Ma’am Boxer has time for a book signing, but “nothing scheduled” on health care reform

When I read last night that my state’s junior Senator, Ma’am Barbara Boxer, was appearing at bookstores in the Bay Area to sign her latest thriller, I wondered that she had time to promote a book, yet not to listen to her constituents as the Senate prepares to debate climate control legislation as well as a massive health insurance overhaul.

So, I called her office to ask about this.  According to Ma’am’s staff, she has “nothing scheduled.”  Amazing. She’s more interested in selling her book than doing her job.  She doesn’t care what her constituents think.  Meanwhile, though blissfully unaware of what those constituents wear when they protest the type of big-government policies she tends to favor, she attacks people she was elected to represent as not having genuine concerns about the growing size of the federal government and its increasing intrusion into our private lives.

Noting that his senators in the Empire State also have little time for his constituents, JammieWearingFool faults Democrats like Ma’am (and the man who leads her party’s Senate caucus):

The Democrats are playing a very dangerous game here with the constant references to people being un-American, racist and evil-mongers, all simply for exercising their freedom of speech. A slippery slope they may not be happy to be riding down pretty soon if they don’t wise up and start respecting the very people they work for.

And Ma’am has shown no respect for the people she works for, slamming protesters while oblivious to our concerns.  All the same, were she to suddenly recognize the duties incumbent upon a responsible public servant and schedule town halls across the Golden State, it behooves us to show her the respect due a dignified legislator.

While signs should be allowed outside the meeting, they should not be allowed inside.  While we can chant slogans in the open, once inside, we should must listen when she speaks.  And thank her should she reply in a civil manner, addressing the question posed.  (And yes, this means thanking here even (indeed, especially) when she expresses an opinion different from our own.)  Unlike the SEIU (and other pro-Obama groups), we don’t seek to drown out out the views of our opponents.

And we would expect her to show us the same respect we show her, letting critics make their points without interruption and not limiting attendance to a pre-selected group of supporters.