"We're sorry, but the fingers you have used to dial are too fat..."

"Dear *****:

As someone who has previously contacted our office to share your thoughts on issues important to you, I would like to take this opportunity to invite you to participate in a live statewide healthcare tele-town hall meeting this Sunday, August 23 rd , at 7:00 PM. Along with people like you from across the state, I will be joined by Dr. Denis Cortese, CEO of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, and Mary Wakefield, the highest ranking nurse in the federal government. The three of us will discuss the need for health care reform, including ways to make the American health care system more affordable and more stable, and I will answer as many questions as I can from citizens from around the state.

If you would like to participate in this important discussion, the only way to guarantee your involvement is to visit our website at http://klobuchar.senate.gov or click HERE and enter your contact information. Once you’re registered, you’ll get an automated reminder phone call on Friday evening and you’ll be called again on Sunday to be joined to the call. The phone number you provide will be kept private.

If you have any questions, you can call the office toll free at 1-888-224-9043.

I look forward to hearing from you on Sunday.

Sincerely,

Amy Klobuchar
United States Senator"

This is the email I received last week from Senator Klobuchar. Days after the flurry of ever-changing stories from the Obama White House about why people were suddenly receiving unsolicited emails and the ultimate revelation that yes, the White House was going to change the way they 'gather' emails...even though it is generally accepted that such an intrusion into the people's privacy is at best a BAD miscalculation -- and at worst, illegal.

Hmmmm...

Forgive me for missing my opportunity to speak my mind to the Honorable Senator from the State of Minnesota, but, having already given her my email -- along with a couple of long missives in which I, no doubt, placed myself clearly in the camp OPPOSITE the F.O.B. (Friends Of Barack) -- well, I thought it best NOT to give out my unlisted phone number, as well. ("The phone number you provide will be kept private"...kind of like my email address, right?)

Well, it looks as though my fears were misplaced -- numerous persons have reported in the media and the blogosphere this week that they either MISSED the tele-conference altogether ( the promised phone call came at the appointed time and apologized for having missed the event -- "but you can listen to a recording online") or were initially connected, only to be cut-off shortly into the call. "Technical Difficulties", that most elusive of gremlins, has been blamed for keeping those tough questions from stumping the good Senator. (Who knew? Technical Difficulties are liberals?)

Not only had Amy managed to avoid a contentious, argumentative crowd in a live meeting, but she had (conveniently) missed their calls -- although she did leave them the long-winded "sorry I missed you" message with the online 'recording' of the festivities. As they say in business, it's always much easier to get rid of a phone call than a warm body.

Not that she should be criticized TOO harshly, considering Angry Al Franken's cloak of invisibility to the people of Minnesota. Has anyone seen Al since the Senate recessed? Anyone? (crickets)

Perhaps this tele-conference idea would have been a smarter move for other legislators around the country -- or maybe it was a response to the difficulty they were obviously experiencing, crafted only after waiting to see how the rest of the nation was panning out.

For one, those 'organized' protesters that were holding their elected officials' feet to the flames of public opinion were hard to avoid in the public forums. By forcing them onto phone lines, they would be much more manageable. And at the very least, the scheduled tele-conference avoided the appearance of RUNNING from the electorate by having NO meetings.

But have the people been silenced? Will they now back down into their dens and let the House and the Senate have their way with them -- regardless of the overwhelming sentiments they brought to the nation's townhall meetings and the media airwaves? Are our elected representatives that ignorant, that cynical -- or that sinister?

Let's hope not.

But leave your answering machines on just in case -- it's likely that Senator Klobuchar still has that list of phone numbers.

PostScript: I stand corrected. Al Franken speaks out !!! While listening to the radio in the car this AM (8/26), I heard the announcement come in that Al Franken is holding two health care 'round table panels' TODAY, at 10AM and 3PM. Let's see, the announcement of the events was drafted yesterday, received at the radio station TODAY after 8AM, announcing events on the most riveting issue of the moment.

Hmmm...seems to me that this might be orchestrated to make the events as unknown and un-attendable as possible to the people who seem to have the most significant interest in (and, coincidentally, the highest rate of opposition to) the proposed 'changes' (read that: 'government takeover') of our health care system -- namely, those with JOBS. Apparently Al is NOT remaining silent on the issue, he is just making his pronouncements to (intentionally) empty rooms (reminiscent of the old tree falling in the woods metaphor). Makes you wonder whether he has already made up his mind about the vote in the Senate -- much like those other all-knowing representatives of the people who plan to vote for the overhaul because they know better than the people who sent them to Washington in the first place.

Or maybe I'm just paranoid.