Congressman John Culberson (R-TX) conducted his town hall at the Spring Branch Middle School auditorium Houston Texas. Given the results, he may not recognize his district much longer. It is likely a far cry from the Country Club meeting with his benefactors he had a few weeks ago which drew a large protest at the entrance of the country club.
John Culberson’s Town Hall & Protest was an experience
John Culberson spent so much time entertaining his small number of country club constituents that he may have lost touch with his district. He does have his devoted supporters. But given that only a few showed up at this well-advertised town hall and protests, it is evident something is happening.
The town hall was scheduled to begin at three o’clock. I got there at about two thirty. By then his constituents formed lines that totaled over one thousand people. Protesters were busy with their chants and poster boards on the other side of the street.
I walked through the crowds as soon as I got there. The lines looped, to accommodate the crowd. The most amazing thing about the line is that only people who live in Culberson’s district could enter the auditorium. When it filled up leaving five-hundred or so people outside, all hell broke loose. People chanted “country club Culberson,” “shame,” and much more after that.
I interviewed several of his constituents who had similar stories for their reasons for being there. They did not like that he supported Trump policies. One particular interview touched me because it was the divergence of politics from humanity. A woman named Evelyn from Nigeria had problems getting her children to the U.S. She said she approached Democrats and Republicans alike for help. She said it was Culberson who stepped up and assisted in getting her children here. She was not able to get into the town hall because it was at capacity. She said she would have asked him what caused him to change.
There were not many Culberson supporters or Conservatives or Republicans in the crowd. But my radar got me close to one, and I began interviewing her. She was very obnoxious, but I kept my characteristically cool demeanor as I disregarded the attacks and continued to do the interview. She asked me to turn the camera off as she got more and more erratic.
The Conservative woman reaffirmed the fear many of us had. This lady like many others live their lives in an ideological echo chamber where little can penetrate. She believes universal health care, everyone on the left, the radio station I volunteer at, the protests, and just about everything she disagrees with, are communist endeavors. She believes all media except Right Wing media lies.
I knew I stood no chance of reaching her. However, we had garnered a listening audience, and I felt it was a teaching moment. The Liberal was calm and coherent while the Conservative resorted to ad hominem attacks.
Several people told me that Culberson got a shellacking inside from many of his constituents. He also displayed little knowledge about policy as he resorted to GOP talking points heavy on “freedom” whenever he got caught with a question that he was unable to answer coherently. This behavior was apparent with his interaction with a constituent who asked about Net Neutrality.
Culberson snuck out through a side door. But some protesters got the word and was there to ‘greet him’ as he left.
Playlist of Interviews and other videos
