Posted on 08/06/2009 5:35:40 AM PDT by Bean Counter
(Vancouver, WA) Over 10 years in Congress, U.S. Rep. Brian Baird has stayed tethered to his district, flying back to Southwest Washington for more than 300 sometimes-bruising town hall meetings during Congressional recesses.
But this year, he's literally decided to phone it in.
Instead of appearing in person, where "extremists" would have "the chance to shout and make YouTube videos," Baird said Wednesday, he's holding what he calls "telephone town halls" instead.
Baird said he's using the new system because he fears his political opponents may be planning "an ambush" to disrupt his meetings, using methods Baird compared to Nazism.
"What we're seeing right now is close to Brown Shirt tactics," Baird, D-Vancouver, said in a phone interview. "I mean that very seriously."
The coming telephone conference call would be Baird's third this year.
His office used its Congressional allowance to buy the necessary software around the start of 2009, a spokesman said.
Secret schedule
Here's how it'll work: if you happen to be sitting near a publicly listed Clark County telephone line on the right day at the right time, your phone will ring.
In order to avoid software problems, Baird's office says, the exact date and time will be kept secret from the public.
If you answer your landline, an automated message will ask whether you have a question for your Congressman.
Press *3, and you'll be asked your location and the subject of your question. Sitting at his own telephone at an as-yet-undisclosed location, Baird then will choose a name based on its location and the topic.
There will be no further pre-screening, Baird said. After the call is over, the recording will be posted on his Web site.
Baird said the phone interviews will include "a much better cross-section of the public" than some live town halls.
"There is this national movement in blogs and on the Internet to go to town hall meetings solely to attack people," Baird said. "One colleague of mine recently was hung in effigy at a town hall meeting. Others needed police escorts."
Last month, according to Politico.com, a protestor hung an effigy of Rep. Frank Kratovil, D-Maryland, from a noose.
That event took place during an organized protest, according to Politico.
‘We are not nut cases’
Not all Baird's constituents support his decision.
Pam Benson of Larch Mountain, 62, said she realizes Baird disagrees with her on health care reform.
But the lack of town hall meetings makes her feel angrier and more helpless, she said.
"He's supposed to be our representative," said Benson, a purchasing manager for Portland Cascade Architecture and Engineering in Portland. "He's supposed to listen to us, whether he's on our side or not."
Benson said she doesn't understand why health care reform is moving forward when everyone she talks to seems to oppose it.
"We are not nut cases that disagree with this issue," she said. "There are a lot of very well-informed people that are against this health care thing."
It's enough to make a Republican like her paranoid, she said.
"It makes me feel that there is a conspiracy here to screw up the whole entire United States," she said with a laugh. "It's just too much, too fast."
For his part, Baird said live meetings will "probably resume" in September or October.
Baird said he has no way to be sure whether hateful protests would happen if he held live town halls while visiting the district next week.
"We'll have to see how this works out," Baird said. "If someone says you're going to walk into an ambush, you don't do it just to prove there's an ambush."
Michael Andersen: 360-735-4508 or michael.andersen@columbian.com.
Don't forget the tar and feathers!
Baird said he’s using the new system because he fears his political opponents may be planning “an ambush” to disrupt his meetings, using methods Baird compared to Nazism.If anyone knows about Nazism it’s the democrats AIG,GM,FMae,Fmac,Healthcare......
These clowns are nothing more than barricaded subjects.
After negotiation had failed, it will be necessary to remove them by force. They are leaving the American voter little option.
Cowards all.
These cowards are handing a huge issue to their next primary or general election opponents!
The opponents should make a vow that they will never run and hide from the public when the going gets tough like Brian Baird did.
Baird said he’s using the new system because he fears his political opponents may be planning “an ambush” to disrupt his meetings
Then, they are not meetings,,,,they are lectures.
Got to be a way to disrupt the phone stuff....
Does the congresscritter want to be part of Acorn or does he want to be part of America. The choice is his. Until election day that is.
Someone tell me what is left for me in America, if this is what we have finally come to. Benjamin Franklin called it when he warned us we had a Republic, “if you can keep it...”.
Brian Baird (and his ilk) have put up with the real Brownshirts from the far Left for a decade. Baird has been heckled by anti-war protesters who really have been extremely uncivil to him where ever he goes, over his wobbly stance on Iraq, Israel and the “Palestinians”.
If there are any extremists around here in SW Washington it is the Far-Left “Peace at any Price” antiwar crowd that Baird has put up with at his rallies for ten years. Those are the Brownshirts, and Brian regularly kisses their asses because they reliably vote Democrat. If Brian Baird came up with this new telephone system for these erzatz “Town Halls” it was to counter some of the anti-war dingbats that liked to invade his meetings. He’s fine with the Left showing up to demand that Baird withdraw all financial support for Israel while Baird is out touring the Gaza strip, but he can’t face the regular people on Healthcare back home??
There is nothing left in this for me that I can determine, if I cannot even express my opinion as a private Citizen at Government policies without being referred to in any fashion whatsoever as a “Nazi”, “Brownshirt”, “extremist”, or planning any kind of ambush or operating at the direction of anyone other than myself.
I served my Country Honorably for the best 20 years of my life, and to be referred to in these terms in any way, and especially by my elected representative is beyond unacceptable. I’m having a difficult time expressing myself about this here without resorting to profanity.
This is NOT how MY United States of America operates and I do NOT accept this behavior out of Brian Baird or any other elected representative in any way, shape, or form.
Unfortunately, the system we have had for over 200 years is in collapse and The Union is in real jeopardy once again.
Instead of appearing in person, where "extremists" would have "the chance to shout and make YouTube videos," Baird said Wednesday, he's holding what he calls "telephone town halls" instead. ... he fears his political opponents may be planning "an ambush" to disrupt his meetings, using methods Baird compared to Nazism. .. "What we're seeing right now is close to Brown Shirt tactics," Baird, D-Vancouver, said in a phone interview. "I mean that very seriously."
Here's a historical clue for you Rep Baird -- those 'Brown Shirt tactics' were used against ...(drum roll) ... Communists.
The Wiemar Republic was in a state of anarchy. Funded, caused and organized by communists on direct orders from Moscow. So all those little clips you see on the History Channel of the 'Brown shirts' (SA) fighting in the streets, weren't fights against 'Josef Bürger' (Joe Citizen). They were fights against the Communists.
So based on your fear, you apparently must be a Communist too!
Annnnd, "I mean that very seriously." /s
The Germans were between a rock and a hard place. Vote for the NSDAP or for the Communists. And putting the Communists in power would have made Germany a satellite state of the USSR. And most Germans did NOT want that as the Communists already ran most unions and they controlled who worked and who didn't. That led to many of the problems in Wiemar Germany as well.
One of Hitler's first acts as Chancellor was to disband all unions. That helped Germany pull out of the world wide Great Depression faster than any other country, including as we know, the USA. Additionally, Hitler's HATE of the Bolsheviks (Communists) was only surpassed by that of the Jews. And in Germany of the 30's they were mostly one in the same.
LOL! He really is running scared if he doesn't want anyone to even know when the call is going to occur.
I remember a column by Danny Westneat in the Seattle Times last year describing a Town Hall in Vancouver where anti-war Dems stormed the place and Baird feared for his safety.
Could you ping the Washingtonians?
*8My congressman is apparently only taking meetings by appointment.**
So call and make an appointment, and take someone else with you.
Obviously not representing the constituents. He was elected to voice THEIR views, not HIS views.
BTTT!
Looks like there will be mini tea parties in front of his office when he’s in town over the next 3 Thursdays.
These cowards do not realize what they are creating.
People need to be heard and vent.
The pressure cooker is up to high heat and it will explode on these fools.
This one pantywaist back-bench Congressman has gotten more ink about being hung in effigy than our Vice Presidential candidate got when the same thing happened last year.
“Baird is no stranger to town hall protests, having faced left-wing opposition to his support for the surge of additional troops into Iraq during the Bush administration. But he said protests have reached a “dangerous” new level.”
This is utter bullshit. Baird is using the behavior of the Left-Wing anti-war demonstrators to justify this action against “Republicans”.
There is absolutely no proof of any threat, this is all about Brian Baird, Coward.
Let me send a 3rd CD “Thank You!!” to Fox news for picking up on this story and reporting on it today! This is one of the rare opportunities that SW Washington gets any attention because we are normally ignored by both the Portland, Oregon media as well as the media up in Pugetopolis.
The extremely poor local media coverage is what has allowed a moral coward like Brian Baird to get away with this crap for the last 11 years. The editorial staff of the local AP outlet are Conservative haters of known repute and are responsible for enabling this kind of behavior out of Baird Baird and other slimy local liberal politicos.
Thanks Fox!!
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