Our own GOP Congressman Dan Meuser finally held a public, in-person town hall in our district after nearly seven years in office and repeated requests by Schuylkill Indivisible and other groups.
Initially presented as a private forum with no reporters allowed, the event had a rocky inception. Not only did the Pottsville Republican Herald run an article about the limited access, but Rachel Wallace, one of three Democratic candidates running against Meuser, invited the public and media to her own town hall nearby and around the same time.
In the end, Meuser opened his event to the public and admitted journalists at the last minute.
In some ways, the forum at lunchtime Friday in Alvernia University’s Pottsville building surpassed my expectations, which were quite low. Staffers didn’t try to screen questions or comments as they did during some of Meuser’s teleconferences, and we were able to ask follow-up questions and challenge his responses.
Most feedback from the 30-plus attendees revealed dissatisfaction with the Trump/Project 2025 administration, which Meuser cheerleads and rubber-stamps. Still, he got the civil conversation he’s said he wants until tempers flared on both sides near the end of the allotted 90 minutes.
At times, it seemed as though there were two Meusers at the podium.
He showed empathy for the suffering that some people described. He acknowledged that not all his constituents are Republicans, accepted some criticism about his barbs at individual Democrats, stressed that he’s willing to compromise with his “many, many” Democratic friends in Congress and even indicated he doesn’t always agree with the administration.
He addressed some issues, albeit with GOP talking points. But too often, he just lobbed what-abouts at Democrats, including former presidents, even though his party controls the White House, Congress and – worst of all – the Supreme Court.
I, for example, got diatribes about the Obama and Biden administrations when I brought up some of the worst examples of Trump/Project 2025’s gleeful cruelty and norm-busting: cutting off congressionally approved funding, pardoning the Jan. 6 insurrectionists, using federal agencies to pursue Trump’s personal vendettas, deploying the military in U.S. cities, suing dissenters and killing alleged drug smugglers in the Caribbean without due process.
But I never got an answer to my question: Would anything cause Meuser to stop promoting this administration?
Nor did I get a chance to mention the waste and destruction from Elon Musk’s Department of Government “Efficiency” and masked ICE agents’ roundups of practically anyone brown-skinned. Or Trump’s gerrymandering push and call to execute Democratic members of Congress who urged military and intelligence service personnel to defy illegal orders.
Claire Kempes, who has repeatedly invited Meuser to a Schuylkill Indivisible town hall, also listed several problems, including the GOP Congress’ lack of oversight of the White House.
Regarding the strikes on boats, he presented a jaw-dropper of a quote from an unnamed naval officer who said the military warns people on them that they’ll be attacked unless they stop, but “they just keep on going.” Meuser did add: “I’m not going to say that’s how I would do it.”
There were many powerful statements from other attendees. Here are some:
* Brian Palmer, whose son died of a fentanyl overdose, said 90% of this drug that’s seized at the border comes from Americans driving cars, not immigrants, a statement Meuser disputed. Palmer asked him not to use people like his son “to justify stuff that’s not connected to fentanyl.”
* Mary Fitzpatrick said that without a subsidy for her Affordable Care Act insurance policy, she will pay more for it next year than for her home mortgage. Noting that Meuser said he expected a one- or two-year extension of the subsidies, she said she’s for two years because she’d spend one year worrying about what would come next.
* Stephen Moyer decried the staff shortages caused by low pay at nursing homes. “People are screaming for help,” he said. “It’s not the girls’ fault. It’s the owners’ fault.”
* Other health care sectors also have deficits that will only get worse, said Rachel Keck, who co-chairs Schuylkill Indivisible with me. It already takes months to see a specialist, she said, and while nurses were heroes during the pandemic, “now they’re not even considered professionals.”
Things got heated when Meuser tried to blame Joe Biden for not releasing the Epstein files. (U.S. News and World Report said the Justice Department doesn’t release documents that are part of an active investigation or prosecution, and the Supreme Court didn’t deny Ghislaine Maxwell’s appeal until October. “Biden was more … mindful of norms than the current president.”)
Meuser got visibly angry when someone said civility and compromise will never happen under Trump, who “breeds hate and turmoil.”
“If he did, I would not support him,” Meuser said. “And I’ll just add this, OK? How many times did Joe Biden call … Donald Trump a fascist?”
(Well, Trump acts like a dictatorial leader setting up an autocratic government characterized by severe economic and social regimentation and by forcible suppression of opposition, which is how Merriam Webster defines fascism.)
“I’m glad everybody got their last shot in,” Meuser told attendees.
However, the shots were aimed at malevolent policies and edicts. I just hope the kinder, gentler Meuser realizes that and prevails over the diehard MAGA version.
Canary note: Opinions expressed in any Op-Ed column appearing on this site are the views of the writer and are not necessarily the opinions of Coal Region Canary.
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