Like many concerned citizens, I attended several of Kevin Brady's dog and pony town halls this past summer. They were all open to the public and Brady's handlers did call on several constituents who were in support of some sort of reform. But, the events might as well have been only open to card-carrying Republicans, because they were the only ones Brady was talking to. The misinformation and half-truths he peddled were only meant to reinforce the unfounded scare tactics they had already embraced.
But now, Kevin Brady doesn't even pretend to represent all of his constituents. Today at lunch, I got an email from his office saying he would hold a Town Hall the next morning at 10:00 am at "Tea Party Headquarters."
The badly written email goes on to state:
"As Democrats in Congress seek to jam through a government takeover of health care, it is very important that Congressman Kevin Brady hears from his constituents and educates them with the pertinent details."That's right. Kevin Brady finally admits that the people he really considers to be his constituents are the Tea Partiers, a fringe element at best. He doesn't care to hear from anyone else, especially someone who might challenge him, because his mission is not to listen to all of the people he represents so that he can be their voice, as the Constitution intended. No, as it says above, his mission is to "educate" his constituents, to indoctrinate them to his failed and worn out ideology. As the United States Congress begins to finally implement some semblance of health insurance reform, albeit somewhat flawed, these are the people that Kevin Brady wishes to converse with:
The history of our country is marked by our successive triumph over one challenge after another. As a country, we've faced many questions. Should the government regulate the quality of our water, our air, our food, and our medication? Should we have a pension fund to guarantee seniors a retirement? Should we offer affordable health insurance to seniors and the poor? Should workers be able to come together and negotiate for better wages and better working conditions? Are all of our citizens entitled to protection against discrimination? These are just but a few of the challenges we have grappled with in the past century. In each instance, there is a group that turns out to be on the right side of history and there is a group that is on the wrong side of history. The modern Republican Party has consistently been on the wrong side of history and that is exactly where they are today.
Kevin Brady isn't fooling anyone by saying he disagrees with this legislation as a matter of principle. In fact, it's a pretty moderate/centrist piece of legislation. But that doesn't matter. Kevin Brady will fight anything that the President proposes, save a bill to name the Panther Creek Post Office after Kevin Brady. He's now demonstrated that he'll even abandon most of his constituents to employ a fringe group to do his bidding.
When this era goes down in history, which side of it will you be on? Will you be able to tell your grandchildren that you stood up for a healthcare system that works? Or will you have to admit that you were played like a fiddle by the Kevin Bradys of the world?
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