Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies

Encouraging the misplaced outrage was all fun and games until the "angry mob" turned on them. Now Republicans run from holding Town Hall meetings in order to avoid their angry base. And yes there's a few conservative Democrats who have been voting with them who are doing the same.

Though Republicans in recent years have harnessed the political power of these open mic, face-the-music sessions, people from both parties say they are noticing a decline in the number of meetings. They also say they are seeing Congressional offices go to greater lengths to conceal when and where the meetings take place.

Members of Congress and their aides were reluctant to talk about the lack of town halls on the record, mindful of the pressure from liberal and conservative groups alike. “Ninety percent of the audience will be there interested in what you have to say,” one Senate Republican aide said. “It’s the other 5 or 10 percent who aren’t. They’re there to make a point and, frankly, to hijack the meeting.”

Wannabe internet stars are a problem to be sure. Also I imagine even the legislators who can defend their record with good conscience might be reluctant to appear unprotected in public in light of the rise of gun rights paranoids and their firearm arsenals. You never know when one deluded crackpot who believes the government is coming to take his guns might show up and exercise his Second Amendment rights. Watering the tree of liberty and all that jazz.