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August 20, 2009
In the Back Door, Again
Thanks to Andrew's emailwork with Sheldon Whitehouse staffers and Tim White's willingness to open the door for a loitering blogger, I've gained entrance to Senators' Whitehouse and Reed's healthcare dinner. I had my PB&J sandwich in the van on the way down, so I've got a moment to chat with you. Congressman Jim Langevin's staffers led us right to the room in which the press Q&A was to be held; tonight, I don't think I attached myself sufficiently tightly to Mr. White in order to make my way into the room where the senators currently are.
There are apparently two rooms, and the senators will only be in one; assuming I'm in the right one, there are some familiar faces from last night, including the Tea Party's Colleen Conley and some of the people who spoke last night. I have seen a number of folks with pro-reform stickers, though.
One thing that struck me in the hall was the general tone of familiarity, and I have to say I was disappointed to see state Senator Leonidas Raptakis body-hug Senator Whitehouse.
5:51 p.m.
I'm seeing a lot of people with "Health Care for America Now!" stickers and name tags, many of them sitting with folks in medical-provider-type uniforms. It would be disappointing to learn that the room in which the senators will be spending the evening is stacked in their favor, with the other one consisting of spillover.
7:45 p.m.
It's wrapping up, now. I'll say this: Although I did get the impression that some of the questions were, well, not unanticipated, there was definitely a healthy representation of the opposition.
Another thing I'll say is that it's edifying to see these guys talk off script. The holes that popped up in the statements and arguments could keep a full-time blogger busy for weeks. Perhaps the healthiest thing that can come out of these town halls — and the point came up that they would not be as big a deal as they are if the administration and Congress hadn't been so blatantly conspiring to push the bill through to law in the dark of a summer night — is to expose the flawed logic of those who lead our nation.
Blogging makes it a different world. Hopefully our politics will catch up before it's too late.
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>and I have to say I was disappointed to see state Senator Leonidas Raptakis body-hug Senator Whitehouse.<
Justin,you are very easily disappointed
Was it a ghey type body-hug?
Posted by: Monica at August 21, 2009 8:48 AMYour logo and blogger are famous on you-tube!
Posted by: www.twitter.com/Conservateacher at August 21, 2009 10:18 AMhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dinQ46mMbA
Posted by: Conservateacher at August 21, 2009 10:21 AMNo, Monica. It was just much more enthusiastic than I would have expected from a state official whom I'd thought to be relatively conservative when greeting RI progressives' new darling in Congress.
Incidentally, I'd never thought of "disappointed" as a synonym for "crestfallen."
Posted by: Justin Katz at August 21, 2009 12:22 PMthe administration and Congress hadn't been so blatantly conspiring to push the bill through to law in the dark of a summer night
Posted by: Phil at August 21, 2009 1:04 PMI don't understand what you wrote, Justin. Obama and elected representatives and Senators have been answering questions at town hall meetings in many states for weeks.
So Justin did not wait in line, to get into this event.My stepson who served in Iraq could not get in,because Justin
Posted by: Emery Scott at August 21, 2009 4:52 PM(who chose NOT TO FIGHT FOR HIS COUNTRY)
TOOK HIS SEAT !!!!
Emery:
It's not as if I went in there to schmooze and get an autographed picture with the senators. I went in so I could subsequently spend another five or so hours processing video so that anybody who wished to hear what the senators had to say, word for word, could do so.
Incidentally, the military was never an option for me owing to a physical birth defect. It's impossible to say, of course, whether I'd have enlisted had my situation been otherwise; for one thing, I always knew that it wasn't an option, and for another, I might have been a wholly different person in unpredictable ways.
Posted by: Justin Katz at August 21, 2009 6:08 PM>>I don't understand what you wrote, Justin. Obama and elected representatives and Senators have been answering questions at town hall meetings in many states for weeks.
Only after Darthbama and Princess Pelosi and Emperor Soros pulled out all of the stops to try to get an unread "health care reform" bill enacted BEFORE the August recess.
Posted by: Tom W at August 22, 2009 9:29 AM"Obama and elected representatives and Senators have been answering questions at town hall meetings in many states for weeks."
And providing very little in the way of facts or reassurance against half a dozen legitimate, substantive concerns. As TomW said, this experience confirms for the majority party that conducting town halls and answering questions is a distant second to ramming through a bill before anyone - either the public or members of Congress - has the time to read it, much less evaluate its consequences.
Posted by: Monique at August 23, 2009 9:45 PM