Susan E Fillippeli

I attended a townhall meeting held by Mike Rogers (AL03) yesterday in Auburn.

The meeting was spirited and passionate.  Individuals from all perspectives were there to listen, to ask questions, and some were there to make their feelings known to the Congressman and to the rest of us.

I was struck by something Rep. Rogers said at the very beginning of the discussion.  Where other (mostly Democratic) representatives seem to be annoyed at the large crowds showing up to their townhalls, Rogers welcomed them by saying:  "It is never a bad thing when the people are engaged."

Imagine that.  Instead of accusing the crowd at yesterday's townhall of being un-American or an astroturf mob, he actually wanted his constituents to be engaged.

Then he did something else that was absolutley amazing.  He listened to everyone who had something to say.  There were folks who agreed with his position on health care reform, people who disagreed and some folks who, quite frankly, it was hard to tell where they were coming from.  The discussion got passionate at times and there were points where some in the crowd tried to shout down others with differing points of view.  But he let everyone who spoke have their say.  The meeting went much longer than scheduled because he wanted to hear as many people as possible.

It is never a bad thing when the people are engaged.

What had the folks attending yesterday's townhall meeting engaged?  It wasn't just healthcare reform.  Many, many of the folks there were alarmed by the expansion of the federal government over the past 7 months.  The government takover of banks, insurance and auto companies, the out-of-control spending, cap and trade as well as the health reform effort appear to many people that the federal government is taking control of every aspects of our lives.  These folks were truly frightened.

It is never a bad thing when the people are engaged.

There were others there who believe that free health care from cradle to grave is a basic right that should be guaranteed to every individual.  There were others who worried that drugs are too expensive or that they might lose their health insurance. These folks were truly concerned.

It is never a bad thing when the people are engaged.

If there has been one message coming out of the Washington elite over the past month it has been that they think it is a terrible thing when the people are engaged.  Pelosi and Hoyer said that being engaged is "un-American."  Others have been disdainful and rude to those expressing beliefs that differed from their own.  The mainstream media has played along trying to pretend that the engagement is manufactured astroturf instead grassroots activism.  Yet what I saw yesterday was a room packed with people from my community.  I see them at church, at the grocery store and in other civic organizations.  No one was bussed in and there were no pre-fab signs.  Whether I agreed with them or not, they were there because they were concerned about what is happening in our country.

It is never a bad thing when the people are engaged.

Perhaps that is the single best message to come out of the summer of '09.