TENSE PUBLIC EVENTS
Is mob rule ruining town halls?
Like most Republican sermons, Scott Gessler’s repetitive account of “mob rule” by the “angry left” at town hall meetings was overblown and devoid of meaningful context.
For decades, Republican politicians and media mouths have pursued a politics of fear, contempt, labels and divisiveness. “Tax and spend Democrats;” “the undeserving poor of inferior character”; “gun control” people; “liberals” and their media, professors and socialists; the job-stealing immigrants; and government itself, so “inefficient” and messing in people’s lives (even as Republicans seek to mess in, even destroy people’s lives).
At $174,000 per year, Republican congresspersons have repeatedly ignored major national problems, while serving a moneyed minority. No surprise: their two recent health care bills were, like most GOP legislation, wealth care bills. And the Tea Party demagogues? Talk about a mob!
Many American citizens resent not only Republican indifference, incompetence, and arrogance, but also their unsurprising presidential mobster.
Daniel W. Brickley, Littleton
Scott Gessler’s column regarding Sen. Cory Gardner’s rowdy town halls opens by asserting that angry mobs “completely blocked” Gardner from answering questions. I attended the Greeley town hall, and I must dissent. Online replay of all three town halls disproves Gessler’s punchy but false characterization; videos show scores of people asking their questions and getting responses.
Gessler references a fear of “shrinking” democracy. Meanwhile, in 2012, then-secretary of State Gessler did more to advance this scenario than any clamorous town hall. He attempted to invalidate tens of thousands of inactive Colorado voters (those who hadn’t voted in the previous election). He lost in court (see: Gessler vs. Johnson). That, Mr. Gessler, is how you shrink democracy.
Town halls, even raucous ones like Gardner’s, don’t harm representative democracy. Elected officials seeking to bar accessibility to civic engagement — be that dialogue or voting — that’s the actual threat. Stop blaming citizens.
Katie Farnan, Gunbarrel