It was electrifying being in the same hall with 2,200 other mostly pissed off constituents, furious and frustrated with our U.S. Senator Tom Cotton and his undying love for everything Trump.
It was definitely a “No Cotton – you listen and answer to us” two hours.
If you saw or heard footage of someone loudly and repeatedly screaming, “Get them a microphone,” that would be me.
I was outraged that Cotton would book such a large venue and expect people to stand at their seats and have to shout at the top of their lungs to be heard.
It was an obvious and calculated decision by the Cotton Klan to silence and control the crowd. Fortunately it backfired, and 15 minutes later the microphones arrived and nobody was going to pry the mic from anyone’s cold, dead progressive hands.
Speakers were eloquent, tenacious and informed, making statements and armed with questions that were met with embarrassing silence by Cotton and applauded and cheered loudly by the crowd.
A young wheelchair-bound woman was handed the microphone. She had a rare, degenerative disease and was dependent on Obama’s health care plan to stay alive. On Sunday the woman turns 26 and under current ACA law her coverage under her parents health plan would be cancelled. Repeatedly she asked Cotton, who has already pledged to repeal Obama Care, what specifically he was going to replace it with and would the existing pre-existing condition clause be kept in? She never received a direct answer, but her courage and fortitude was clearly acknowledged by everyone, maybe even the Senator who missed a great opportunity.
I will give Cotton credit for showing up, unlike many of his Republican colleagues who are MIA in their states. He was cool, calm and seemingly unrattled, obviously wearing the right antiperspirant – not a trace of sweat.
At age 37, Cotton is being touted as the new fresh face of the Republican Party. His fear-mongering, anti-immigrant, homophobic, transphobic, anti-women, xenophobic, pro-war rhetoric fits perfectly with the Republican Party’s new extreme right views.
Quotes like the only problem with Guantanamo Bay is there are “too many empty beds,” statements advocating the end of food stamps and Planned Parenthood, votes against equal pay for women and domestic violence protections, and stunts like undermining Obama’s Iran Nuclear agreement by going behind the president’s back have made him a darling of the Alt Right.
Contrary to Republican claims they were paid activists, people who overflowed the Town Hall represented Arkansans from all walks of life. For many, this was the first time they had been to a Town Hall meeting, voiced an opinion, contacted their representatives or held a protest sign.
This is a grassroots movement like no other, and television pundits, newspaper and mainstream bloggers, in an effort to define what’s going on, have mistakenly compared it to the 2010 Tea Party movement. Yes, they have borrowed some Tea Party tactics, but the speed and the numbers of people taking to the streets (the Women’s March) and town halls all over the country, is beyond comparison.
It boggles the mind that 2,200 people from Springdale, Arkansas – hardly a pocket of progressive thinking – turned out in force demanding to be heard.
When was the last time anyone could even name the heads of Education and the EPA? Every time Betsy Devos’s or Scott Pruitt’s name was evoked, it was met with loud jeers.
Something else is going on here. People are paying attention, getting informed, and they are angry, and not just at Trump.
The out-of-the-mouth-of-babes viral moment and last question of the evening came from a 7-year-old Hispanic boy named Toby who stated, “Donald Trump makes Mexicans not important to people who are in Arkansas… Mexicans like me, my grandma and my people.” He wants Trump to fund PBS Kids instead of a wall.
Did he get the message? For all Cotton is, he is not stupid. At one point he acknowledged the anti-Trump sentiment in the crowd, as if to convince himself all this rage could not be directed at him. Looking out from the stage into the fiery eyes of his constituents, he reminded them he was elected with 61 percent of the vote.
Denial plus hubris. It’s clear Cotton and the rest of the Republicans cannot see the writing on the US/Mexican wall.
John Rankine
Great article John: I was at the Cotton town hall meeting with 5 friends from Holiday Island. It was an amazing meeting and we were inspired by the number of people who were there to show support for all people.
Well said, John! I was at the Cotton town hall and very proud to be among such a large group of people who are mad as hell and not going to take it anymore!
Thanks John for your informed editorial. i really appreciate your mentioning that few people knew who cabinet members were until now and certainly few had their public servants phone numbers and e-mails readily available to contact them. This is what Democracy looks like.