We need more moderates like Rep. Costello

I commend Congressman Ryan Costello for his fortitude in the face of a gang determined to threaten and nag him until he submits to their agenda.

As a nation we need to find our way through the turbulence caused by the November election.

We need more middle-of-the-road legislators like Congressman Costello who has shown that he can listen and cooperate for the good of the country and his constituents.

Even though I might not agree with him on a particular issue, I will tell him my position by letter or email and I will respect his right to disagree with me, even if I believe he is wrong. I might vote against him, but I will not join a mob in front of his office in an effort to bully him into adopting my position.

The street demonstrations, large and small, in West Chester and across the country, are nothing less than an effort by disappointed voters to replace our democracy with mobocracy (“political control by the mob” Merriam-Webster Dictionary).

In Readers’ Views in the Mercury on March 10, the writer bemoaned Congressman Costello’s refusal to present himself for public flogging by a hostile crowd in a socalled “town hall” meeting.

The obvious purpose was to create a setting in which a long line of speakers can yell and point their fingers at a public official and display their wrath at just about everything, including perhaps the outcome of the election.

The writer went to great lengths to dispel the notion that the town hall was to be a political stunt or was intended to promote a political agenda, but it is hard to imagine any other purpose.

In my opinion Congressman Costello quite reasonably chose not to attend.

“The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”

- Hamlet, Act III, Scene II — William Shakespeare.