My idea of what a Congressional Town Hall meeting is about has been shattered.
I recently experienced my first Town Hall meeting in Dixon with Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger. The Congressman referred to the gathering as both a town hall meeting and a legislative luncheon. It became obvious that this meeting was rigged, with more than 99.9% of Dixon citizens not being welcomed.
First, there were beautiful pre-printed name tags for the "guests." And, there was a very short time given for attendees to ask questions. Questions that obviously were not to the liking of Kinzinger were blown off. After one question Kinzinger said, "Are you kidding me? This is a legislative luncheon!"
Secondly, I attended the meeting to ask the Congressman one question for a future WNIJ Perspective. My question was about whether he supports a new bipartisan approach to passing healthcare legislation.
I was not allowed to ask my question. As I began verbalizing the question to him, his staff began physically pushing and pulling me out of the way. Then local police deputies got involved, pulling me away as they said he was on a tight schedule and didn't have time for questions.
So, the experience of seeing protesters outside being denied access to Kinzinger's speech; to the pre-printed name tags; and then the shield put around the Congressman by his staff and police. The town meeting with this member of Congress was nothing but a staged and rigged event solely to appease supporters.
I'm Phillip LeFevre, and that's my perspective.
