Photo credit: Kelly Marsh/Special To The Journal News
Five months into the Golden Age, I finally had my chance to attend a local live town hall with my Republican Congressman on Sunday night. If this is what our democracy now looks like, we’re in big trouble.
This was the third of four town halls promised by Mike Lawler at various locations in his district. This is what happened at the last one:
Putnam County is smaller and redder than Westchester, and I was confident that the Lawler team had learned some lessons from the Westchester event, so I didn’t expect quite as much drama. Nor did I expect the visceral reaction I had to the whole sordid affair.
For starters, this was a ticketed event. It was held at a local public high school. Only constituents who were registered and ticketed were allowed entry. First stop in the gauntlet was a staffer at the entrance gate checking tickets before we even entered the school grounds. He said no bags of any size would be permitted inside, so my wife started pulling essentials out of her small purse to hand carry into the venue.
An hour before the event, the lot was filling quickly. A small group of protesters with signs stood by the parking lot, numbers undoubtedly suppressed by the gated entry.
We were greeted outside the front door of the high school by uniformed police and a large poster board with 16 “Town Hall Ground Rules.” When these same ground rules were posted at the last town hall, Antonio Delgado (NY Lieutenant Governor, recently announced candidate for Governor, and former U.S. Representative for NY’s 19th District) commented:
We proceeded to the next check point where they inspected our tickets and asked us to confirm that we read the ground rules and would comply. Then off to the security check where we emptied our pockets, got a full body scan, and the unsmiling security officer said “No pens inside.” “Excuse me?” “You need to leave your pen here, that’s what they told us.” “Why?” “Security reasons.”
I was stunned as I deposited my lethal disposable ballpoint pen on the table, and as the next person in the greeting line with a lanyard around her neck told us no notebooks either. There had been death threats. What? The notebook is a security threat? She relented on the notebook since she already had the pen.
Why not take keys, the money clip in the wallet, the plastic cards that could be snapped into sharp weapons? I assume the real threat was the written word, not the danger of a physical attack with a disposable pen. Somehow they knew I would be much less proficient taking notes with my thumbs on the phone. And I was.
Next stop was a group of tables where they checked our names again and issued a numbered ticket for the question lottery. They didn’t even ask me if I wanted to ask a question — though of course I did, 8 home-crafted insightful gems ready to go.
From there, we were greeted by a friendly young staffer with a big smile on his face. “Please wait here. We’ll take you in once we have a few more people. Are you having a good day?” “Well, they just took my pen away. But I won’t complain to you since you’re probably just here on your own time, volunteering.” No response. “Or maybe not.” “I’m actually in charge of the Congressman’s energy policy.” He looked like a high school intern, so this was probably as alarming as having my pen confiscated.
A few minutes later, several of us were escorted into the auditorium. It was the classic Lawler setup. Posters on stage promoting his bipartisanship and effectiveness, stern-looking police, security personnel and staffers surrounding us, standing along the walls, scanning the crowd slowly like periscopes.
The seats filled in slowly, about 500 strong by show time, close to capacity. Unlike Westchester County, our Putnam County Executive is a buttoned down GOP ideologue and defender of the regime named Kevin Byrne. Advantage Lawler, as Byrne “manned” the mic to kick things off and preside over the evening.
Byrne gave another rousing rendition of the lengthy ground rules, with one unsettling addition that I didn’t remember seeing on the poster board. “This is a limited public forum. If you violate the rules and refuse a request by law enforcement to leave the premises, you will be charged with trespassing.”
Well, that was unexpected. I was hoping for a gentle carry out of the event while flashing peace signs, like the last town hall.
Among the many rules, no standing unless you’re asking a question. So of course as Lawler was introduced and walked on stage, the front two rows leapt to their feet and cheered loudly. No trespassing there, I guess.
Also among the many rules. Limit your question to 30 seconds. We want to get to as many questions as possible, said Kevin Byrne, the emcee. Who then said he would “break the ice” with the first question. Which went on for at least 2 minutes, with Byrne praising Lawler before asking him to sing his greatest hit about State and Local Tax (SALT) Deductions. No trespassing there either, I guess.
Nothing new to hear on SALT. He strutted about while reciting his fighting credentials, how he battled with his own party to extend tax deductions for the wealthy. Deductions that will cost the government hundreds of billions of dollars. Tell me again how 90% of your constituents will benefit from your SALT efforts when only 10% of New Yorkers itemize their deductions?
By the time Lawler finished this scripted part of the show, it was almost 6:40 pm. Which left about an hour and a quarter for constituent questions. You can read Reuters’ coverage of the question and answer portion here: “Republican lawmaker’s raucous town hall reflects challenges in promoting Trump’s bill.”
Mike wasn’t too happy with the Reuters coverage:
I agree with Lawler that the Reuters coverage was far from complete. I was one of the people raising my hand when he asked the ridiculous question about ICE. I was raising both hands along with my shoulders, as in what an infantile and asinine question. Answer the question from your constituent, Mike. The question was about Trump sending in the National Guard over the objections of California’s Governor. When serious questions were asked, Lawler would pivot to demeaning demands for a show of hands: Who supports antisemitic hate speech on campus? Antisemitic rap videos funded with U.S. tax dollars? Medicaid for illegal aliens?
He also lied. About who would benefit from SALT cap increases, cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, foreign aid. He read from the well-established Lawler script on all of these topics, which I have written about for months with ample fact-checking and sources. Or do your own fact checks.
The problem with all of this is the setup. Our Congressman invited us under the false pretense that he wanted to listen, learn and engage in “conversation.” Instead, the first third of the evening was a hard lockdown of the audience followed by a prepared stump speech on SALT. When he subsequently dodged constituent questions or made false statements and the crowd got restless, Byrne or Lawler would kick in with “folks, we can’t have a dialogue if you’re yelling.”
There was no dialogue. There was an opportunity for 30 seconds with a microphone held in front of you to ask a question. Then the microphone was withdrawn and Mike Lawler ruled the PA system. If Lawler didn’t answer the question, or simply lied, tough luck. No followup, unless a subsequent lottery winner asked. Kinda like Trump’s press conferences.
By my count, 14 questions were asked. 10 challenged Lawler, and 4 supported (though 2 of those 4 weren’t even questions, just keep up the good work). The crowd seemed to reflect this 70/30 split. Topics included SALT, the Big Beautiful Bill, foreign aid, taxing the rich, deploying the National Guard in Los Angeles, next weekend’s military parade, antisemitism and university funding, Social Security, election integrity, climate and China. Never got to tariffs. Or corruption. Or the courts. Or my lottery number.
For another journalist’s take on the evening, check out “Lawler talks Medicaid cuts, ICE, taxes after his staff bars lohud’s Wilson from Town Hall.” Apparently there were strict “ground rules” for reporters as well, and the Journal News reporter was kicked out after refusing to abide by one of them.
You can also see some video from the event here. Where you can watch Mike Lawler defend Trump’s military parade. And watch the crowd parade out of the room during Lawler’s closing remarks.
All in all, this was performance art, as perfected by Lawler. Lock down the venue, dress up as a moderate, dress down the critics, dress up the facts, deflect, demean, distract, distort. And control the mics.
I just had a sinking feeling all night that perhaps this is what it looks like when democracy slips away. A sad night in a high school auditorium, told to sit down, shut up and listen to the propaganda or otherwise be charged with trespassing.
Penned up and pen-less, with yet another losing lottery ticket.
Rule of Lawler 