-By Warner Todd Huston
The Internet tubuals have been heating up with a video showing 8th District Republican Congressman Joe Walsh getting — shall we say — a bit testy with a constituent at a recent townhall.
The townhall was held in North Suburban Gurnee at Uno Bar and Grill and Walsh was being grilled about a lack of banking regulations by at least one voter.
Walsh was having none of it, as you saw. He’s exactly right about his point, too. It was Congress that was the problem, not any lack of banking regulations. I stand with Joe on the idea of getting government out of the economy not, as the voters on the video was trying to urge, get government more involved in the economy.
However, I feel Joe’s comportment was over the top and inappropriate. I support his passion on that issue, but he was simply too harsh in reply.
For his part, Walsh issued a statement about what was going on that afternoon:
I do these cup of Joe’s every weekend, I show up at a coffee shop or restaurant anywhere in district and anyone can come meet with me and talk to me about anything. They are fun, engaging sessions, I often get people who disagree w me on issues at these events and the conversation can be very spirited.
I am very passionate at these events as well as at my town halls. This was no different except I was working on an empty stomach and had a quicker fuse than normal.
The woman I had the heated exchange with was great and she appreciated how open and unusual these events are. I apologized to her for getting a bit to passionate and she smiled and didn’t mind at all.
Regarding the substance rich of what I was trying to say – I’m no pal of the big banks and I wouldn’t have voted to bail any of them out. If they’ve abused their charters they need to be prosecuted fully. But they didn’t get us into this mess – government policy which has dictated for years that everyone should own a home got us here. The banks only followed the rules government set. And further government meddling will only exasperate the problem.
Well, you decide if his behavior was appropriate. You have until Nov. of 2012.
Other coverage:
Illinois Review
Bill Baar’s West Side
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“The only end of writing is to enable the reader better to enjoy life, or better to endure it.”
–Samuel Johnson
Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer. He has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and before that he wrote articles on U.S. history for several small American magazines. His political columns are featured on many websites such as Andrew Breitbart’s BigGovernment.com, BigHollywood.com, and BigJournalism.com, as well as RightWingNews.com, RightPundits.com, CanadaFreePress.com, StoptheACLU.com, AmericanDaily.com, among many, many others. Mr. Huston is also endlessly amused that one of his articles formed the basis of an article in Germany’s Der Spiegel Magazine in 2008.
For a full bio, please CLICK HERE.