Democratic Illinois Senator Dick Durbin has denounced the protests at town-hall meetings on health care. CNN reports him saying:
"Town meetings are not bean bag. I've had hundreds of them, and sometimes folks get upset. And that's part of America, part of our process.
"But this is clearly being orchestrated, and these folks have instructions. They come down from a Texas lobbyist in Washington."
Durbin said that when "there's a group of people honestly sitting in the middle trying to ask the important questions and get the right answers, and instead someone takes the microphone and screams and shouts to the point where the meeting comes to an end, that isn't dialogue, that isn't the democratic process.
"We need to respect free speech, but we need to respect one another's rights to free speech, too. When these people come in just to disrupt the meetings, no, that isn't right," Durbin said.
That, of course, is what no Brooklyn or New York official said after the July 22 Atlantic Yards informational meeting was disrupted by pro-project forces.
Update: NLG points to Errol Louis's criticism as well, noting the contrast with Louis's decision to attack Atlantic Yards opponents rather than denounce disruptions by project supporters.
"Town meetings are not bean bag. I've had hundreds of them, and sometimes folks get upset. And that's part of America, part of our process.
"But this is clearly being orchestrated, and these folks have instructions. They come down from a Texas lobbyist in Washington."
Durbin said that when "there's a group of people honestly sitting in the middle trying to ask the important questions and get the right answers, and instead someone takes the microphone and screams and shouts to the point where the meeting comes to an end, that isn't dialogue, that isn't the democratic process.
"We need to respect free speech, but we need to respect one another's rights to free speech, too. When these people come in just to disrupt the meetings, no, that isn't right," Durbin said.
That, of course, is what no Brooklyn or New York official said after the July 22 Atlantic Yards informational meeting was disrupted by pro-project forces.
Update: NLG points to Errol Louis's criticism as well, noting the contrast with Louis's decision to attack Atlantic Yards opponents rather than denounce disruptions by project supporters.
Comments
Post a Comment