Watching videos of my fellow Americans erupt at the town hall meetings of Republican legislators around the country was unnerving but understandable. The party is voting with abandon against the best interests of average citizens and bent on dismantling the government. Part of me - the polite part my mother influenced - wishes there was an alternative to impolite protests; but I do not know what that is. Being “nice” isn’t always the way to go.
Americans say they are outraged, scared and frustrated by majority rule of a party that appears to care not for them. Citizens who never attended a meeting with their representatives are to be commended for showing up, even to yell like crazy.
We appear under siege by a cold-hearted right. There is a certain embarrassment to it – the end of an America that is a land of fairness, opportunity and compassion. Appalled we stand before an uncomprehending world. Still, I reject the shame-based society being created by the 45th president’s in his name calling and echoed in the harshest town halls. How to balance opposition with civility? Starting with the example of the president would help.
I’ve written to legislators what I hope are fairly civil messages - via emails, letters and postcards - opposing plans to dismantle the EPA, usher in contamination of streams by mining companies, ensure mentally ill people have access to guns and deprive millions of people of affordable health care. Still to come are messages I will send supporting reproductive rights and an equitable, financially solvent Social Security.
Then, too, I’ll object to plans that undercut the public-school system with private-school and for-profit online school vouchers in the name of “school choice” (which we’ve always had – minus tax dollars) and to the suggestion of insurance coupons to replace Medicare.
Being in favor of something is worthwhile, too. It was refreshing to be one of 550 in attendance at the first town hall of Congressman Charlie Crist in St. Petersburg, Florida, on March 4.
As we entered the University of South Florida ballroom for the Crist meeting, organizers distributed tickets to anyone who wanted to ask a question. The numbered tickets were the perforated kind you get at a raffle – torn in two so you keep one side and the other is tossed in a bowl for random picks.
When the meeting got underway, a member of Crist’s team called out numbers and people were handed microphones to speak. The event far exceeded its original two-hour limit, so my guess is every questioner got a turn at the microphone. They also got Crist's personal cell phone number.
Crist urged a golden rule approach in respect for all speakers. The crowd raised pressing issues and thanked the congressman for defending their rights. Crist said he had managed to attend the January 21 St. Petersburg Women’s March that drew 24,000 people. Between the two events, he should be bolstered by visions of his home-town cheering squad as he fights the good fight in Washington.
Midway in the Crist town hall meeting, a man stood and belligerently demanded the opposition be allowed to speak in this “rigged” liberal-biased ticket system. I was perplexed. How could the tickets be rigged? No place to check a box as a Liberal or Conservative questioner. Rigged raffle tickets? The crowd grumbled. Where did he unearth this interpretation of reality?
I think it was fueled by the rantings of the 45th president with his bunker-under-siege mentality. It regurgitates hot-button words like “Benghazi” and “Deplorables.” Now, the surly president’s supporters say “Rigged” in the most benign situations.
If you think what is going on in the administration is wrong, that the facts spouted are bogus, show up however you can - in person, phone calls, emails, snail mail. A stamped postcard costs $.38. It has enough room to state your case and sign off. Buy some postcards. And WRITE ALL IN CAPS if you must.
by Reggie Morrisey
Congressman Charlie Crist at Town Hall