Senator Bennet Town Hall meeting, Aug. 3, 2011 Auraria Campus

[Cathy Mitchell]

Martin Higgins and I attended this event. He videotaped it, and may post it on our web-site.

My overall impression was one of disappointment. Don't know why I got my hopes up that Bennet actually meant it when he said he wanted to have a conversation with all Coloradans. Maybe it is because he is supposed to represent all of us, not just his political donors. One of these days I hope to sprout wings and fly; the chance of that happening is about the same as believing a politician really wants to have a non-partisan discussion. He mainly spouted the same old liberal, class-warfare rhetoric despite trying to seem very sincere. Evidently most of the Dems in the audience bought it.

 

The biggest disappointment was the moderator, Raj Chohan, host of Colorado Inside Out, KBDI/Channel 12′s weekly public affairs show. (I just googled him and realized he used to be the one to "fact check" political ads - what a scam!

Before the event, we were invited to write our questions on a piece of paper. This was supposedly so they could  be reviewed to be sure and ask questions from all viewpoints. I fell for this, so did not raise my hand to ask my question as I assumed they would eventually get to it - my question was the second one submitted. I felt it was a fair question - "Sen. Bennet, how many more times would you vote to raise the debt ceiling?" (Just because it has been raised 62 times in the past, does not mean it should be raised forever. The opposite in fact, in my opinion. We have to say "no" at some point or it is meaningless to have a ceiling) Writing the questions down was probably more of a way to screen the questions, as Raj only chose liberal leaning, "softball" questions to ask. They did allow people to raise their hand to ask "follow up" questions relating to the original questions. A few conservatives were smarter than me, and raised their hand to ask their question as a follow up, even though they weren't. I was trying to be respectful and play by the rules - big mistake in dealing with people who play by the Saul Alinsky, "Rules for Radicals." So please write to Raj Chohan and express your displeasure at his low standard journalism. I'm convinced our war is not so much with the politicians as with the liberal media.

 

 I searched for a good quote on the media; these were all so good I had to share:

The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance - it is the illusion of knowledge. - Stephen Hawking

 

Enlightened people seldom or never possess a sense of responsibility.
George Orwell

 

The two above quotes remind me of all the "enlightened, knowledgeable" people I met in Social Work school. The ones who could curse all "white, non-poor, heterosexual men" without realizing it was mostly "white, non-poor, heterosexual men" who enabled them to sit at Denver University and curse them.

Any dictator would admire the uniformity and obedience of the [U.S.] media - Noam Chomsky (Chomsky has stated that his "personal visions are fairly traditional anarchist ones, with origins in The Enlightenment and classical liberalism" 

 

Print is the sharpest and the strongest weapon of our party.
Joseph Stalin

Early in life I had noticed that no event is ever correctly reported in a newspaper.   (Not being as smart as George Orwell, it took me until later in life to realize this.)
George Orwell

 

Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.       (When I first read "1984" years ago, I thought no one could ever possibly be guilty of doublespeak, but lately many liberals I talk to exhibit this very quality - scary!)
George Orwell

During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.
George Orwell

[Cathy Mitchell]

I got so carried away I forgot to add the one good thing that happened. Our seatmate was a Democrat from Denver, Steve, who, while we disagreed on about 90% of issues, was open-minded and may attend our next meeting. If he does, please help me to keep our conversation civil. (At the Sen. Mitchell/Mike Littwin debate, I called for civility, but ended up seeing red at one of Littwin's comments. Luckily, cool-head Randy Corporan - sort of like "cool-hand Luke? - kept me from being rude.)

 

Steve handed me a question during the debate. I will post it to all of you for your reaction. My husband agreed it was a good idea, I don't, but what do you think?  Steve's question: "What about a transaction tax on stock transactions?"