Tonight I hauled all the way over the remote outskirts of Congressman Sensenbrenner's district (Pewaukee, WI) for a Q & A session. It took me 50 minutes to get there through a construction zone on a Sunday night. And, not surprisingly, there were only 15 people there due to the time and location.
But it was all worth it, because I got to yell, "POINT OF ORDER!" during a lively debate on Gavel-Gate. (Audio below)
Sensenbrenner was unapologetic for his Patriot Act hearing premature gaveling. In fact, he was snippety for almost the entire evening.
I was positioned mid room, with an elderly couple in front of me who prefaced the evening by speaking "privately" with the Congressman about their rental properties, and how "That Senate scares me!" and, "Can't the President just appoint those people while the Senate's on recess?" To which Sensenbrenner responded with all of the legal details of doing such a thing, and they seemed quite pleased. Until later in the evening... You'll hear their reaction in the audio clips.
Of course, the issue of the Patriot Act hearing gaveling came up, and one of his constituents, who also happens to be Associate Directory of the ACLU in Wisconsin, brought up how disappointed she was in his actions. He said, "You only saw the very end of the hearing." TO which I and many others shouted out, "We saw the whole two hours [Unspoken: ...you asshole]!" He said the witnesses were "off-topic", blah blah blah... And then it got pretty ugly.
When it got ugly, I realized I had my PDA (it contained the driving directions) in my pocket so I reached in and hit record. Clip 1 begins mid-yelling match between Sensenbrenner and a constituent who is pushing the issue of "Gavel-Gate". Another constituent has interrupted and Sensenbrenner is not happy... Not at all.
Clip 1 (449K .wav file):
Constituent: Calm down... That's all I'm saying... Now look, you're ready to jump out of your chair at me!
Sensenbrenner: I DIDN'T RECOGNIZE YOU! [His face was beet red here - veins bulging] Ms Crawford has the floor, now one at a time!
Constituent: All I'm saying is that you were hot-headed. And you were beyond the composure that I would expect from my Congressman, whether or not you feel the rules are out of order or not. I would ask for an apology for having been represented in that manner [85-year old wingnut in front of me can be heard: "OH, Come on..."].
Sensenbrenner: I don't think an apology is necessary for enforcing the rules maam. You know I don't apologize for enforcing the rules. The witnesses...
Constituent: I'm not asking you to apologize for enforcing the rules...
[Inspired by the heated exchange, I am emboldened to pull the recording device out to my lap. Quality of recording is much better below.]
Clip 2 (910K .wav file:
Sensenbrenner: [The Agenda] was chosen by Democrats and Mr. Conyers. And again, if that went on in any courtroom, you know, where irrelevant testimony that did not relate to the issue that was before the court, the court would have had to abstain, ah, sustain an objection. I didn't do that, I let em' talk!
Constituent: I'm not asking for an apology for that, I'm asking for an apology for your behavior. For your huffing, your puffing, [85 year old wingnut in front of me can be heard: "OH, Come on..."] your interrupting them, and your screaming and shouting. I'm not yelling at you, but you're yelling at me. So now I ask you personally for an apology because you're yelling at me.
Sensenbrenner [Interrupting]: The hearing was over with, and that's why the hearing was adjourned [Wingnut: Yeah, yeah, Pfff]. Everybody who was there was able to have, after five minutes to be recognized to say what they wanted to say. The witnesses spoke for five minutes, they were able to answer questions that were offered to them by members of the committee, and the fact is that..
Constituent: They actually weren't able to answer all the questions...
Sensenbrenner [Interrupting]: Well, because the time ran out, and you know the thing is...
[Much Laughter throughout the room.]
Me [Laughing]: Point of Order!
[Forget publishing a book and everything, this was the highlight of my year hands down. Sensenbrenner glares in my direction.]
Sensenbrenner: The thing is, when you ask a question that's 4 minutes and 55 seconds long...
Constituent: It's common courtesy to allow somebody to expound on a question...
Sensenbrenner: No it isn't, because, and...
Constituent: And you have the power...
[I shut down due to funny looks]
There were some other good exchanges - For example, Sensenbrenner cut off a gentleman who pointed out that he accepted the highest amount of lobbying money in the entire Congress, to which he said, "Ever read the First Amendment?!? Lobbying is Free Speech!" Then he wouldn't let the guy ask any more questions, stating that he had accused him of "accepting bribes".
In summary, I now realize that this guy is a classic nutjob, and really quite scary in an unstable sort of way. He was even more unaccepting of criticism than even I had grown to believe.
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