2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: American Revolution (Phase Two) [View all]H2O Man
(73,537 posts)I remember the day that the senator finally met with me. I had been the main speaker at a rally inside the NYS capital building in Albany, NY. Among the over 1,200 people there, I saw two of the senator's aides. When I said that a group of area high school students were planning rallies in front of two of the senator's district offices -- not taking a position on fracking, but to say his refusal to meet with the environmental community went against everything they were being taught about government -- the aides left.
A short time later, the senator confronted me in a hall way. He was hostile and aggressive -- every bit as obnoxious as the one person above. It took about three minutes of his histrionic ranting, before I was able to convince him that I wasn't his enemy. Within five minutes, I had him laughing, and putting his hand on my shoulder -- I told a joke about his basketball skills, from decades-old pick-up games that he had also competed in.
He is no longer in office, though. He was indicted, and convicted, in federal court, for being a petty mobster.