Protestors confront politicians at town halls megathread

[Virginiá]

At the risk of taking a joke too seriously: The "tea" in Tea Party originated as both a historical reference and an acronym (Taxed Enough Already). I don't think it bodes well that when we try to invent a left-liberal equivalent to this, we refer to a name that refers specifically to Trump's personality and temperament and not any shared stances on policies, issues, or values.

Well, it can't all be bad. At least we don't have the irony that the Tea Party had when they formed after Obama had given everyone a big tax cut for 2 years.

[Virginiá]

I love looking at the town halls in Arkansas, Kentucky and Louisiana. These are good and honest folks lashing out against politicians that  continue to ignore dire issues in rural communities. Its really about time that the forgotten folks of the South start realizing that the Republican Party is not on their side.

The Democratic Party is?

Depends. If what they consider their side is pro-2nd amendment positions, or pro-lgbt discrimination, or making sure the concerns of businesses are always favored over workers', then no, Democrats are not.

If their side consists of workers rights, healthcare reform that consists of more than a "die quicker" mentality and making sure corporations don't continue trashing this country, then yes, Democrats are on their side.

[Virginiá]

How is a 7.7% win a landslide? I mean it's a very comfortable win, but its not a landslide.

[Virginiá]

Michigan Congressman Dave Trott (MI 11th) holds a staged Town Hall Meeting

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/03/18/1644907/-Michigan-Congressman-Dave-Trott-MI-11th-holds-a-staged-Town-Hall-Meeting

You must be logged in to read this quote.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

[Virginiá]

When these lefty rentamob types talk about "hoping to have a chance to express their concerns" what they mean is that instead of asking questions to hear what his answer would be they wanted to take up as much time as they ranting at and hectoring him.  Now the Congressman is a big boy and he has to expect to put up with a certain amount of that as part of his job.

Calling all the people who show up and get angry/ask tough questions fake/rented/whatever isn't really accurate. I'm sure lots of activists do troll around, but if you think people aren't worried about the healthcare debate, among other things, you're kidding yourself. Not everyone is cool with the conservative/Trump agenda.

However he also has to have consideration for constituents of his who have come to hear what he has to say on a variety of issues and not have to put up with spending half the time there not hearing what he has to say but listening to hectoring predicable rants from assorted lefties wanting to speak their brains to a captive audience. Trott was perfectly correct to keep these people from disrupting the meeting.

The point of this was to question whether he was actually doing what you just said. You're deferring completely to Trott, as if everything he did was genuine and ok. Activists going there to disrupt may be wrong, but so is having a Town Hall where the only people there are people you hand picked to throw you softball questions in an attempt to make it look like you had a calm, meaningful town hall, when in reality all you did was stage a mock TH.

I'm not sure that's exactly what Trott did, but he did seem to heavily manage this. To act like he was hearing the real concerns of all his constituents here is probably a stretch.

[Virginiá]

I'm glad the paid protesters were left out in the cold.

You think everyone protesting at these places is paid? Really? I don't get why it is so hard to believe that there are a ton of people out there legitimately annoyed by Trump's ascent to the White House. It's the same reason donations to a constellation of groups like the ACLU, PP, etc, have spiked. It's the same reason the Democratic Party has seen a surge of volunteers and contributions at the local level. America has always had a history of activism.

She has never voted for him and never will.  

I get not wanting to let in someone who may only be there to disrupt and get him to slip-up, but what does not voting for him have to do with anything? These are Representatives of people in their district, not just Republicans in their district. They should be representing everyone, not just people who they can squeeze a vote out of.

[Virginiá]

Hot mic catches GOP congressman’s adviser planning spin about ‘un-American’ protesters

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2017/03/21/hot-mic-catches-gop-congressmans-adviser-planning-spin-about-un-american-protesters/?utm_term=.6360f1668826

You must be logged in to read this quote.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

I wasn't aware that not supporting non-stop funding increases for a military whose budget is already 600+ billion dollars was un-American and qualified as not supporting our troops.

[Virginiá]

One doesn't have to be a paid protester to boo that sort of statement.

Pssh, fake news! We all know that in a country with over 320 million people and over 240 million adults, there is no one who cares enough to protest Trump / Republicans without being paid

[Virginiá]

Man Stuffs Cash Into Shirt Of GOP Congressman Who Voted To Repeal Obamacare

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/kevin-cramer-town-hall-rowdy-money-video_us_5916ddb4e4b0fe039b34e973?33r&ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009

You must be logged in to read this quote.