Townhall meeting with Rep Dan Maffei in Syracuse today (Sat).

[Crunchy Frog]

I attended what turned out to be an impromptu townhall meeting with Congressman Maffei today. It started out as one on one meetings with individual constituents who had an appointment, but that ended up being followed by an actual townhall meeting. I'm guessing that because it was located in a public (socialist?) library in a shopping mall, that this ended up deterring any mob activity. I was actually kind of disappointed :evilgrin:, but the entire thing was very well ordered and reasonably respectful.

I listened to some of the talk as the group of people were waiting for the initial meetings. I heard a teabagger scaring the living daylights out of a nice looking elderly couple. I heard a woman boasting that her two grown children had no insurance, and things were just fine, and if something major happens well, "that's what bankruptcy laws are for". Overall I'm beginning to think that this country has exactly the healthcare system that it deserves.


There were a number of RWers there, or people obviously under the influence of their disinformation, but there were no swastika carrying, screaming mobs. The format involved people raising their hands and then being called on. They had to say their name and where they lived, and keep their question or remark to 2 min. There were times when things got a little animated, and some obvious frustration on the part of Congressman Maffei, but no actual disorder. Some of the RWers actually asked reasonably coherent and thoughtful questions, and engaged in respectful dialogue. Only a few of the questions concerned that notorious email, and there were some very informed people to counter those claims.

I'd say the crowd was about 50/50. There was some harranguing about "had he actually READ the bill". A student from Africa got up and said that he HAD read the entire thing (a punishment from his professor) and countered several of the email claims. Some of the more rightward questioners seemed frustrated that they were assumed to be part of some orchestrated effort. Alot of them, I think, have genuine concerns. Maybe they will learn to disassociate with the teabagging whackjobs if they want to be taken seriously.

All in all, I think that it was a very productive event, and probably approaching what these townhalls are actually supposed to be. I don't know if the population of Syracuse is more civil than the rest of the country, or if it was the hefty security that made the difference. It definitely is possible for these events to be reasonably civilized affairs.

[ejpoeta]

1. I don't doubt that there are folks who have genuine concerns and worry about

a healthcare reform. I mean, no one really knows what it will mean for people and what it will it look like. So questions are good. And there probably are people who go around on those buses who may have actual concerns... But they are being led to approach it in the wrong way... the people who are telling them to shout and disrupt aren't trying to help them get their questions answered... They do not want discourse at all.... Too bad the folks they get on those buses aren't asking why. But an impromptu meeting seems to be a good way to have actual regular folks probably from that area and even if they have been listening to faux news, they probably hadn't been whipped up into a frenzy before boarding a bus to ensure they aren't thinking and just reacting. I'm glad they got to ask their questions and voice their concerns. I wouldn't want to stop anyone from being able to do that.... and the ability for everyone to mostly calmly hear both sides and for the congressperson to get an idea of his or her constituents concerns and be able to address them is the goal. There is a reason that the insurance companies don't want that.

[Crunchy Frog]

2. We didn't have anyone bussed into this one, I don't think.

Probably way to short a notice for that. They appeared to all be local people, and ther as individuals rather than a group.

Maybe one of the keys to this is to keep the notice really short.