T Is for Town Hall Chat

Town hall chat as in the first-of-its-kind town hall chat with President Barack Obama held via Facebook social media on April 20, 2011.

As you may know, the town hall meeting was held at Facebook headquarters in California. Mark Zuckerberg hosted the meeting, which I thought made a viable and interesting pairing for the discussion. Both men are highly intelligent, although in different realms.

I would like to preface any future remarks by saying I give respect to anyone elected Commander-in-Chief of the United States. Barack Obama happens to be a man I not only respect as the leader of our nation, but I hold many of the same values as does he and I admire his steadfastness of purpose.

The town hall meeting should have been an exciting opportunity for me. When the president entered the meeting hall, my heart swelled with pride. It was only moments later that I had to prop up my head with my hand to stay awake.

It wasn't the topics of his rhetoric so much as the clarity that this meeting held in that medium was meant to engage young voters. And that's okay. I understand wanting to get and keep young adults engaged in the welfare of our country. I just wish the open invite to the town hall meeting had had a warning asterisk some where.

Praise for Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn

Senator Tom Coburn, who represents Oklahoma in the national senate, did something that surprised not only his constituents and political backers, but apparently the nation as a whole: He told people attending a town hall meeting in his home state that although he disagreed with her politics, he would not stand for people calling Nancy Pelosi anything but a nice person outside the political arena.

Despite negative feedback from his town hall audience, Sen. Coburn stuck by his statement about House Speaker Pelosi.

Coburn's surprise statements didn't end with his defense of a political adversary as a decent human being. When members of the town hall meeting audience began making statements about the recent health care reform bill that were untrue--such as fearing going to jail for not having health insurance--this man told his listeners not to get all their news from Fox, that it was no one's intention for people to go to jail over the health insurance issue.

He advised his listeners to get their information from more than one source to be able to separate the wheat from the chaff.

This right-wing politician who has been nicknamed "Dr. No" for his frequent blocking of bills he opposes took a courageous and admirable stand in that town hall meeting. It is refreshing to see that this representative of the people is not a cardboard cutout with no regard for decency--as so many in the political and media arenas are these days. He has earned my respect.

Further reading: The Wall Street Journal