Encore! One more statement: a man begins to talk about signs of hope. Kim Norton asks about GI Bill benefits for the Red Bulls--Minnesota's National Guard vets. She's really angry. Walz talks about the action they're taking in Congress. Walz apologizes to everyone that it happened.
5:14 Brian Davis has left the room. (about 5 pm.)
There's a question about bombing Iran. Walz thinks other means can be used to rein in Iran.
A woman asks how long the impeachment process will take. Walz discusses the process.
A man wants to know why the Armenian Genocide resolution is getting through and not the veterans budget. Walz talks about the political games over the veterans bill. He discusses the genocide resolution.
Walz wants the veterans bill passed. He disagrees with the Democratic leadership's strategy.
Another man talks about his frustration-- and possibly dealing with it through dealing funding bills and impeachment.
Walz thanks everyone for coming and speaking out. He wants people to maintain their faith that the system can work. The sense of frustration is ripping the country apart and bogging down other issues. Walz asks when did America start fearing its own shadow?
One more question: Joe Mayer asks about oil theft from Iraq. The library is closing.
Thanks for reading.
5:03 A veteran asks about stop-loss and the draft ("maybe getting some Republican kids in the war"). Walz talks about stop loss. Walz supports a professional, volunteer military. Walz support national service.
A young man talks about shared national service, and suggests the draft begins with Bush's daughters. Walz says he understands the frustration, but says we have to quit seeing our neighbors as the enemy. We have to get back to governing from the middle ground.
A man says he is concerned with the effects of the war of terror aganst on civil liberties. He wants to know how Walz will come down on the revised FISA bill. He is talking about the new stronger House bill. He will never vote for retroactive immunity for telecoms. He wants to see the data from telecoms and to restore the FISA courts. He will not vote for a weakened FISA bill--he has received more calls about FISA than anything else, even the birth of his son.
4:50 The next statement is from a man who says he's tired of hearing about the sixty votes in the Senate to end debate. Walz says nothing else would happened: no SCHIP, no minimum wages. The man* says there's nothing more important than ending the war. Let the Republicans filibuster for six months, shut it down, it's that important. About half the crowd claps and cheers.
A woman asks that Walz not call Burma by the new name. Then she says that Bush, Cheney and others are war criminals and should be in jail. Walz summons due process. The woman says she wants them locked up. Walz says that's what's known as a coup. The crowd laughs.
The next man thanks Walz for having the meeting, then expresses his frustration about the condition of the country. Walz talks about a strategy to respect Article I of the Constitution.
The next woman talks about how Congress doesn't make military policy but Bush and his administration. Nonetheless, she thinks the war is a travesty and we're in a lot of trouble, having abused military might. She says the benchmarks were not formulated by the Iraqi people. Walz talks about the need to devlop consensus and get the President, nine Senators, and twenty-six Representatives to switch positions.
4:35 The question and answer period is beginning.
The first question is about defunding the war. Walz reiterates that he believes Bush will pull money from elsewhere and the President would "own" the war. Walz believes Congress needs to take responsibility.
The second gentlemen asks if Walz feels it's his responsibility to cover for the President. Walz says no; it's his responsibility to come up with a way to address the situation.
A young man to ask a question about the ethics of the Iraq War. He then asks if there's ever been the potential for a pre-emptive war that would be just. Walz says that many people have regrets about Rwanda. He believes an ethical threshold wasn't justified. He suggests Myanmar in 1988 would have been justified.
4:35 The next man stands to say that the six years of the Bush Administration have been a means for transferring public dollars to corporations. He asks about the new FISA bill: will Walz vote to give the telecoms immunity?
Walz replies with an empathic NO!
4:10 Walz has started, thanking everyone for coming out and explaining the ground rules for the meeting. About sixty people are now. They're listening attentively. There's a television station and a newspaper man. Brian Davis, another one of the 4-pak of contenders for the GOP endorsement in the First, stands at the rear of the room, even though there are plenty of chairs available. He has one of his daughters videotaping the event.
We'll be posting YouTubes of Walz's remarks and the discussion, mostly likely tomorrow morning.
4:00 Representative Walz's second Town Hall meeting on the Iraq War is about to begin. This space is much more close, and the crowd is so far only about forty people. There are peace activists and Republicans, Ron Paulites and others.
We almost didn't make it: having written about the dangers of Highway 14, we encountered it today, in the form of an Expedition barreling toward us in our lane. We said our prayers, noticed that the shoulder wasn't big enough to save us, then thanked the Lord when the SUV got back into his lane.
Update: *A link to BSP in a Ron Paul Meetup thread identifies this man as Bill Ruud. He expressed the same opinion in September at a Unity '08 meeting in Rochester, according to a Rochester Post Bulletin article now available via Google Cache::
At the library meeting, Bill Ruud* called the war issue an "emergency" that overshadows everything else. "If spending all this money on the military continues,'' he warned, "there will be nothing left for health care or anything else. Right now I am a one-issue person."
*Note added Oct 23: The Bill "Ruud" mentioned here is "Bill Rood", who wrote the letter chastizing Walz. See our posts here and here for more information.
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