Author name: Michael Hancock

By now, the script is all too familiar. A group of self-styled “concerned citizens” — usually bearing placards, hashtags, and an unshakable belief in their moral certitude — convenes a town hall. They claim to be opening a forum for “dialogue” with their congressional representative. 

But the scene is less Lincoln-Douglas debate and more kangaroo court. Their goal? Not to converse but to corner. Not to listen, but to lambast. And when the lamb refuses to volunteer for the slaughter, the howling begins.

Such is the latest political scenario in the district of Congressman Gabe Evans, a conservative legislator whose greatest sin — according to local progressives — is winning an election in a democratic district and then voting according to the views of his constituency.