Congressmen Cowering and Withering at “Wild” Town Hall Meetings
This was supposed to be the ideal job: Congressman. It comes with a six-figure salary; probably closer to seven figures when you add in all the perks and benefits. And you get to spend most of your time
And it’s all FREE. You get to scream and rant all you want about “balancing the budget,” “socialism!” and “welfare,” while your own million dollar lifestyle is financed by taxpayers.
But sometimes, when you poke your head out of your limousine or your gated community, you get confronted by those lowly rubes who are paying your salary. Hey, this wasn’t part of the deal! Help! Security!!
I don’t have to listen to these peons. Write me a seven-figure check for my re-election campaign or shut the fuck up!
When Congressmen are visiting their home districts and going to town hall-style meetings, they’re more and more likely to be greeted by protesters and screaming constituents. At several town hall meetings, police were called to restore order. And at least one representative is going to discontinue these meetings because of all the chaos.
Either man up and face the music, or get the fuck out of there and go look for a real job. “Job skills? Uh, I can bend over real good when my customer tells me to.”
I thought I’d read somewhere long ago that democracy was supposed to be messy, disorderly, chaotic, unpredictable. Did these assholes think they could spend their whole lives sheltered away in plush meeting rooms and country clubs and never hear any negative feedback from the masses?
Most of the incidents in this article are Democratic Congressmen being confronted by teabaggers and other rightwing Astroturf puppets. Be that as it may, liberals are just as free to demonstrate and confront, assuming Republican politicians are having these town hall meetings too.
Either take the heat or get the fuck out of the kitchen.
cross-posted at Bring It On!
posted by Tom Harper @ 4:21 PM
17 Comments:
Either take the heat or get the fuck out of the kitchen.
RIGHT ON!!! :)
Bee: Really. Good riddance to them if they can't handle it.
If Republicans are having these town hall style meetings, it's a safe bet the crowd is as pre-screened as a Bush/Cheney rally.
Jeez where have they been? Out here in San Francisco Nancy Pelosi get's protested all the time.
From the far Left!
who are pissed because she's not doing enough to get us out of Iraq
Didn't Impeach Bush and Cheney (or wont investigate them for war crimes)
Feel like she's not doing enough for Gay marriage
It aint a town hall meeting for her unless there is a protest.
aren't they all run that way?
Erik
Lew: If Republicans are still pre-screening their audiences, it's time for them to get crashed by a bunch of leftwing rabblerousers.
Erik: I didn't know that about Pelosi. But I'm all in favor of politicians being confronted by protesters, whether I agree with the protesters' views or not. Politicians are too sheltered from real life, and they need to be constantly reminded that their decisions affect millions of real people.
LOL, I bet some members of Congress could write a response hotter than the concrete on my patio right now — and that's sizzling.
You might be surprised at the number of them who live in a rented room or studio apartment, feeling pressed by the cost of maintaining their family home, at home, and a second place in Washington. Ah, the deli sandwich from the supermarket, bought on the way home. Ah, the Top Ramen fresh from the microwave.
Limousine? In D.C.? Not likely. Off-street parking can cost more than a nice apartment in most U.S. cities. Plus, many streets are narrow, crowded and parking spaces for compacts are a hassle, in the rare case when you can find one. Parking a limo would be a nightmare.
As for being wined and dined by lobbyists, and junkets. Yeah, those happen, at times. The likelihood depends on many things, and it's not like that for all of them all the time. Some never get that treatment, others rarely do.
What they do get is plenty of late-night flights home while tired and frazzled. They also get to spend endless hours begging for campaign money, on the phone, in person, at events, etc.
OK, in fairness, it's probably not as much of a grind as I'm making it out to be. But for the great majority of Congress critters, it's not the magic carpet ride Tom made it out to be. The reality is surely somewhere in between. ;)
SW: I'm sure I exaggerated the luxury of their day to day lives, but the fact remains they get huge salaries and perks at our expense. And most of them are much too sheltered and insulated from the lives and hardships of their constituents. I think it's fitting that they face the wrath of angry constituents. I do hope Republican politicians are getting these confrontations too, and not just the Democrats mentioned in the article.
Tom, I agree that they should meet with their constituents, even in the face of protests or when they know some will ask embarrassing questions and give them a hard time.
As for Republicans, I think Lew Scannon is probably right about at least some of them having groups screened.
These pansies need to either do their jobs or quit. They can't rightly represent their constituents if they don't talk to them, so they need to get the fuck back into the fray and represent!
Sadly, those same protesters will likely settle for the status quo next election.
Tom - Lots of good comments.
I agree the big wheels get protection, also agree that the rank and file don't, but its the rank and file that get to put pressure on the big wheels, so we should put the pressure on them, a kind of ripple effect.
Shit, I'll take the base salary, do less "work" then these clowns, thereby fucking things up less AND saving the taxpayers some cash.
Randal, I would love to see you, as a member of a congressional committee, question some arrogant fat cat about how he's screwing the riff-raff. That would be priceless — and he would probably fear for his life. :)
There is a weird logic to what Randal says.
Out here in San Francisco Nancy Pelosi get's protested all the time.
And yet...still manages to be a gigantic tool when it comes to actually getting anything done. Least effective Speaker in the history of the House. Pelosi needs to retire.
SW: I hope Republican politicians aren't still using "free speech zones" and pre-screened audiences. If they are, the "media" should report it, if they aren't too busy with celebrity gossip and corporate "news" releases.
Carlos: Damn right. If they can't get out there and represent, they have no business keeping their high-paying privileged positions.
Holte: Yes, it's way past time for the rank and file to put pressure on the big wheels.
Randal: For those huge salaries and perks, I'll gladly go out there and get yelled at by protesters.
Kvatch: I'm not sure what to think of Pelosi. She has a lot more talk than action, but I don't know off hand who would do a better job.
I agree that Pelosi seem to be falling down on the job, but for her to step down right now would be victory of sorts for the republicans.
Pelosi least effective speaker of the house?
I would still give that award to GOP puppet Dennis Hastert who just sit there and watch Delay et el run everything and tell him what to do.
Erik
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