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Originally posted at TGP.
Atlanta-Area Action Alert: Rep. Hank Johnson, the Democratic Representative of Georgia’s Fourth Congressional District is holding a health care reform town hall meeting (Flyer – .pdf) Monday night, August 10, 2009. If you can attend this (or another) town hall meeting, here’s a list of ‘best practices’ to help you prepare. After the event, you can report your experience and upload videos and photes of the event here.
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The conduct displayed at recent town hall meetings (see here, here, here and here) has now unbelievably led to this: Members of the United States Congress must now send emails to their constituents to assure them that it will be ‘safe and secure’ to meet with their Congressperson [my emphasis]:
We have a very important town hall on health insurance reform on Monday, Aug. 10 at Georgia Perimeter College’s Cole Auditorium in Clarkston at 7 p.m.
I just want to assure you that GPC and my office will provide a safe and secure environment in which to hold a respectful and candid dialogue on this critical issue.
Please do not allow news reports of “town halls gone wild” deter you from attending our meeting. I want to hear from my constituents who have real questions and concerns about health care insurance reform proposals being debated in Congress.
Our democracy doesn’t work unless we treat each other with respect and are willing to listen to diverse opinions. I’m here to listen to you, and I think we will all benefit from listening to our distinguished panel and to each other.
In the event that you are unable to attend, a video of the event will be available on my website for you to view by Thursday, Aug. 13.
So please join me Monday, Aug. 10 at 7 p.m. at Georgia Perimeter College. I look forward to a productive exchange of ideas.
Thank you.
Hank Johnson
14 Comments
if i lived in atlanta and was thinking of going to his meeting, i’d want to hear in what way exactly gpc and his office were providing a safe and secure environment. will there be police? rules for acceptable behavior laid out up front?
recommended.
I imagine there must be some kind of security. Or sign-up list to speak. Some way to keep order.
I live in Ga I am not in his district but my district is represented be Republican Saxby Chambliss. I have a Dr appt on monday afternoon but if I get out in time I am going its about 45 mins from me. I am so angry with what Rush Limbaugh has said calling our President a Nazi. And Sarah Palin with her usually low intelligence continuing the myth about killing off old people because of the living will provision. Also Glenn Beck pretending to poisen Speaker Polosi on his show. All the so call grass roots protesters that are being made to be angry by the lies or Republicans.
I work (in a health care office) in and live in Clarkston, and my husband and I will be at the town hall on Monday. I’ll post our experience there as soon as possible. So far I’ve been very impressed with Congressman Johnson’s service. He represents a unique district. Dekalb County is the second most ethnically/racially diverse county in the country (Orange County CA is first). Located about 12 miles from downtown Atlanta, Clarkston occupies 1.1 square mile and is and has been for a long time a gateway for refugees into the US. Our community ranges from second-generation hippies (my family is an example) to rednecks to gay/lesbian families to immigrants who’ve become citizens and prospered here to refugees who just got off the plane and to others. But I digress; I live in a really cool spot on the planet, and I’m happy about it.
not to worry. down here in the south ya’ll
start any trouble we will [mod edit]
we have unions too ya know
[Modnote: Intonations to violent acts are prohibited.]
and replying to NelsonAlgren @ 2,
I’m amazed that we’re even having a discussion on the security measures to be employed at a town hall meeting this far removed from 09-11-01. What I find exponentially more amazing is that the discussion regarding security measures at town hall meetings is about protecting U.S. citizens, including sitting United States Congresspersons, from other U.S. citizens. We’ve actually reached the point where Rep. Johnson felt had to assure his constituents that it’ll be ’safe and secure’ to meet with him at a public venue.
I’d also add all the Congressional Democrats who’ve permitted things to get this point. The Democrats had been out of the majority for so long that even when they gained a majority in both houses of Congress in 2006 they continued (and still continue) to cave to the Republicans. It’s like they suffer from a variant of Stockholm Syndrome.
So, y’all’ve been hiding the melting pot in Clarkston? Down in the deep South? Now that you told everyone your secret, you can let all those teabagging yahoos see how diverse people can peacefully co-exist.
It sounds like this town hall will be an interesting meeting, especially if they bus in a bunch of outsiders like they did in Colorado. Maybe Clarkston will have a positive effect on the ‘baggers?
I look forward to your report on the meeting.
I second that.
Thanks for the comment, pjack. It’s my first that’s been editor-modified and I’m getting a kick out of that. I still get your point, even with the modification. Though not exactly best practices as a strategic starting point, we all have a right to defend ourselves.
Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Issakson are our Senators. Your rep can be found by going to Congress dot gov (?)and plugging your zip into their representative finder thingy.
There is a representative finder thingy here.
As much as I dislike to admit it, it’s not all kumbaya here. During one of my first encounters with one of my neighbors, he told me I was uppity. Pardon my Southern vernacular, but I about busted a gut laughing so hard, which he really did not appreciate. As a born and raised Southerner, I thought rednecks reserved that term specifically for black people; I was surprised that he went all “big tent” and used it for a liberal white woman. Also, if outside teabaggers are bused in, they probably won’t get off the bus. The Clarkston campus of GPC is located between our local mosque (about a football field’s length away) and across the street from a strip mall that includes both a halal market and a halal pizza restaurant (also about a football field’s length away). Frankly, I would consider paying to see the teabaggers cowering in their seats on the bus, screaming at the bus driver not to open the door, while the parade of nations that richly and brightly colors my daily life strolled by on the sidewalk.
That’s a funny story about your neighbor. I also got a chuckle thinking about the faux-testers on the bus enjoying pizza delivered by that halal pizzeria courtesy of the southern hospitality of some anonymous uppity liberal white woman.