Pondering the difference in Missouri town halls…

Shall we?

A lot has been made of the theatre and drama surrounding health care forums in Missouri. A bitch experienced that shit first hand during the Hillsboro town hall forum…interesting costumes, not everyone knew their lines (folks really need to decide whether their gonna accuse the president of being a Nazi tyrant or a scary black socialist, ‘cause that black Nazi Muslim socialist tyrant mess I witnessed makes a body’s Afro hurt)…and a several attendees asked Senator McCaskill if she planed to vote on a House bill (for the love of basic civics!).

Anyhoo, I came across this piece over at Stltoday.com and it got a bitch thinking…

Where the fuck has Senator Bond been?

***cue singing crickets***

Hello darkness, my old friend,
Ive come to talk with you again,
Because a vision softly creeping,
Left its seeds while I was sleeping,
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence.

As a Missourian I’ve asked that question a lot over the years. The best way to tell that it’s an election year is the sudden appearance of Senator Bond…kind of like cicada but on a different schedule…because otherwise a bitch could forget what the hell he looks like, he’s so not visible. ‘Tis a brilliant technique…out of sight truly equals out of mind here.

But damn it to hell if I wasn’t curious about his location now that my state has gotten into the town hall scene.

In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone,
neath the halo of a street lamp,
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of
A neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence.

Hell, I understand that Bond has announced that he’s stepping down and, according to former Governor Palin, lame duck politicians are worthless lumps of dough-ish flesh incapable of wiping their own ass.

But this issue is soooooo huge…and those folks keeping Lipton in bitness have been stalking Republicans along with Democrats in most states…so mayhap a bitch should follow the chants of ideologically impossible charges to see if they take me to Senator Bond’s office.

And the chorus said… "Think again, Shark Fu!”

And a bitch replied… “You’ve got that right, chil’ren!”

‘Cause Senator Bond isn’t a target of those who adore tea or of those who should be protesting outside of his door demanding to have a word with his still-able-to-vote-and-thus-still-required-to-listen-to-constituents ass.

And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more.
People talking without speaking,
People hearing without listening,
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one deared
Disturb the sound of silence.

According to the Stltoday.com story…
“Bond appeared before an invitation-only crowd of 100 people in Kansas City for a subdued health care discussion with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. Their message: There's no need for a wholesale overhaul of the U.S. health care system.”

Mmmhmm, just yesterday...the same day Senator McCaskill appeared in front of whoever showed up and took a seat.

Blink.

Well, okay then.

Senator Mccaskill braved the masses…has done so across the state…has tried to listen to those in the crowd with real question and concerns, for and against reform, over the loud as hell We Don’t Want No Coverage Let the Healthcare System Burn! attendees.

How exactly is an invitation only forum with only 100 attendants and a couple of Republican homeboys democracy in action?

Did those invited ask Senator Bond about tort reform and then refuse to let him answer?

Did any of Senator Bond's courtiers demand to know why he has not called for an investigation into the birth of the president?

Did they eat pâté and chuckle over the antics of their loyal mob?

Ummm, crickets?

Fools said I, you do not know
Silence like a cancer grows.
Hear my words that I might teach you,
Take my arms that I might reach you.
But my words like silent raindrops fell,
And echoed
In the wells of silence

Mayhap Senator Bond is being assumed to be all good simply because he’s a Republican…

…or mayhap those tea baggers are full of shit and don’t really want every member of the Missouri delegation to declare themselves, just certain members…

…or perhaps this is another case of the aristocracy within the Republican Party enjoying the chaos produced by the labor of their loyalists even as they resist having to mingle with the filthy minions.

***cicada and crickets together in harmony***

And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon God they made.
And the sign flashed out its warning,
In the words that it was forming.
And the signs said, the words of the prophets
Are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls.
And whisperd in the sounds of silence.

Blink.