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Nebraska Politics

Don Bacon Does Not Represent His Constituents

To the average West Omaha suburban voter, Congressman Don Bacon must seem a likable and capable Representative. Bacon is a retired USAF general who smiles and shakes hands. He often talks about “bi-partisanship” and seems to avoid the caldron of Trumpian chaos. If a voter didn’t pay close attention, they might feel compelled to walk into the voting booth and mark the oval next to “Don Bacon, Republican”.

But there are things about Don Bacon that he doesn’t want you to notice.

Don Bacon’s social media accounts force-feed his constituents a steady diet of “Don is a bi-partisan moderate” pablum, but behind the scenes, Don is working hard to curry favor with Republican party leadership and with Big Don (Trump) himself.

Bacon panders to the alt-right in a number of ways, including planning a private political fundraiser at the home of a West Omaha patron where the “featured guest” is none other than Rep. Devin Nunes, R-CA. Nunes is notorious for being the Trump-loving chairman of the House Intelligence Committee that was supposed to be investigating Russian interference in the election. But Nunes turned the whole process into Trump Loyalty Theater. Rep. Nunes even slipped off to the White House under cover of night to personally bring Donald Trump classified information before it could be reported to the very committee he was leading. Nunes has become a far-right-wing folk hero because of the ways he defends Trump, and this is who Don Bacon is using to pump the far right for campaign cash.

At the Nebraska GOP State Convention last month, Bacon proclaimed to a room full of GOP donors that he, “views his seat in Congress as a ‘firewall’ against Trump’s impeachment.” Think about that for a minute. As a separate branch of government, Congress is supposed to function as a check and balance on the executive branch. Congress provides oversight, and if necessary, Congress can impeach the President if he commits “high crimes and misdemeanors”. With five members of the Trump team now convicted of felony crimes, the Trump organization and the president himself under investigation, why would any member of Congress give away their duty to hold a crooked president accountable? Why would Don Bacon stomp on his oath to, “protect and defend the Constitution from enemies both foreign and domestic”?

The failure to represent the people of Nebraska CD2 doesn’t end there.

You probably heard that Don Bacon has held ten town hall meetings–he boasts about the number of town hall events he’s held every chance he gets. But Bacon is fearful of actually listening directly to what his constituents have to say about the harmful policies he’s been passing in Congress. His town halls are merely symbolic. They are engineered to minimize opportunity for constituent input. Bacon schedules these events in mostly rural parts of his district. They’re scheduled to last only an hour, despite the fact that over 200 people typically attend each one. And he has modified the town hall format so that he does all the talking–Constituents are asked to submit their “questions” in writing, then hope that Bacon’s hand-picked moderators will select and dispassionately read their question. Bacon can only respond to about ten questions in the allotted time and he usually includes a folksy anecdotal story, followed by a predictable GOP talking point. After he filibusters each question, he does offer the constituent a chance to address his response. But Don always gets the last word.

A real town hall event would feature constituents addressing Don Bacon in their own words; without even necessarily asking a question, and the moderators would be local journalists or other neutral persons. The format would allow for the constituent to fully communicate to the representative how to best represent their interests.

Don Bacon has successfully duped his constituents into believing that this is how “representatives” represent; that WE are supposed to listen to HIS views. He’s turned the concept of representative government on its head. Instead of listening to his constituents so that he may better understand and represent OUR interests, we’re supposed to consume and digest the party talking points he delivers in these bogus town hall events and on his social media feeds.

Bacon also disregards his constituents when choosing how to spend his time and attention. He spends an inordinate amount of time at Offutt AFB. It’s understandable, I suppose, that a former USAF general and member of a military committee in the House would want to check-in on things at the local military base. But Offutt is not in Nebraska’s Second Congressional District, which you would not know by how much time he spends there. He also advocates incessantly for funding for new aircraft for Offutt and funding for new construction projects at Offutt, and mugs for photos at Offutt–all while ignoring entire swaths of the diverse Omaha district that he’s supposed to represent.

Bacon even has his own non-constituent “fan club” that follows him on facebook and to town halls. They chime in, from all over the world, on his facebook page in attempts to chase away any real constituent who tries to reach Bacon with a concern that is not a tax cut or added military spending. At town hall events, Bacon has had members of the far-right Turning Point USA show up with signs. These theatrical demonstrations of support from ideological groups are distractions from what he is supposed to be doing: listening to his constituents and representing them.

It’s clear that Don Bacon believes that he’s been sent to Washington to serve the Republican party and Donald Trump – not the diverse and moderate district in which his real constituents reside. As a general in the United States Air Force, he presumably spent much of his time defending the US from the threat of the Soviet Union/Russia. But as a politician, Don Bacon has opened the back door to a foreign attack on our democracy itself – and he’s done so in the name of an extreme ideology. Fortunately, residents of Nebraska’s Second Congressional District have a viable option; we can send Kara Eastman to Congress in November.

By Jay Grabow

A constituent in search of representation.

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