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Eichelberger runs by his own agenda

I attended a town hall meeting last week in Martinsburg hosted by Sen. John Eichelberger.

What I witnessed shocked and dismayed me and was an affront to all who believe in the foundation upon which our country was built. Like the current occupant of the White House, Eichelberger is very thin skinned — a bad trait when politics is your profession.

Our founding fathers often engaged in open, vigorous and heated debate — what we call democracy. Apparently what was good for Jefferson, Adams, Franklin and the rest, is abhorrent to Eichelberger.

Claiming to have been misquoted by a newspaper, he now records his town hall meetings and all who attend must sign in and include their address, phone, etc.

Additionally, Eichelberger won’t take verbal questions, only those submitted on note cards. In the wake of the meeting, Eichelberger took to his daily blog to vent about those in attendance who disagreed with him and to further undermine the democratic process. Apparently some Planned Parenthood members who attended were, according to his blog of May 19, “not from the 30th Senatorial District.”

In response to that, it was further stated, “At future meetings: photo ID will be required to get in.”

What’s next, fingerprinting? Censorship as well as limiting taxpayer access to an elected official is not democracy, it is fascism.

I find it ironic that Rep. John McGinnis was in attendance at the town hall despite the fact that Martinsburg is not in his district. Should he be required to produce photo ID the next time?

Blogging on May 18, Eichelberger said about Planned Parenthood, “They don’t listen to anything someone with a different opinion has to say.”

As a constituent and teacher, I can apply that quote directly to Eichelberger himself, a rogue politician with his own agenda and vendettas who cannot be bothered to listen to any opinions other than those which serve his own destructive purposes.

What Eichelberger fails to see or refuses to comprehend is that he’s a state senator and that decisions his committee makes, and votes he casts, impact not just taxpaying citizens of his district, but all across the commonwealth and therefore, any resident of Pennsylvania should be more than welcome to attend any of his town halls.

That of course would be democracy, something Eichelberger and those of his ilk are too thin-skinned to engage in.

Perhaps Eichelberger should heed the advice of President Harry S. Truman: “If you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen.”

Kirk J. Dodson

Duncansville

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