# Tell me about "town hall" meetings
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-town-hall-meetings/742603
**Category:** Great Debates
**Created:** [January 9, 2016, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-town-hall-meetings/742603 "2016-01-09T18:00:09Z")
**Posts on this page:** 16
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@ChickenLegs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChickenLegs)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2016, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-town-hall-meetings/742603/21 "2016-01-12T13:18:08Z")
Kangaroo court.
[http://cnsnews.com/news/article/susan-jones/nra-we-were-offered-one-pre-screened-question-cnns-town-hall-guns](http://cnsnews.com/news/article/susan-jones/nra-we-were-offered-one-pre-screened-question-cnns-town-hall-guns)
“Did we participate in CNN’s event tonight? No, we didn’t,” Cox told Megyn Kelly. “We were offered one pre-screened question. Megyn, I know that you don’t send your questions over to the White House, so I’d rather have a conversation with you that’s intellectually honest than sit through a lecture and get one opportunity to ask a pre-screened question.”
---
### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2016, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-town-hall-meetings/742603/22 "2016-01-12T13:41:07Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#):
>
> When I said, "I don’t know if this counts … " I meant that I didn’t know if you’d “count it”. My follow-up statement was just stating that, in my opinion, it does count. I see “gun grabber” as short-hand for “someone who wants to further infringe on the right of the people to keep and bear arms”. Obama falls under that definition.
>
> This thread is the first time I’ve seen it called a “slur”, but it seems to be standard operating procedure around here to paint those who don’t tow the party line as “bigots”, so it’s not terribly surprising.
Apparently, all those who don’t tow _your_ party line are painted as “gun grabbers”, if your definition is that ridiculously wide, so it’s not like you’re taking any high road here-it’s more like you’re saying “It’s not a slur, and even if it is they’re doing it _too_!”
---
### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2016, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-town-hall-meetings/742603/23 "2016-01-12T13:47:59Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#):
>
> but it seems to be standard operating procedure around here to paint those who don’t tow the party line as “bigots”…
News to me. Perhaps you’d like to show us how it is SOP for this to happen around here when it isn’t actual bigotry going on?
---
### Author:  [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2016, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-town-hall-meetings/742603/24 "2016-01-12T16:03:25Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> And there we have that phrase that indicates honest discussion is over, and only four posts in-I think it’s a new record.
> [@BobLibDem](#):
>
> Which guns has Obama grabbed?
None, but that is the way the NRA sees it. I was not expressing my own view of Obama’s status as a gun grabber.
if the use of the term gun grabber makes you shut down then you really ought to leave the debate to people with more emotional fortitude.
---
### Author:  [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2016, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-town-hall-meetings/742603/25 "2016-01-12T16:04:45Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> Which is something he could have said without the slur…which seems to roll off the tongues of gun rights enthusiasts with less and less effort every day. Do they even recognize it as a **slur** , or do they think that it is proper to call people in a conversation that right off the bat and expect said conversation to stay civil?
I don’t think you are using the bolded word correctly.
---
### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2016, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-town-hall-meetings/742603/26 "2016-01-12T16:16:45Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#):
>
> None, but that is the way the NRA sees it. I was not expressing my own view of Obama’s status as a gun grabber.
>
> if the use of the term gun grabber makes you shut down then you really ought to leave the debate to people with more emotional fortitude.
Once that term is used, the “debate” might as well already be shut down, because those on the other side have been mass labeled as enemies and, even if cites are called for, any cites they give are automatically suspect.
> [@HurricaneDitka](#):
>
> I see “gun grabber” as short-hand for “someone who wants to further infringe on the right of the people to keep and bear arms”.
I don’t see anyone disagreeing with that overly broad definition, so I can only assume you agree with it.
Am I wrong?
---
### Author:  [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2016, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-town-hall-meetings/742603/27 "2016-01-12T16:54:28Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> News to me. Perhaps you’d like to show us how it is SOP for this to happen around here when it isn’t actual bigotry going on?
I think the “Ok, so what the hell happened in Germany in NYE” thread is a good illustration.
It started out with [this post by Mr. Nylock](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=19002520&postcount=144) offering bonus points if something could be done “without using the bigot, prejudice, racist card.” See, it’s so common around here that at least one other poster sees it as ‘pulling the bigot card.’
It’s almost as if he were a prophet, because Ramira used some form of the word “bigot” 10+ times over the next two pages before getting called out for hypocrisy in [this post (“you … call others who disagree with you bigots and haters”) by manson1972](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=19004489&postcount=266) and [this post (“I am sick and tired of Islam apologists using the charge of “racism” to beat their opponents over the head.”) by Valteron](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=19006899&postcount=305).
Valteron also supplied a funny definition of “bigot” as “One who is obstinately and zealously attached to an opinion that you do not entertain.” And right on cue, [billfish678 said “That definition needs to be damn sticky around here.”](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=19007565&postcount=320) I can’t speak for him, but I believe he said that because he sees the same proclivity here that I do: posters using the word “bigot” to malign their opponents.
That was just one thread here, in just the last few days.
Before that it was the “Are Americans losing it with Muslims?” thread, that got out-of-hand enough that tomndebb had to step in with [this moderator post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=18976226&postcount=273) reminding everyone that “Calling someone a bigot in GD is not permitted.”
A couple days before that warning, there was the “Was ISIS created by the US?” which required moderator intervention over accusations of bigotry (well, accusations of accusation of bigotry at least).
---
### Author:  [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2016, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-town-hall-meetings/742603/28 "2016-01-12T18:22:59Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> Once that term is used, the “debate” might as well already be shut down, because those on the other side have been mass labeled as enemies and, even if cites are called for, any cites they give are automatically suspect.
Its like you have never been involved with a gun debate before this one.
Gun rights advocates get mass labeled all the time.
Heck that sort of shit happens with almost every debate.
Are you not satisfied with my explanation that I was expressing the NRA viewpoint or is the mere mention of the phrase “gun grabber” a form of irreparable well poisoning?
---
### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2016, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-town-hall-meetings/742603/29 "2016-01-12T18:27:32Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#):
>
> Its like you have never been involved with a gun debate before this one.
>
> Gun rights advocates get mass labeled all the time.
>
> Heck that sort of shit happens with almost every debate.
>
> Are you not satisfied with my explanation that I was expressing the NRA viewpoint or is the mere mention of the phrase “gun grabber” a form of irreparable well poisoning?
I would be satisfied, if you said you disagreed with the definition of “gun grabber” given in this thread.
---
### Author:  [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2016, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-town-hall-meetings/742603/30 "2016-01-12T18:47:15Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> I would be satisfied, if you said you disagreed with the definition of “gun grabber” given in this thread.
Wait. If gun grabber does not mean “someone who wants to further infringe on the right of the people to keep and bear arms” then how would YOU define gun grabber?
---
### Author:  [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2016, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-town-hall-meetings/742603/31 "2016-01-12T18:48:56Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> Apparently, all those who don’t tow _your_ party line are painted as “gun grabbers”, if your definition is that ridiculously wide, so it’s not like you’re taking any high road here-it’s more like you’re saying “It’s not a slur, and even if it is they’re doing it _too_!”
So that definition is ridiculously wide, but yours that focuses on the literal grabbing of guns is right on? Let’s take Feinstein for example. She has expressed desire to ban all guns, and routinely proposes legislation to ban guns. Would the term be accurately ascribed to her? She is not literally grabbing a gun so that falls outside your criteria. I personally don’t use the term because it’s not accurate or informative. Would you take exception if we called these people gun banners?
But you see how this minutiae detracts from the main point of the thread? The thread was ostensibly about the town hall, its rules, and the circumstances around that town hall.
> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> Once that term is used, the “debate” might as well already be shut down, because those on the other side have been mass labeled as enemies and, even if cites are called for, any cites they give are automatically suspect. I don’t see anyone disagreeing with that overly broad definition, so I can only assume you agree with it.
> Am I wrong?
Can you get over it?
I’ll keep this in mind when you participate in threads where similar phrasing is used.
---
### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2016, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-town-hall-meetings/742603/32 "2016-01-12T18:50:02Z")
Someone who grabs a gun.
---
### Author:  [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2016, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-town-hall-meetings/742603/33 "2016-01-14T14:05:41Z")
This and post #19 by **Bone** are the only ones that have addressed my OP …
> [@ChickenLegs](#):
>
> Kangaroo court.
>
> [http://cnsnews.com/news/article/susan-jones/nra-we-were-offered-one-pre-screened-question-cnns-town-hall-guns](http://cnsnews.com/news/article/susan-jones/nra-we-were-offered-one-pre-screened-question-cnns-town-hall-guns)
>
> “Did we participate in CNN’s event tonight? No, we didn’t,” Cox told Megyn Kelly. “We were offered one pre-screened question. Megyn, I know that you don’t send your questions over to the White House, so I’d rather have a conversation with you that’s intellectually honest than sit through a lecture and get one opportunity to ask a pre-screened question.”
The OP was an inquiry about “town halls” in general…
…"I see that the NRA was invited to participate… what were the requirements had they agreed to?
To what extent did CNN or the President’s people control the audience/questioning makeup?
Has a TV network ever refused to cover a politician’s town hall because they didn’t think it was balanced ? "
I think it’s disingenous/innacurate to refer to something as a “town hall” if the audience and questioning is tightly controlled.
---
### Author:  [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2016, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-town-hall-meetings/742603/34 "2016-01-14T15:40:51Z")
> [@](#):
>
> To what extent did CNN or the President’s people control the audience/questioning makeup?
This was by invitation only, so CNN controlled the audience completely ([cite](http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2016/01/06/email-shows-cnns-gun-control-town-hall-with-obama-is-a-total-sham-n2100611)).
That’s hardly surprising, but FWIW.
Regards,
Shodan
---
### Author:  [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2016, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-town-hall-meetings/742603/35 "2016-01-14T16:12:14Z")
> [@What\_the](#):
>
> This and post #19 by **Bone** are the only ones that have addressed my OP …
Post #3 addressed your OP. Perhaps you ignored it because it you what you wanted to hear.
---
### Author:  [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2016, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-town-hall-meetings/742603/36 "2016-01-14T21:56:52Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> Someone who grabs a gun.
First of all, I don’t see where the term gun grabber is pejorative but if it offends you then I won’t use it. Second of all, the term gun grabber MUST at least include anyone that wants to confiscate guns and I would argue should include anyone that wants to ban guns (and this does not mean ALL guns).
And my comments was couched in terms of how the NRA sees it. Sorry if that wasn’t clear but that is what I meant.
I don’t have a personal problem with gun control folks (at least until they start to become insulting of gun owners), most of the female members of my family are rabidly pro-gun control. I have a bit of a problem when they speak out of ignorance and when I point it out to them, they don’t really care to be relieved of their ignorance, they are certain that they know everything they need to know to reach a fully formed opinion. So aside from the demonization of gun owners and the ignorance (sometimes intentional ignorance) of gun control folks, I don’t have a problem with gun control folks.
And of course we see those sort of insults and intentional ignorance regularly from gun control folks here on this board. Fortunately they seem to disappear after they vent their rage and go back to the yahoo boards.
[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-town-hall-meetings/742603.md?page=1)