The disappearing act of Republican congressmen continues. Their town hall meetings, once a standard practice for staying in touch with their constituents, have become a rare occurrence in the face of in-your-face protests.
A case in point is the recent stealthy appearance of Republican Rep. Scott Fitzgerald two Mondays ago at the American Legion Post on Park Avenue in West Bend. The congressman slipped quietly into town for what his staff called a “closed meeting” with members of the Post. Only invitees were supposed to be there.
But the word leaked, and 34 protestors hurriedly organized by the West Bend Chapter of Indivisible, a national anti-Trump organization, showed up at the corner of North Main Street and Park Avenue. Some yelled “Shame” as Fitzgerald’s car pulled into the blocked off parking lot in front of the Post. His driver hurried past them to the rear of the lot and Fitzgerald slipped into the back door of the Post.
Once inside, the congressman took questions from 14 members of the Post, all wearing their Legion’s veterans caps. Almost all the questions and comments were about veterans’ benefits, primarily about the plusses and minuses of their treatment at Veterans Administration hospitals in the region. One member offered to drive other veterans who didn’t have available transportation for trips to the VA hospitals.
I entered the front door as a veteran journalist and a veteran Marine wearing my USMC cap. Two of Fitzgerald’s staffers asked me to leave because I was not a Legion member and therefore was not invited. I responded that the congressman should want his views known to a broader audience. They insisted I leave. They asked for me press credentials, which I retrieved from my car, and I asked them to ask the congressman if I could stay. That did the trick. I sat in the back and listened for an hour.
The only broad issue came up when one veteran asked about the effects from the congressional shutdown on parts of the federal government, including the VA.
“It’s easy to go into a shutdown,” Fitzgerald said, “but hard to come out of it.
“I’m not sure where this ends,” he said. “It’s not a good place where we are.”
The protesters out front were gone when the Legion meeting ended after an hour of dialogue.
I asked the two staffers if the congressman wanted to do a one-on-one interview from a veteran. They declined, saying Fitzgerald was on a tight schedule. My invitation with such an interview with the congressman remains open.
As President Trump’s approval rating continues to fall – down a dozen points from about 52% after inauguration to an average across all polls of about 40% of late – there are more and more Americans in different segments of our society who have become turned off by administration policies. That means more protests of Republican leadership.
Segments where the president is losing support include: Catholics led by Pope Leo of Chicago confronting him on his immigration policies; veterans who want a stronger stance against Putin in Ukraine; citizens alarmed about their potential loss of Medicaid and Obamacare subsidies; farmers who can’t sell their soybeans to China because of punitive tariff retaliation; business people watching their sales fall because of tariff uncertainty; consumers paying higher prices at grocery and department stores; conservationists witnessing environmental budget cuts; universities facing attacks and research funding cuts; citizens and government employees who disagree with the heavy-handed cuts to government funding, and state and local officials who object to military invasions of their cities.
A good portion of the president’s disapproval has turned into disgust, often labeled “strongly disagree” in the polls.
That level of opposition will show up again in West Bend at a non-violent protest planned by Indivisible for 1 p.m. Saturday at public areas outside the Washington County Court House on East Washington Street. The organizers of the event, including the West Bend chapter, are hoping to exceed the crowd of 900 that protested at the south side of town last June.
It will be one of almost 2500 rallies across all 50 states.
