Jack "flag pin" Kingston GA-01 supports locking people up in private prisons and then renting them out as probationers to farmers. But farmers were not buying Jack's probationer snake oil.
Kingston showed up in Tifton, Georgia, yesterday afternoon at a meeting that was not advertised on his web page or his facebook page. We found it through a facebook event somebody posted.
That morning he was in Valdosta for a similarly unadvertised meeting at 9AM. Kingston tried to claim (twice) that the local Chamber of Commerce in Lowndes County hosted the Valdosta meeting and sent notices beforehand. His office did tip off the Valdosta Daily Times and WALB TV, which published this article saying nothing about the Chamber.
Kingston's audience participant said she was a Chamber member and got no notices.
Then he fell back on this:
I've had lots of town meetings in Lowndes County. You're the chairwoman of the Democrat[sic] Party. You've been to many of those, and you make those meetings very spirited. So you will have your opportunities to do that any time you want, so we're glad you're here. Even out of my district, I appreciate the fact that you've followed me. And I know you've been protesting outside of my office. So I'm glad you're interested in the governmental process.
Thanks for the ads, Jack!
And yes, we'll be outside your office today at noon, protesting again.
Y'all come!
Here's
an example of spirited Democratic participation at one of Jack's town halls in Lowndes County.
He gave that spirited redneck woman a perfect leadin to her question, which was about
ALEC, the American Legislation Exchange Committee, which is a corporate legislation-writing and pressure group. One of its corporate members is Corrections Corporation of America (CCA).
This law we have now in Georgia will put them in jail before we send them back, and that's a taxpayer expense. And when we put them in private prisons, private prisons are not as good.
They wanted her to get to her question, and here it is:
Why do you choose to represent corporations like CCA over citizens?
Audience member: Corporations are citizens!
Others: Yeah! Yeah!
I couldn't tell whether Kingston was one of the "yeahs" but he certainly didn't correct them.
And he didn't answer her question. Probably because he does represent corporations over private citizens.
Here's
the video:
Probationers and farmers after the jump.
Kingston thinks there's no difference between public and private prisons. He asked for information to educate him on that. His address is:
3470-C North Valdosta Road
Valdosta, GA 31602
Phone: (229) 247-9188
Fax: (229) 247-9189
So then he asked the audience a question that was on his mind:
The program of having people on probation work on farms.
...
Have any of you participated in that?
A woman immediately spoke up:
I can't imagine that it would work. If they're a criminal or if they're locked up for some reason they're not anybody that cares about having a job or having anything else. So I don't think I want them on my farm. I don't have a job for them.
Remember, this is an audience of almost all hand-picked Republicans, yet Kingston was not getting the answer he wanted. Kingston asked for anybody else, and a man stood up in back:
I have tried working with probationers and I'll just say that it was a very inconsistent supply of workers.
Kingston probably thought it would get less spirited when he got the redneck Democrat from Lowndes County to ask her question, but Republicans from Tift County weren't buying the ALEC mess he was selling, either.
Y'all come today to Jack's office at noon in Valdosta, or pick one of his other offices around the district!
If you live in some other district, your rep. has offices, too.