When is a Town Hall not a Town Hall?
There is much in the “news” of late about town hall meetings and the wracking-over -the-coals that many of our representative congress men and women are taking. (Perhaps our trusted congress men and women would be advised to conduct such meeting on a more regular bases should they truly be interested in the opinions of those they claim to represent. The anger level they encounter might well be much less!) True Town Hall Meetings are just what we see in the “news” with the exception that the in-your-face, finger wagging, or fist waving confrontations are not representative of the general character of most Town Hall Meetings—at least not in my personal experience. Shouting, yes! Heated discussion, yes! Passionate exchanges, yes! But Town Hall Meetings can also be rather boring at times and frequently uneventful. But, since the “news” is not usually anything less than the sensational most prime time TV news editors and newspaper front page boards would not find such Town Hall Meetings with well behaved citizen very interesting, and more to the point—in keeping with the picture of “reality” that they want to present that supports their internal editorial positions or support of one political party or another, or a political position on an issue of their choice. (more…)