Wow! I just got back from a Town Hall Meeting with my Rep on Iraq

[TayTay]

That was racuous as hell. Poor Marty Meehan. He told us that he has never been at a Town Meeting that was as partisan and divided as this one. (Yes, I live in the Blue State of Massachusetts. But I live in a red pocket of that state. We have the red & blue wars here too.)

Marty started out making a statement about how he has an exit strategy for getting out of Iraq. It is very similar to the one John Kerry has and touches on many of the same points. The first question challenged Marty on that. It was stated by a guy who said tht he has a kid who just deployed to Iraq and he views dissent as unpatriotic and that anyone who dissents publicly with the Pres is undermining the mission and could get his son killed. It kind of went down hill from there. Wow! What a meeting. I can safely say that the Merrimack Valley 'aired it's differences' over Iraq. (The meeting was about 60% for the Dems and about 40% for Bush. It was wild.)

Marty gave one of the single best explanations for why he is plowing forward with an exit plan that I have ever heard. He said, 'I voted for this war. I did so based on 3 meetings with Colin Powell in which Powell specifically assured him that there were WMDs, that the inspectors would be allowed to finish the job and that we would have the proper amount of planning and troop deployments.' Marty said, 'I was burnt. They lied to me and I was burnt by this. I feel personally responsible for my vote and for the consequences of that vote. That's why I am so determined to get this right in Iraq.' (That was an amazing moment.)

So, if anyone sees Marty Meehan, give him a hug. He earned it tonight.

[ProSense]

1. Thanks for going and reporting back.

I'm really glad to hear that the majority sided with the Democrats. I tell you, I don't get why anyone still accepts Bush at his word on Iraq and terrorism. Maybe reports like today from the propaganda mill in response to the news that 130 killed people were killed today in Iraq's bloodiest day yet:

Bombings down since election.

[TayTay]

4. It was a wild meeting.

We had the two LaRouchies who made no damn sense at all. (Why or why do the LaRouchies always find the microphone.? ) My husband stood up and made a statement that ended with 'Impeach this President. He has overstepped his Constitutional grounds and should be removed for his arrogance and abuse of power. Another guy mentioned that Bush was doing what Churchill did and should be commended. You could tell who watches Fox News just by the talking points. One guy hijacked the meeting to ask Marty what the Dem plan was for Social Security. (Ahm, to keep it around. It works very well.)

We almost had two guys come to blows and were shouting at each other violently over the mission and whether or not dissenting from the Pres would get troops killed.

Someone, somewhere mentioned that the Congress, and the Senate more than the House are like exclusive clubs and the Members are sort of isolated from this type of raucous, unscripted and deeply emotional debate. Well, they need to get out more. This was a pretty good representation of what the argument is in America. It's not pretty. Marty mentioned how distressed he was when Mean Jean Schmidt called Cong. Murtha (a friend of his) a coward on the floor of the House. He said that the dialog in DC is usually non-existent and that blatant attempt by the Majority to put words in the mouth of the minority (that they didn't say or back) was just awful and the low point of his Congressional career. (He should come to my brother's house at Christmas. Want some turkey you commie, bin laden enabler. No, but I'll have some gravy you toady tool of the fascist police state. Can you pass the squash, oh and by the way, Democrats are wussies and embolden our enemies with their talk. Okay, pass the peas, and I think Bush is getting people killed and that he doesn't care about the veterans. That's how I grew up anyway.)

[ProSense]

7. First,

LaRouchies still show up places? Only thing I remember about this bunch is them roaming the streets in the 1970s scaring the crap out of me.

Any reaction from the 40% to your hubby's impeach comment?

Imagine members of Congress coming to blows with people who resort to violence at these meetings. They could change the term to "town hall brawl."

[TayTay]

9. Oh, my husband's impeachment remark was received

with big aplause by half the room and boos from the other half. LOL! (Ahm, can you tell that I loved this. I adore vigorous public debate. I just wish the other side had better arguments. Theres are full of lies. They were still talking that trash that Al Qaeda was in Iraq. Sigh!)

[wisteria]

2. It's a shame the father of that deployed soldier doesn't realize that

JK and Mr. Meehan are trying to protect and keep his son and all the other soldiers alive and bring them home soon. Instead he has taken to repeating the administration's talking points while the administration continues to skimp on the important protections necessary to shield our troops from harm and as they continue to ignore the advise of experts on Iraq.

[rox63]

3. I s-o-o-o wanted to be there

But family obligations made it impossible. Yes, there are reddish areas in even the bluest of states. I suspect that the righties made an extra effort to have their minions out in force at this meeting. And that Marty gave it right back to them. Go Marty! :patriot:

[TayTay]

5. Rox, it was awesome

Though, in all honesty, I don't think Marty would agree. He mentioned several times that this was the worst Town Meeting he had ever been at. (OMG!) The thing was tht Marty would point out something using State Department figures (from, you know That Friggin Idiot's State Department) and the righties would argue with those. Whatever differed from the right wing talking points on Fox News was just not true and couldn't be true and only commie bin laden lovers would believe it.

It was wild. I coldn't believe it when the disabled Vietnam vet and the father of the kid recently deployed went after each other. That was just, ahm, raucous. Marty did yeoman's work tonight and I plan on calling his office tomorrow to commend him. I shook his hand afterwards and told him how proud of was of him. I got a real nice, but tired smile. He did good work tonight and tried to be fair to all viewpoints.

[karynnj]

6. His reasons for voting and his current views sound a lot like Kerry's

I guess the guy with a son in Iraq wouldn't buy the "dissent is patriotism".

[beachmom]

8. Thanks for the recap, Tay Tay.

God, what is happening to our country with all the fighting and name calling and such? Maybe I shouldn't regret so much that most of the people I know here aren't that into politics. I certainly wouldn't want to get into shouting matches all the time. It's only that I have the Kerry/Edwards sticker on my car that everybody knows how I feel. So far, nobody has given me any trouble.

Anyway, back to the meeting, did you feel like anything constructive came out of it? Were any minds changed, or are people really digging in their heels? Did anyone on this forum live through and remember the Vietnam War and the protests -- does the fighting now compare to back then, or was it much worse in the 70s?

[TayTay]

11. People did calm down a bit after all the talking pionts were recited.

New Englanders tend to be loud, opinionated and not shy people, half of whom seem to be employed at the Institute for Advanced Thinking about Something Important. LOL! (Part of why I really admire John Kerry is that he doesn't seem to mind too much with putting up with us. I give him a lot of points for that. I find New Engladers to be very testy people and I wish some of them would learn some manners. This coming for the person who apparently left as her legacy to the folks who came to Boston in Dec a new list of swear words and creative situations in which to use them.)

I doubt many minds were changed, though Marty very clearly spelled out his position. He was very, very emotional when it came to pointing out that the VA, the Veterans Administration itself under Rethug rule, has pointed out that it has an impending crisis on it's hands with the returning Vets and their medical needs. (PTSD came up.) Marty had this very worried look on his face because he knows that we do not have the set up we need to help our people when they come home. Everyone did agree that that is a tragedy waiting to happen.

[karynnj]

12. I was a college student in the early 60s

I think the 70s had some different dynamics. Almost all college students were anti war (At Indiana University, our chancellor asked that there be an official vote because he was repeatedly asked for his opinion and he preferred to be able to say what the students believed. The result was around 95% against the war.

There was a huge generational difference - with must of the baby boomers against the war and a very large percentage of older people for it. Many of our parents came of age during WWII. In addition to the war, the baby boomers differed on music, sex and drugs were more prevelent. I'm sure to our parents, it looked like everything they knew was being challanged. You also had the draft which made the war personal.

The anti-war movement had almost the entire rock establishment behind it. I know that sounds silly, but they definitely got the message that the war was wrong out. Also, I think most of us were very idealistic in that we were on the side that was ultimately going to win. We were a huge generation and when we came of age we would eliminate war, pollution, poverty etc ( not very good at predicting).

[ginnyinWI]

10. Town meeting on Cspan tonight was very similar

I never caught just where it was, but I think in Virginia. Rep. Moran-(D)hosted it (his district), and Jack Murtha was there (as a guest). Topic: Iraq. Most there were on the left and very supportive, but there were a few wingnuts who also aired their views, and one said that Murtha and others voicing their dissent gave encouragement to the terrorists and were making our troops less safe over there. Someone must be drilling this into their heads, for them all to be saying it. Anyway--I don't think the jihadists need any more encouragement to do what they're doing. It was a very interesting and informative show--might be repeated later--two and a half hours long, but I couldn't tear myself away.

[fedupinBushcountry]

13. I couldn't tear myself away either

Moran was very good, as was Murtha, although I do not agree with his resolution, although it is sounding more like Kerry's everyday.

The Iraq vets who got up and talked were great, I could of listened to what they said all night.

The wingnuts all had the same talking points and IMO were very rude, but Murtha and Moran handled it well. Moran really got some good points across, and basically said why impeachment was not a possibility at this time. 2006 is so very important.

[babylonsister]

14. I also watched; the remark about the Patriot Act blew me away.

Moran basically said that one way Congress could protest the war and the lies they were told was to NOT renew the Patriot Act. That would make this admin's heads explode, but would also provide fodder for the wingnuts, so I don't know what course of action would be viable.
I personally think protest is good; if they go for not approving the PA, and shout loud, clearly, and often WHY, it might make people think and bring attention to how duped everyone was.