Snowflakes In Utah GOP Advise Representatives To Delay Town Halls (UPDATED)
February 17, 2017

The delicate snowflakes in the Utah Republican party are terrified of "angry leftist mobs," and so are calling upon their elected representatives to delay town halls.

They cite "recent acts" at the Chaffetz town hall as reason for delays, including:

  • Surrounded a car at a recent Chaffetz event to prevent Congressman Chaffetz from leaving.
  • Several people were arrested or detained for being disorderly at Chaffetz event
  • Hijacked Chaffetz Town Hall and denied members of his Congressional District from engaging their Congressman
  • Posted Congresswoman Mia Love's home address on Facebook to intimidate her (she has three young children)
  • In California, an Indivisible affiliate (Indivisible OC) knocked a 71-year old staffer for Congressman Dana Rohrabacher unconscious

The last point has nothing to do with Utah, but let's address the other ones.

On points 1-3, Chaffetz ended his town hall event 40 minutes early to avoid answering constituents' questions. According to reporters who were there, the group who attended was overwhelmingly from his district, whether or not the Utah GOP would like to think so.

If the fourth point is true, that's not right. I'm not in favor of doxing people, even if they are elected officials. I will note, however, that a simple Google Search on Mia Love's home address does yield results, so maybe she should check internet listings and do something about any which actually list her home address. Anyone, even a right wing white nationalist troll, could post her home address on Facebook.

Their release gets even more hysterical, though.

"The UTGOP has become involved in this issue because Indivisible Utah and the Utah Democrat Party are coordinating with each other and have essentially made this a year-round, partisan campaign effort," it reads. "Since they lost at the ballot box on Election Day, they have decided to take their fight to the streets in the form of intimidation, violence, and the disruption of our political process."

Attendance at a town hall event is not a disruption of the political process. It is the political process.

They conclude on a hopeful note, however. "Hopefully, these angry, leftist mobs will come to their senses soon and enable violence-free meetings where we can once again celebrate our right to Freedom of Speech in safety."

By "in safety," they mean returning to the echo chamber town hall where everyone nods in agreement with their sage Elected One, high-fives and goes home.

Nope. Democracy is loud, messy and raucous. No one should understand this better than Republicans. Remember the summer of 2009?

I do. Here's a trip down memory lane.



UPDATE:
Chaffetz seems to be breaking with the Utah GOP, but still insists there were violent instigators there.

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