Town Hall Protests Today are Not Democratic

August 14, 2009

The U.S. Constitution guarantees the right to free speech. This means you get to say what you want, write letters to your government and speak out about whatever issue you feel strongly about.

One way to do this is through the town hall meeting where politicians and citizens meet to discuss the problems of the day. These informal public meetings allow participants to say what they want and that's the way it should be.

What we have right now are town hall meetings where incredibly angry people get up to solely disrupt the public meeting and derail public discourse. They deny the Constitutional right of free speech for most in the audience. This is not democracy.

If your sole purpose is to scream threats and bully the group then you are un- American. Mob rule is not democratic.

It does not matter that some town hall meetings are staged merely for a politician's benefit, or that some are arranged by the insurance industry or the national Republican Party. The rule of law and democratic decency must prevail in every case.

It is time for town hall meetings to again be places for credible and thoughtful debate. The bullies must be forced out onto the street where they belong.