Watching the news lately, and seeing the Orcs storming the health care forums across the country (didn’t we look great on TV, Arkansas?) one almost might think that the idea of having a rational public forum is a lost hope.

But not so. While the images of the villagers attacking the castle might be entertaining, and provide TV commentators and editorial writers with much grist for their mill, there actually might be a way to actually have a public forum, and still give everyone – yes, everyone – an opportunity to be heard.

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Take Fayetteville, for example. There is an  access center, located at 101 W. Rock, that might be perfect for the job. Not only does it have the seating capacity for a small number of invited guests, but calls from the viewing audience can be taken, and email queries can be addressed. Not only that, but there is also live webstreaming.

Many call-in shows and forums have been held in this studio over the years, so it wouldn’t be like none of them know what they are doing.

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Many cities across the United States have this capability.

I’ve taken a gander at Blanche Lambert Lincoln’s website. All of her August visits to Arkansas are tightly-controlled affairs, not likely to include members of the general public. That’s just wrong.

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This might be the perfect way for her to have a public health care forum, address the public, and not face the threat of idiots uniformed yahoos shouting out the real questions from concerned people on both sides of the issue.

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Quote of the Day

If it weren’t for the fact that the TV set and the refrigerator are so far apart, some of us  wouldn’t get any exercise at all. – comedian Joey Adams

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*****

On the Air with Laurie Masterson

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Laurie Masterson, one of the leaders of the Tea Party movement in Arkansas, will be a guest on my show this week.

Masterson, who became known to many in Fayetteville because of her opposition to some of books in the Fayetteville school library that she felt were sexually offensive, is one of the rising voices in the conservative movement in Northwest Arkansas.
Many other topics in addition to the Tea Parties will be discussed. For more information on the Tea Parties:

www.arkansasunite.com

To say the conversation is lively would be an understatement; sometimes I couldn’t get a word in edgewise. But there is a moment, near the end of the show, when I ask Ms. Masterson where she gets her information, and she – to put it mildly – dodges the question.

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The universe gave me the opportunity for a retort that I believe that Katy Couric might wish she had been given. And yeah, you’ll have to watch the show to see what I said.

Show days and times

Monday – (7pm)
Tuesday – (noon)
Saturday – (6pm)

C.A.T. is shown on Channel 18 of the Cox Channel line-up in Fayetteville.

Those outside the Fayetteville viewing area can see the program online at:

<http://www.catfayetteville.org/>http://www.catfayetteville.org/

Programs online are shown in “real time,” meaning that they are shown at the same time as they are shown on C.A.T.

rsdrake@nwark.com

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