Constituents erupt as Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst flees town hall after only a handful of questions

[riversedge]

Source: DailyKos



By Jen Hayden
Tuesday Feb 21, 2017 · 3:50 PM CST
69 Comments (69 New)



?1487713415
Joni Ernst flees town hall meeting after only 45 minutes
"Do your job!"


Iowa is fed up with Donald Trump and the Paul Ryan agenda. First Sen. Chuck Grassley took it on the chin at a town hall today, and now Sen. Joni Ernst is on video fleeing a town hall after only a handful of questions. The crowd erupted in anger chanting “Do your job!” as she fled through a side door. The Iowa Starting Line blog was there to capture the moment:

Read more: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/2/21/1636338/-Constituents-erupt-as-Senator-Joni-Ernst-flees-town-hall-after-only-a-handful-of-questions

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I had a tread today on Joni Ernst Town Hall (more pics and comments at link)




http://www.democraticunderground.com/10028687906

Joni Ernst walks in to deafening chant of "Your Last Term!" and Hides behind VETS!..


IowaDemocraticParty Retweeted
Iowa Starting Line ‏@IAStartingLine 10m10 minutes ago

Joni Ernst walks in to deafening chant of "Your Last Term!" that overpowers the applause

Link to tweet

Iowa Starting Line ‏@IAStartingLine 25s26 seconds ago

On a plus note, I'm learning a lot about veterans issues right now
0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes

Iowa Starting Line ‏@IAStartingLine 6m6 minutes ago

Ernst asks crowd to pay attention/be respectful to veterans panel, then she'll take questions after. Only slightly mollifies crowd

Link to tweet

@IAStartingLine hiding behind veterans so she won't have to answer tough questions. This was listed as a public event yes?
1 reply 0 retweets 1 like




Barb Tucker ‏@BarbieTuck 2m2 minutes ago

@roser1dozer @IAStartingLine Yes, it was listed as a public event. Here in Maquoketa County, as Ernst called it twice. It's Jackson County.
0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes

roser1dozer ‏@roser1dozer 2m2 minutes ago

@IAStartingLine I feel sorry for our vets being treated as a public shield. Sad that she has stooped so low. Bless our vets. Vote her out
0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes









Iowa Starting Line Retweeted
Eric Bradner ‏@ericbradner 12m12 minutes ago

Link to tweet

MAQUOKETA, Iowa -- It's a packed house for what was billed as a small veterans' event with Sen. Joni Ernst.

[jalan48]

1. Fan Fucking Tastic.

[napi21]

2. Isn't it Joni Ernst the one who bragged about castrating hogs? Yea, that was her. What happened?

Mrs. HOT SHOT is now afraid of her constituents? Come-on back Joni andanswer the questions from the people who voted you into office, or don't come back and prepare to retire at the end of your term.

[mopinko]

3. im hopin a lot of these asshole will realize they dont really like their jobs.

i am sure they never thought they would be on the receiving end of this much shit. lol on them.
go home.

[Hortensis]

4. I enjoyed Ernst's discomfort, but unfortunately most

Trump voters are far more fed up with Democratic anger than with their choices for office. They're going to have to face a lot more betrayal and pain--and especially realization that their choices are losing the battles to Democrats, before they fall away.

These are the people who reelected Nixon, Reagan, and W despite betrayal, failure, serious economic problems, and criminal misconduct in their first terms. Winning for them is first, middle and last about defeating us, all issues sacrificed to that.

Hopefully some of the ones who didn't care enough to pay attention and/or vote will finally be jogged into noticing, though.

[erronis]

13. Sobering point. Once they've bought into an ideology or an ideologue

It's damn hard to get them to look at reality.

Same for liberals, anarchists, evangelical xians.

Just that when the platform they adopt is so irrational the buy-in is much deeper. Realizing that piece-of-crap you bought is a true loss. Some people go through many rounds of crap buying, some never learn.

"When you stop learning you have stopped living."

[Hortensis]

25. Strong-to-extreme conservatives overwhelmingly are causing

our nation's big problems. A republic requires cooperation among factions. Conservatives refuse, and the goal of today's conservative leaders in pursuing refusal is to break our republic.

Evangelicals are mostly but at not all conservative, and only conservative evangelicals behave this way. Anarchists can be right or left, but they are all extremists and by definition destructive and obstructive. Left-wing non-anarchist extremists are often drawn to authoritarian leaders, but the problem they most normally pose is attacking others on the left who support democracy, not opposing democracy itself.

But liberals? And more moderate conservatives who also genuinely believe in the principles our nation was founded on?

If we were all prone to subjecting all claimed principles to a basic focus on "my side must win," "my leaders must rule," "I must have what I want," and "we must defeat all the others," WHO would have believed that all men are created equal, much less done something so stupid as to set up a government dedicated to that principle? Not strong conservatives. Liberals and those moderate conservatives who believed in it did.

Note that strong conservative personality does NOT naturally believe in equality of all men. Research has demonstrated this many times. And in the past few decades the beliefs in equality they were raised with in this democracy have been systematically undermined. We now are seeing how consistently they approve of leaders who promise to restore inequality, discriminate against those they see as unworthy, and reward those they regard as superior.

WHO would have built a great democratic government of, by and for the people? Not strong conservatives. Liberals and those moderate conservatives who believed in it did. Strong conservatives fought and lost in the days of our founding. They have never been powerful enough to destroy democracy in the centuries since--until the past few decades, during which those in government have managed to destroy many of the democratic processes that make our government work of, by, and for the people. And they intend to destroy many more--because they don't believe in this.

Think about it.

We are in battle to save the liberal, and intrinsically progressive, principles and processes of our democratic republic from those who would destroy them. The Jeffersonian faction won against the Hamiltonians well over 200 years ago, laying the foundation of a great nation, but those in control on the right today think they will finally be able to reverse that loss.

[raccoon]

26. Great post. nt

[erronis]

31. Yes, you are absolutely correct. By definition, or by nature a liberal is open-minded

And willing to change positions given a rational view of an alternative. I don't know how "liberal" snuck into my screech - perhaps I meant "libertarian" (whatever that means.)

[Hortensis]

32. :) Libertarians are an extremely interesting

personality type. I suspect Paul Ryan is the real thing, but I've read that some have doubts about the Kochs. They've been known to use the government to protect their fortunes from market changes and may just be authoritarian fascist types like their dad.

[riversedge]

37. Lots of pluses. Thank you.

[lagomorph777]

30. You think we're trying to persuade Trump voters?

They are a lost cause; they lack the intellectual capacity to vote in their self-interest.

We need to rouse the base and show the stay-at-homes why staying home in any election is terribly dangerous.

[Hortensis]

33. And when those people have their own ideas

about what the Democratic Party should be doing? That aren't the same?

More than a little problem developed when some of Bernie's more aggressive followers discovered that POC had their own interests and agenda and actually, you know, criticized him for not addressing their special concerns in his agenda. The opportunity to work together didn't just fail, it turned into months of resentful acting out because they didn't become loyal followers and agree to subjugate their agenda to his.

Would it be different this time? Remember, the people you're talking tend to belong to various interest groups. Bringing them in will require the kind of flexibility and accommodation to satisfy that those farther left tend to despise in liberals.

[lagomorph777]

36. Still re-living the mythology from the primaries?

That's as sad as Trump's constant reciting of Alternative Facts® about his grand electoral victory.

To help you get over the Alternative Facts® about Bernie's relationship to people of color, have a look at this please.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-bernie-sanders-1963-chicago-arrest-20160219-story.html

The myth of Sanders' disinterest in African Americans was apparently part of Putin's propaganda push.

[zentrum]

5. We better get used

..to doing this every damn time as they come after Social Security and Medicare. Because they are coming for it.

[riversedge]

11. We have to be persistant. Yes we do

[Blue Idaho]

6. Running away from her constituents?

Is that what democracy looks like?

[Still In Wisconsin]

7. Poor Senator Breadbags

It must have been horrible to have to endure those...constituents.

[Ligyron]

8. Great news lately on the town halls!

I so enjoyed reading about them all.

The GOP is going to try and figure away around this as opposed to actually listening and doing anything constructive progressively though.

Bet they double down on voter suppression too - or try to.

But meanwhile, the pressure is getting to many of them.

[not fooled]

17. Aren't the kochs supposed to start

busing in teabaggers to these meetings?

What are the baggers going to say--"Yes, take away my SS and medicare. Poison me with pollution."

Dumbasses.

The kochs are probably hoping to see prole hand-to-hand combat.

[Mr.Bill]

9. The DNC should

start organizing recall efforts for every Republican member of Congress. Every. Single. One.

Strike while the iron is hot. Force them to spend money, time and effort fighting a recall election.

[Bigredhunk]

10. -

My dad went there for our fam. He said it was packed, almost all our people, and the signs were GREAT!!

They kissed up to him when they found out he was a veteran.

He didn't get to ask a question.

[videohead5]

12. She Had an Emergency

She had some pigs that needed castrating.

[George II]

14. The sentiment is snowballing. Great to see even middle Americans getting upset.

[not fooled]

15. Speaking of Middle Americans

When will the good people of Lyin' Ryan's district in Janesville, WI stop reelecting this sociopath? Don't they understand what he wants to do to SS and Medicare???

Someone needs to wake them from their trance.

[TrollBuster9090]

20. I have a feeling that will happen as soon as he TRIES to privatize SS and Medicare.

The job of Democrats and constituents will be to try and stop them.

Try, unsuccessfully, to privatize Medicare, and the Republicans are history.

(But I don't think that's what they'll do. They'll only privatize parts of it, the way they did for Medicare Part D, and claim they really didn't privatize it. And the negative effects will only become visible later on. They're pretty good at setting up time-bomb legislation.)

[Alice11111]

22. Problem is we haven't had a strong opponent.Same Chaffetz

We REALLY, REALLY need a strong DNC Chair, and fast.
Personally, i think both the main options are good and valuable people, but not what we need now for the DNC.
Lack experience. Not outspoken. No charisma.
Not used to fighting and calling out Repub tricks.
Not used to news conferences or media circuits.
This is not the time to try and educate new people.

[roamer65]

16. I love seeing Americans utilize the Bill of Rights.

That's why James Madison worked so hard on those first 10 amendments.

Be proud, be loud!

[Retrograde]

18. "Brave Ms Jodi ran away/Bravely ran away, away"

Every time I hear of a Congressperson fleeing a constituent meeting it reminds me of Robin's minstrels from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

At least she showed up: my representative - a Dem - only holds telephone town meetings. At least she's good about answering emails, though.

[FSogol]

29. +1, my thought too. Republican Profiles in Courage!

[TrollBuster9090]

19. I heard she was rushing off to the Pentagon to see if this meeting finally qualifies her

...for her CIB?

[Stellar]

21. Is that the witch that talked about castrating politicians the way she did pigs on the farm?

I'd like to see something similar happen to her.

[Alice11111]

23. Ha Ha

[coco22]

24. Can it be a last term for Grassley and Paul Ryan too..

This mfker can't takeover and spout his bullshit like he does at those hearings trying to prevent free thoughts and back and forth in a conversation.

The talk shit and put lies in the record for history. NOT THIS TIME,I'm hoping..RESIST!

[packman]

27. Joni Ernst - The ball crusher

Now you know what it feels like. Disgusting piece of shit who appealed to the lowest of the low for election. May it be her last trip off the farm.

[red dog 1]

28. I love it!

This is happening all over America!

A couple of days ago, Freedom Caucus founder Rep. Jim Jordan decided to skip his town meeting entirely; but his constituents tracked him down & brought the town meeting to him.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10028684393

[Rex]

34. .

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

35. Chicken shit Republicans