Congressman-for-life Jim Sensenbrenner holds frequent town hall meetings around the 5th District. He takes great pride in hosting more of these than any other member of Congress. Being an incorrigible political wonk, I try to attend at least a couple of town halls every year.
Most questions aimed at Sensenbrenner, either from the right or the left, are well-reasoned and rational. However, there are usually one or two folks that have clearly been brainwashed by right-wing media. There are a few that obviously have drunk too deeply from the fountain of swill that is Fox News and hate radio.
I remember one especially sad and frightened old man in Richfield who used a town hall visit to vent. While trying to control his anger at (and fear of) the world, he said:
“I guess as a lot of Americans are pretty much upset with what's been coming out of this administration-all of the deception and untruthfulness, and lying-the money taken out of Medicare, and the Obamacare situation, the things involving Benghazi, the NSA/IRS, the retribution aspects involved with that, firing of military people kind of indiscriminately. I don't know what's going on, ….and it doesn't create a sense of happiness amongst the population or the fact that we have fears of what's going on, the things involving the Soviets (sic) doing their war games, coming-up with silos and missiles ..., China's bombers and missiles can reach US targets-you read stuff like that and you don't feel secure"
At almost every Town Hall, some afflicted questioners call for the impeachment of Obama because a) Benghazi b) executive orders c) Obama is a foreign-born Muslim, or d) something, something... Sensenbrenner hears this request so often that he has a canned response, "If Obama is impeached and removed from office, who becomes President? Is that going to be any better?" This reply always seems to diffuse the situation without alienating the Congressman's base.
One sputtering woman in Oconomowoc implored Sensenbrenner to "do something about the radical President who is doing everything he can to tear-down our country”. Another fellow went on a rant about the President attacking “American values”. He was especially angry about “political correctness” and disturbed by Federal standards on drinking water and energy-efficient light bulbs.
Others in New Berlin fumed about de-funding the EPA and “Obama's Czars”, taking the US out of the United Nations, and abolishing the Federal Reserve. And of course, nothing incenses the fringe more than Fox News' never-ending Benghazi “conspiracy”.
Most of the rage is aimed at progressives, especially President Obama. But the right also eats their own. Before retiring, John Boehner was often the target of anger because he sometimes compromised with Democrats to keep the government running. I have heard Sensenbrenner, himself called a RINO by some of the most addled.
Recently in Menomonee Falls, a guy in a greasy gray ponytail ranted, "The House and Senate need to stop Barack Obama for what he's done. The stuff that happened-stuff that's Socialist and Communist. The less Democratic platform that I see, the better. People don't like gridlock-I love gridlock ! People don't like the government shut-down-I love the government shut-down ! If the government is shut-down, no more bad things can happen ! If you just let this ride out until Obama's gone, what steps will be taken in the future to try to repair his eight years of damage?"
I am sure that the fringy folks asking nutty questions at the Sensenbrenner Town Halls are just the tip of the iceberg. Many folks in the 5th District (and all over Wisconsin) have been brainwashed by propaganda TV and the legions of Limbaugh-wanna-be radio shows.
The afflicted develop a personality full of fear and paranoia, ignorance and anger. Like the father in The Brainwashing of My Dad, they become crotchety old haters. But maybe like the father in The Brainwashing of My Dad, their families can help to deprogram them back to reality.
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