Rumbling at the Town Meeting

Posted by Larry Miller on August 5, 2009 under How | Be the First to Comment

Recently the internet has been awash in videos of our representatives running afoul of their constituents at townhall meetings throughout the country. They are entertaining to watch, and have generated controversy along with a great deal of misinterpretation. What is the real story behind these uprisings and are they justified?

The political elites are used to telling people how things are and being viewed with awe as a public benefactor. Such was not the case over the last few days. The worms have been turning on the people who have been criticizing and ignoring them for far too many years. It seems that there is a remnant in this country that still has an element of self respect and refused to be taken for granted or trampled upon any longer.

It appears that the Tea Parties have awakened a sleeping giant… that they opened citizens’ eyes that they were not alone in feeling abused by their government. They realized that many of their friends and neighbors are on the same page. They talked to each other, they connected online… they networked! In the past when the media that was sympathetic to progressive causes and agendas fed them information, they accepted it because they had no other frame of reference. My how times have changed!

In the past, these townhall meetings consisted of the esteemed personage coming down to give the little people a glimpse of their power and wisdom. My how times have changed! Those who have grown weary of being talked down to and weary of having their desires ignored finally found themselves ready to push back and set things aright.

Any honest reading of the founding documents shows that the real power in the United States lies with the people – the citizens who make this country work. The founding fathers understood the dangers of a powerful central government and purposely limited the role of the national government. Over the years, the folks inside the beltway have either forgotten or purposely ignored these checks on their authority to the point where many see themselves as a sort of aristocracy. Americans, by nature, reject aristocracies, and have woken from their slumber.

Instead of quietly waiting to be told whatever the politician wants them to know and think, they are forcefully and sometimes boisterously making it clear that the sheeple will be silent no more. At many of these meetings the situation was, at last, reversed. The citizens stood up and demanded respect. Instead of letting these career politicians tell them stories the knew to be false and insulting, they began to tell these exalted personages that they were not happy and that the elected officials should straighten out if they wanted to keep their jobs.

Some members of the state run media and political elites, used to the ACORN rent-a-mob operations, could not comprehend that people would take their time and come out to these events without payment or some other incentive. Using their own frame of reference, they decided that it must be the evil insurance companies scaring and, perhaps, paying people to come out so vocally. This was just step one in devaluing the efforts of these people who were standing for their freedom and, maybe even, survival.

The second step was to grossly underestimating crowd numbers and participation, thus acting like many in attendance did not exist… and the third, as they did with tea partiers, was try assigning them to the lunatic fringe and make jokes about them. This is number five of Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals: “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon. It’s hard to counterattack ridicule, and it infuriates the opposition, which then reacts to your advantage.”

We can’t do much about the first two tactics, but the third, we can. But being forewarned we can control our response and not give them their desired result. As the current administration does when confronted by common sense, we must ignore the rantings of the progressives and maybe even engage in a little ridicule ourselves… they are not used to it.

The question remains, as put to us by the congressional supporters in the main stream media: is it proper to show such disrespect and hostility to people in these positions? On one hand, the position of Congressman or Senator is a high calling, worthy of respect. On the other hand, many men and women who hold these positions have brought dishonor to the position and themselves by acting to advance a destructive ideology, by acting in favor of contributing supporters and by using the position for personal gain.

In these cases, it is perfectly appropriate for the citizens to display their righteous anger at those who have abused the public trust and treasury. After all, “we the people” are their employers. While we are told we should not criticize another man’s servant, this people are our public servants and we would be derelict in our duties as citizens if we did not call them into account.

Congress is in recess now and many members are back in their home districts. Some will be holding public meetings. Many with something to hide will hold these meetings with restricted attendance. Still others will hold none at all. It is important to seek these last two types out. Politely request an appointment. Do not give an indication you are unhappy. Then don’t go alone. It is more difficult to try to intimidate three or four people than one.

If you have public townhall meetings which may become extremely rare in your area, be there. Ask the questions they don’t want to answer. Demand answers. Don’t accept non-answers. Remember, they work for you. For far too long we have come to sit at their feet and bask in their wisdom. Now is time for our so-called representatives to listen to the people… which is the way should always have been. My how times have changed!