhibit in moments when it counted.

Georgias Nathan Deal hasnt undergone a conspicuous conversion, like Kasich, or acquired a new public image, like Haley. Still, his two terms as governor have been, on the whole, a journey to the center. And they have surprised some of the Republicans who thought of him as a hard-liner when he won election in 2010, following a 17-year congressional career in which he was best known for being tough on immigration: His most visible legislative initiative was an effort to deny citizenship to children of illegal immigrants, including those born in the United States.

Deal as governor seemed different almost from the beginning. He devoted much of his first term to a campaign for sentencing reform, and ultimately signed legislation promoting alternatives to prison for nonviolent offenders. In his second term, he cultivated an alliance with Democrat Kasim Reed, Atlantas African-American mayor, and helped Reed win passage of a multibillion-dollar transportation bond issue. He vetoed a religious freedom bill that would have allowed discrimination against gays, and opened the door to expanded Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act. Many progressive Georgia Democrats still dont buy into the notion of Deal as an evolved moderate; they cite his failed attempt to engineer a state takeover of struggling schools as evidence that he is still a heavy-handed ideologue. But its fair to say that for most Georgians, Deal has not really been the governor they were expecting.

Im aware of the dangers of generalizing on a subject like this. If you comb the full list of Republicans elected in the Tea Party year of 2010, you can come up with a few who havent moderated at all. Rick Scott of Florida and Paul LePage of Maine have remained cranky curmudgeons at odds with their own party as well as the opposition. Sam Brownback of Kansas supported and continues to defend a massive tax cut that has imperiled the economic health of his state. Wisconsins Scott Walker came into office promoting a hard-right agenda, succeeded in implementing much of it, and managed to survive both a recall vote and a re-election challenge, though his public approval scores have never been very high.

Taken as a group, though, the GOP governors elected in 2010 have governed more from the center than from the right. In most cases, they have proved to be significantly more moderate than the Republican legislatures with which they shared power. Bill Haslam of Tennessee is Exhibit A in this category. He has spent the past seven years dealing with hard-right legislative initiatives, most famously a bill in 2016 that would have made the Bible the official state book. Mary Fallin has had similar problems in Oklahoma; Republicans in the legislature, initially her strong supporters, have consistently fought against her efforts to increase taxes to fund public schools.

It doesnt take too much reflection to see why the past eight years have produced right-tilting Republican legislatures and centrist Republican governors. Legislators are chosen, especially in these days of intense gerrymandering, by narrow and often homogeneous constituencies. They are rarely held personally accountable for the success or failure of public policies; they simply need to avoid straying too far from home-district concerns. Governors, of course, have no such luxury: They have entire states to worry about. If they are Republicans, they usually need at least a respectable vote even in urban areas where Democrats are in the majority.

When policies become unpopular or economic conditions deteriorate, its the governor who pays the steepest price. Its only logical that the whole mechanism would tend to drive governors to the center -- as happened in Ohio in 2011, when voters repudiated Kasichs union-busting law and saw him moderate his approach on a whole array of issues.

I think its possible to go even further and say that ideology and gubernatorial agendas coexist, in most times and places, in an uneasy relationship. Governors are expected to bring major interests together, and they generally see this as a core responsibility. The best legislators have always done this as well. But in a highly polarized political environment not very many seem to volunteer for the assignment anymore. And so, these days at least, moderation is a virtue that is more likely to come from the corner office at the capitol than from the legislative chambers.

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Elected as a Tea Party Conservative But Governing as a Centrist - Governing

CHESTERTOWN The threat of rain over Tea Party Weekend did not appear to dampen anyones spirits as the annual festival in downtown Chestertown was well attended.

The 41st annual Chestertown Tea Party Festival celebrated the local legend of Kent County Colonists storming a ship in the Chester River and dumping its load of tea in protest of British taxes. Whether true or not, the festival celebrating it continues to be a big draw in Chestertown.

Lt. John Dolgos of the Chestertown Police Department said that the attendance at the Tea Party Festival appeared to have been higher than in the past couple of years.

Another one in the history books, and it was a good one, he said.

Spanning four days, Tea Party weekend kicked off Friday evening with the Street Party at the foot of High Street. Mayor Chris Cerino and Street Party Coordinator Aundra Anderson made some opening remarks before musical act Dell Foxx Company began their set.

This is Andersons fourth year as Street Party coordinator.

She was tasked with transforming the event. Last year, the Street Party shifted away from its previous incarnation of a high-priced, Colonial dress and plated dinner affair to free admission and food trucks.

The atmosphere is meant to be a little more casual than the rest of the weekend, which is Colonial-centric. Andersons goal for the kickoff event aimed at Kent County residents, was to kind of set the tone for the weekend of providing a fun, family-friendly atmosphere, something where you feel comfortable bringing your kids, she said in a phone interview last week.

Originally from the Midwest, Anderson, a Washington College alum and its director of admissions communications, said that she has experienced a fair share of festivals and fairs, but nothing like Chestertowns Tea Party.

(There was) nothing with that kind of character behind it, this idea of celebrating Colonial rebellion, she said.

Margaret Jordan has been attending the Tea Party Festival since she and her husband moved to Chestertown in 2001. She was glad to see people participating.

Im not into dressing Colonial, but I enjoy that theres so many people out. I like seeing the people I dont normally see; I like to see the town sharing an event together, she said Friday night.

Maddy Margulies, a recent graduate of Washington College, also was enjoying the first night of the festival. From Pennsylvania, Margulies said that she has never been in Chestertown during Tea Party. She was excited to finally participate.

It is a good atmosphere (and) its really fun so far, she said.

Another popular stop of the night was the caricature artist, About Faces, which Ruth Tonkyro described as a highlight while she waited for her daughters portrait to be completed.

The family had travelled from Leonardtown to partake in the annual Tea Party Distance Classic and Run for Radcliffe on Saturday morning.

Its just a lot of fun. We originally came here for the run and then when we found out what else was here, we were kind of disappointed we didnt stay longer because its really cool, Tonkyro said.

Getting the community involved started earlier this year, with the additional Tea Bag Art Project launched by the Chestertown Arts & Entertainment district. The project asked participants to create artwork on oversized tea bags, large canvas sacks. The completed bags were displayed in storefronts throughout downtown.

The tea bags included a new slogan designed by Zane Carter, stating, Chestertown: Steeped in History. Stirred by Art.

I was very happy with the community engagement, Kay MacIntosh, Chestertown economic development and marketing coordinator, said in a phone interview Tuesday. The project drew in about 60 participants.

On Saturday, Chestertown was thrown back in time to the Colonial era, based on the story of patriots in 1774 tossed the brigantine Geddes cargo of tea into the Chester River as an act of rebellion again British taxes.

Caleb Schultz, 12, of Betterton was enjoying himself at the Tea Party Festival Saturday.

I think the festival is great, he said while walking down High Street.

Michelle Thompson, who just moved back from Chestertown from living in Virginia, said she never missed a Tea Party, even while living away. She said this years festival was pretty great.

Its always great to come down here and depend on things being the same, like my fried clams I have right here, Thompson said. You also get to see a lot of people you havent seen in years. Thats the most wonderful part.

As a start to the day, the Colonial Parade began, incorporating floats and an assortment of marching bands. This year, attorney Tom Yeager was honored as the parades grand marshal.

After the parade, Dick Goodall, CEO of Dixon Valve & Coupling Co., received the Edna Ross Award, which is given annually to a local business person for outstanding service to the community, according to the Tea Partys website.

Saturdays re-enactment is what brings many to the Tea Party. Re-enactors took to High Street at 2 p.m. for a skit before they marched down to the river, boarded rowboats and overtook the Geddes, portrayed by the schooner Sultana. After a mock-fight, the tea was tossed overboard.

The rain held off until the Colonists were triumphant in their rebellion, having disposed of the tea in the Chester River.

Artisans and food vendors lined the High and Cross streets downtown. Attendees and entertainers dressed in Colonial outfits. Benjamin Franklin made an appearance, as did John Jay.

Charles Bauman and his dad, Michael, came from Delaware to partake in the celebrations. Charles dressed the part as George Washington because he just wanted to.

Baumans wife is originally from Chestertown and has been attending Tea Party since she was a kid, which, he said, is how the whole family got involved.

On Sunday, Tea Party changed gears, with a craft beer and wine tasting in Wilmer Park, followed the crowd favorite, Tea Party Raft Race.

The Tea Cup, the top prize gifted to the raft with the best synthesis of creativity, engineering, and speed, according to the Tea Partys website, went to a Willy Wonka-inspired creation. The raft was styled after the movies blue and white boat, propelled by a team of Oompa-Loompas spinning a waterwheel.

The long weekend formally concluded on Monday with a Memorial Day Parade at 10 a.m.

Sabine Harvey, president of the planning committee, has been a long-term participant in the festival, and seldom gets to enjoy the event that she spends a year planning, but its community commitment is what keeps her involved.

Its such a great community event and so many community organizations, Harvey said. I love this county and so I want to contribute. Ive gotten to meet and know a whole bunch of people I otherwise never would have met.

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Weather does not dampen Tea Party - My Eastern Shore