Rep. Lizzie Fletcher Telephone Town Hall-She Is Trying, But This All May End Up On Streets

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Congressmember Lizzie Fletcher held a telephone town hall this evening. I listened and took notes. Here is a map of Rep. Fletcher's district which includes portions of Houston, Harris County and Fort Bend County. 

(Here are Houston Democracy Project reports on recent town halls held by Congressmembers Al Green and Wesley Hunt.)

Here are notes & observations about the call:

​* A staffer from Rep. Fletcher's office said there were 1300 people on the call as of 7:10. 

* Rep. Fletcher said that as of yesterday, they had 550 questions from voters for the call. She said she had read them all. 

* She said she would address in the call what is going on in "Congress, courts and communities." 

* She said she was a member of the Democratic House rapid response task force. Joining the call was Rep. Joe Neguse of Colorado who is Chair of that task force. This task force also tracks litigation about Trump/Musk. Rep. Neguse spoke for a few minutes and went on his way. 

* Rep. Fletcher says many questions she has received are about what people can do at home. I'm writing a blog post on that topic I'll have posted soon.

* The first called-in question was from a woman who said she had a partner in a clinical trial at MD Anderson that was operating currently only because of a court order. The Congresswoman said she had co-written a "strongly-worded letter" about cuts that involve important medical and health issues. She must be getting a lot of calls for more action, because she made a defensive-sounding comment saying she knows people may think such a letter is not enough.

In response to this call, Rep. Fletcher said it's important that people share real life stories of being impacted by Trump/Musk cuts, talk to friends and family about these stories and to keep contacting her & Cruz and Cornyn as well. 

​* Linda C. asked "How the heck does Elon Musk get into every level of government?" Rep. Fletcher's reply was pretty much because Trump lets him and no Congressional Republican will challenge him. 

* Rep. Fletcher sure did sound exasperated as she spoke. She said: "A lot of people expected more guardrails for Elon Musk." 

* Connie said her Congressperson is the odious Morgan Luttrell, that she can't reach his office and would like to know how to connect with Republicans. Rep. Fletcher said keep trying. 

​* Cheryl asked since the Supreme Court has given Donald Trump immunity, how can we rely on the courts?

There was no firm reply to this because what can you say? The most likely answer is massive protest or a general strike or whatever it will be. Rep. Fletcher said it was a different world being in Congress from when she was a lawyer because you don't have to adhere to any real standards of evidence and truth. She said that Congressional Republicans are "cheering this on" and won't assert the powers of Congress.

My impression: 

Rep. Fletcher is trying hard and I believed her assertions that her office listens to callers and reads e-mails. She is an institutionalist and the institutions are being trashed. The failure to follow any real process and procedure throws her for a loop. She has no firm sense how to proceed other than to show up everyday and try. Just like all of us. I just hope if/when we reach the point where it's clear that we'll be need to be on the streets, that Rep. Fletcher will be on the right side of the police line or whatever it is the moment will require. 

​I'm on the Egberto Willies Politics Done Right Show every Thursday from 6 AM to 7 AM for the Houston Democracy Project segment. You can hear the show on the radio, stream it on KPFT or watch later Egberto's YouTube channel.​​

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