Obama's Health Care Town Hall

I only caught the last part of President Obama's town hall meeting in Portsmouth, NH, so I won't try to critique it here. We can all agree that it was a civil and respectful crowd, in spite of the fact that the President did get some critical and sceptical questions. One might be wondering why there were emotional outbursts at this meeting, in contrast to what Democratic senators and Congressmen/women have been receiving.

First of all, I don't know to what extent, if any, this crowd was restricted. I thought it was curious that immediately at the conclusion, the CNN anchor informed us that "this was not a hand-picked audience".

This is the way the LA Times reported the process:

"White House officials say they assembled the crowd of 1,800 by the same process they always use. They sent out advisories to the local media last week, directing people to the White House website to sign up for tickets. The host school and state and local officials also got a few tickets to distribute."

Let's assume that was accurate and that those handing out tickets were not screening out folks who might have been disrespectful. I am willing to give everyone the benefit of the doubt on that. The reason is that the American people have an overriding respect for the Office of the President. As long as we are dealing with normal, everyday folks, I would expect that principle to be upheld-and it was. The exceptions are generally when the loony left shows up to demonstrate against Republicans like George Bush.

As much as I am supporting the town hall folks who are aggressively challenging the speakers, my personal preference is to let the speaker have his or her say, then hit him/her with a pointed question in the Q&A. It is the tactic I use at these anti-Israel hate fests that come to UC Irvine. I have not yet attended a town hall meeting. (I live in a Republican district.) If I do, I doubt that I myself would disrupt or chant. Yet, in the case of the senators and Congresspeople, I think they have been effective. When faced with an issue that so closely affects our lives, a little emotion is not unreasonable as long as it doesn't get physical or physically threatening. I hope our side will not get physical-as some of the pro-health care folks have been in Tampa and St Louis.

In the case of the President, however, he is entitled to that modicum of respect. Critical questions are not out of bounds. Screaming is, however. The town hall meeting in New Hampshire went off as it should have.