Protesters! Yay!

Last weekend my university hosted a Town Hall meeting for Admiral Michael G. Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and principal military adviser to the White House.

I went.

It seemed like an unusual opportunity to witness the type of event that heretofore I had only read about, as small-town Iowa isn't really a prime stop for politicians (except during the year before Presidential elections when you can't take two steps without stumbling over a candidate). I thought it would be interesting, and definitely newsworthy, so as a journalist-in-training I figured it would be good to start attending this sort of thing. I was supposed to meet several of my fellow classmates there, but couldn't get hold of anybody before I arrived, so I went on in and found a seat. After going through basic security, that is. It was the first time I'd had to go through any time of security since I left Afghanistan, so I was expecting them to make me pull out my DSLR and turn it on, which of course is ridiculous because no one does that anywhere else. They did, however, make me dump out my metal water bottle, but then when I came back a different guard wouldn't let me take it in even though it was empty. I ended up having to hide it behind a bush. Seriously? How dangerous is an empty water bottle? I was annoyed. Luckily it was still there after the meeting.

Now here's where I felt somewhat stupid. The city I live in has a lot of military connections--there's a big Air Force base in the southern section of the city--so I should have figured that they would show up to hear Admiral Mullen talk. But me being me, I didn't and was therefore rather surprised when at least half of the large audience was made up of military personnel (and just as an aside, I don't know if it's me or if this is really the way it is, but they always seem so darn young).

The auditorium kept filling up, and finally the moderator started the meeting by introducing the admiral and several other prominent figures in the audience, such as a state congresswoman and a local tribal leader. Finally Mullen began talking, and I was again somewhat taken aback at his speaking ability: he stood in the center of the stage and just talked, in a conversational tone, about his theme. In this case he was talking about veterans and what the community can do to incorporate and assist them. To be honest, it wasn't terribly interesting to me because it was all information I already knew and had read about. There wasn't anything new or shocking. Although he did mention that there is a really high rate of homelessness among female veterans, which did surprise me a bit.

After about 30 minutes, Mullen finished with his prepared remarks and the floor was opened up for questions. And then the fun began!


This type of open forum, particularly when there's a VIP present--which means lots of press--tends to bring out the kooks. There were a few legitimate questions and concerns, such as one from an older veteran who was upset at the crappiness of the VA system (I'm paraphrasing, of course), and people curious about foreign policy and the future of U.S. operations in Afghanistan. But then there were the inevitable Israel questions (apparently the U.S. is a "puppet of Israel"--and here I would have thought it's the other way around :P) and other people who are there merely to air their myriad grievances publicly. I particularly liked when someone asked why the U.S. doesn't just go in and "impose peace" upon conflicted nations, clearly blissfully unaware of the inherent contradiction in that phrase. I personally enjoy these people as long as they're not too crazy or violent, but apparently not everyone finds the same entertainment value in them, as I overheard the soldiers sitting behind me muttering angrily several times when the more liberal-leaning crazies spoke.

I must admit, though, I was quite impressed with Mullen. He never lost his temper or even appeared irritated, and was very good at saying a lot without actually saying anything. He also was good at answering questions in a roundabout way that let him get his points across in a way that seemed relevant but actually really wasn't.

I'm not disparaging him here--while that type of thing might get annoying in the future when I'm working as a journalist, right now I'm just a student, and honestly I think that the ability to do that is no mean feat. I wish I could! Like I said, I was favorably impressed. He came off as intelligent, well-spoken, and affable. Very diplomatic.


Then when the fun part was over, it was time to go. I checked my phone to find that my friends had finally gotten back to me, to let me know that they got "stuck at the bar" which I thought was funny. I left to go join them, because politics and confrontation always makes me desperate for a drink. On the way out I received my second surprise of the day, when I found protesters just outside the auditorium. These were very well-behaved and polite protesters, as I discovered when one thanked me for listening to them as I walked away. I only listened for a few minutes and snapped a couple of quick shots because I was looking forward to that beer waiting for me, but what I heard seemed pretty standard.

Still, I was excited. My first demonstrators! Sorry, sometimes the small-town Iowa girl I keep trapped inside me escapes.