Say Anything Blog

Earlier today I added to my map of recess events for North Dakota’s delegation an event in Harvey, ND for Senator Kent Conrad.  This was per an email sent out by an employee at a hospital in Harvey who said in it that the email should be “with anyone that you think would be interested.”  This event was to be a “listening event” on health care.  Now I’ve just been sent this email by a Conrad staffer replying to the original email saying that the “listening” event isn’t open to the general public but is rather by “invitation only.”

This meeting is by invite only…Please do not share this as asked in email below.

Sorry for the misunderstanding.
Shelly Klein
Staff Assistant/Caseworker for U.S. Senator Kent Conrad
104 Ronald N. Davies Federal Building and Courthouse
102 North 4th St
Grand Forks ND 58203
(701)775-9601
(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

So if you want Senator Conrad to listen to what you have to say about health care…you have to be invited.

And they wonder why people are angry.

On a related matter, Senator Conrad gives a constituent (who is also a reader) the same answer to an inquiry about public events during the Congressional recess that a staffer for Rep. Earl Pomeroy told a constituent earlier:

I just called Sen Conrad’s Fargo office and asked if there would be any public meetings here in the Fargo area.  The response that I got was that he has already that he has held some meetings in Fargo so they didn’t think that there would be any more here but there would probably be some in smaller towns.  The schedule would be released to the media. He will be in the state for the middle two weeks of August.
Just thought that I would pass this on to you

What I don’t understand is why only “the media” can have this information.  Don’t they want people to come to the events?  Why can’t they just list the events they have planned on their websites so that all citizens can find them without having to worry about catching an article in the newspaper about it?

It is, after all, the 21st century.  And we needn’t be totally dependent on traditional media sources for dissemination of information.

The reason they’re being so difficult about this, I think, is because Dorgan and Conrad and Pomeroy don’t really want to hear from their constituents.