Ann Kirkpatrick's "Macaca Moment"

Some errors are not survivable:  George Allen's Macaca comment, Dukakis in the tank, George Bush checking his watch at a debate and now Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick walking out of her own town hall in Holbrook. 

I've heard about the video, but didn't realize how devastating it was until I watched the whole thing. 

Before I watched the video, I thought that Kirkpatrick had been surprised by an ugly crowd and decided to leave.  However, the video makes it clear that's not what happened.  These look like ordinary people who simply wanted to hear what the Congresswoman had to say.

The fundamental problem with the event was logistical.   Kirkpatrick is in the lobby of a grocery store and is meeting with constituents one-on-one at a table in the corner.  Perhaps as many as 50 people are waiting in the lobby for the chance to talk to her but she looks like she's taking confession.  No one can hear what she's saying and few can actually see her.  The crowd gets more and more impatient as they stand packed in the lobby.  Eventually an elderly woman yells out the obvious point that "there's no point in being here if we can't hear what's being said."

Ultimately, the crowd begins to lose patience and someone yells out that he has a question while others chime in that "this was billed as a Town Hall."  Kirkpatrick gets up and looks like she is going to address the group.  The crowd calms down for a second until they realize that she's not getting up to say something--she's getting up to leave.  Without a word, Kirkpatrick simply walks out and gets into a waiting SUV and drives away.

Meanwhile someone in the stunned crowd says "what a nitwit" while someone else yells, "Don't come back."  Finally, someone points out that the SUV has California plates.

This doesn't look like a set up to me.  This looks like real constituents who are frustrated because they can't hear and aren't allowed to ask questions.  They thought they were attending a Town Hall, but instead were told to stand in the lobby and wait.  

Kirkpatrick could easily have defused the situation by simply standing on a chair, taking a few minutes to list her priorities and say how great it is to be back in the District and taken a few questions.  Instead she showed that she is--as the audience proclaimed--a nitwit.  

When the RNC cuts the video down to one representative minute and broadcasts it 100,000 times in her district...it will all be over.   

Comments

[Jim Torgeson]

Wow! That's not exactly a town hall meeting, but it certainly is rude to her supporters. Not everyone there seemed upset, most seemed interested, concerned, but not angry.

She doesn't deserve the honor of representing those people.

What a shame.

[todd]

And then maybe she would come back with a commercial including this image:
http://washingtonindependent.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/hangingKratovil-1.jpg

[Donna Major]

You really think this is a "macaca moment"??? LOL for whom, sir? Wow. Well, a titallating blog title will bring traffic.

[Donna Minor]

This woman is Karen English Part II.

[Peeves]

Classic that she retreated from the oh so threatening crowd into a car with California plates. Too bad it wasn't a Volvo with an Obama sticker. Donna Minor got it right: This woman has Karen English syndrome. As Ms. English discovered the hard way, all politics really is local. If you're a politician who doesn't want to look like a total jerk, try not to run away from your consituents.

[Peeves]

Make that "constituents"

[Fran]

Watch it with the Volvo comments. I know good conservatives who drive Volvo's. Now a Saab, that's a liberal's car.

[Name]

Hey, make that Karan, not Karen.

And the Town Halls show why God blessed America with 435 legislative districts that require House members to live in their districts and stand for election every two years.

We are in the midst of either a revolution or counter-revolution. And neither is violent. Why is that?

People criticize "politics" too often, but it's a great substitute for violence.

[Conway]

Those stupid people in Holbrook just don't know what's good for them. They don't deserve a leader like Ann. They should all crawl back into their cave, the small town trolls.

[Travis]

You make the point perfectly Conway. Ann treated her constituents like she thought they were cave-dwelling trolls who didn't know what's good for them. The Obama administration and the Democrats are treating all their opponents like this.

You can't pretend to be a leader and have disdain for your constituents without inciting people to revolt against it.

[Brian]

I would not want to be a member of Ann's staff, especially not if I had to read the angry emails she is certain to receive.

Her bad behavior reflects poorly on all Arizonans.

Shame on you, Ann, for behaving like a jackass!

[Michel Marizco]

How do we know they're constituents?

[Commander in Chief]

There have been some other excellent "Macaca Moments" for the whole health care reform shouting festival.

http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090812/NEWS/908120365/-1/NEWSMAP

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTXBOgPCh9w&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Ftpmdc%2Etalkingpointsmemo%2Ecom%2F2009%2F08%2Fwhat%2Dhappened%2Dat%2Dthe%2Dst%2Dlouis%2Dtown%2Dbrawl%2Ephp&feature=player_embedded

Keep up the strong work.

[Paul Walker]

One thing we are overlooking here is what a great job the constituents did.
No screaming, no ridiculous Nazi posters, not embarrassing themselves, being respectful.
I was at an ACC Public Comment session yesterday on the APS rate hike - lots of people very concerned with the ACC prohibiting free connections to the APS system and it was the same thing. Respecting our democratic process, calmly explaining their concerns, asking for a redress of their grievances.
Kudos to Arizonans for not acting like a mob and for participating in our democracy.
Kudos to the ACC Commissioners as well for listening and asking questions in order to understand their constituents. Let's show the rest of America that in Arizona we respect the process and we respect differing opinions.

[papatodd]

Wow I noticed that the Angry Mob of myneighbors to the north ar just as mean as "us Nazis" in Tucson. Too good.......

[Eli Blake]

I was there. In fact, I recognized some of them as being from the John Birch Society, and if you watched the whole tape then you also saw that the same woman who was shouting over the people in front of her in line, making it impossible for congresswoman Kirkpatrick to say anything, at least think it was the same woman (at least based on the voice) immediately started barking orders afterward in the parking lot telling people who to email, etc.

I also should add that while most of the people there did just want to talk to the congresswoman and were disappointed when she left, some of the people out in the parking lot after she left had a very gleeful expression. Why would someone feel glee unless they succeeded in what they set out to do in the first place?

Maybe they didn't expect her to leave, but there clearly was an organized attempt to disrupt.

[Eli Blake]

Also, this was clearly advertised in the Holbrook newspaper as a one-on-one 'chat with Ann' event (which she has all over the district.)

Even if she wanted to change the format to a town hall, she wouldn't have been able to because of limited space (there are shoppers going in and out of Safeway) and the fact that she did not have a microphone or any of the rest of the equipment.

[Appleblossom]

Stop being logical Eli.

[Travis]

Maybe they're not constituents?

Maybe they're from the John Birch Society? (Based on a scientific voice analysis.)

Maybe they were gleeful?

Really?

You can do better. Take a page out of the Sheila Jackson-Lee playbook - maybe the video was doctored. That's it.

The delusional thinking from Obama to Gibbs to the Democratic congress and senators is very informational. Wow, keep it up, you're really showing your stuff. It's very enlightening.

[Kevin Garcia]

Why would someone set up a "town hall" meeting in the lobby of a grocery store? It's obviously not a practical place to hold such a meeting. The set up is obvious. Kirkpatrick intended it as one to one, face to face with individuals. It's a good idea. Face to face encounters cut down on rudeness, shouting, and showing off for the TV cameras.

My hunch is that some of the tea party crowd showed up looking for a town hall forum where they could shout. They've been given detailed instructions about where to sit, when to shout, what to shout. When it became obvious this wasn't the right forum for it, I'm sure they got rude and started shouting anyway. Nice try. It only reflects poorly on the rude shouting crowd. I'd have just turned my back and walked out on them, too.

[Travis]

Kevin, So Kirkpatrick set up single-person public constituent meetings after knowing that townhalls were being attended to capacity and beyond all over the country?

You want to defend that?

She couldn't have stepped outside and addressed the crowd? She couldn't have assured the crowd that she would figure out a way to accomodate them at another time?

Perhaps the people of Holbrook want a representative that can figure out how to do that without walking out in a huff.

Obviously, you will defend this unfortunate situation to the end. That's not very productive. Perhaps even less productive that raising your voice.

[Bad Guys]

This is off-topic but Commander in Chief posted this story about a guy "caught" inside a high school in possession of an unlicensed handgun, but further down in the story it says it was in his vehicle the whole time (http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090812/NEWS/908120365/-1/NEWSMAP). What the story fails to report is that the state of New Hampshire does not require any license whatsoever to carry a handgun or even keep one in a vehicle as long as it is showing. It also fails to report that New Hampshire allows open carry or licensed concealed carry in ANY PUBLIC BUILDING except a courthouse.

I'm not condoning any foolish actions of the guy, but being in possession of a weapon--licensed or not--is not a crime and the media keeps trying to portray it as one.

[dennis]

Ha ha ha,
Ann is a waste of air and time.
She has her head so dislodge from herself and those that put her in office.

The thing I find so interesting are those that put her into office.

Let's be perfectly REAL here folks.

WE all put them in office

WE all can take them out of office.

I for one has waited too long for everyone to wake up!

There was no excuse for this to happen what so ever.

WE let our SO Called representatives stay way too long in office.

Now is the time to throw them out regardless of party affiliation.

We have no one to blame. Not even poor Ann. She is simple a moron with no means to correct her stupidity.

She will always be a moron and with that, she thinks that it what we all are.

But I for one and glad to see you all stand up for your rights and country.

Take charge and fight the vigilant fight.

One thing, try not to be what the media has painted us.

MOBS.

Be polite. Calm. Listen. Speak clear and with intellectual authority, and for God's sake. Don't yell! You just give the media fuel for their moron news cast.

The Declaration of Independence states:

"When there is a problem,
Those who have the ability to take action, They have the responsibility to take action."

GopHack

[AzRep]

Kirkpatrick is an embarassment. Any member of congress who runs away from a group of 85 year olds because they aren't using their church voices and kissing her ring is unfit to serve. She can raise the $3M, but she's still going to get stomped in 2010 and after a performance like that, she richly deserves it.

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Lookers-on see most of the game.