Giffords hiding from GV, Sahuarita

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords has seen what has happened to her House and Senate colleagues over the past week at healthcare town hall meetings across the country and she’s hunkering down.

Some would say she’s hiding.

Giffords cancelled public appearances Thursday at American Legion Post #66 in Sahuarita and at Pima Community College, and announced that she has combined and moved them to a heavily secured Air Force base.

Probably because it’s trickier for protesters to get past soldiers with guns.

Giffords’ communications director insists that combining the appearances — during which she’ll talk about the new GI Bill — was necessary because of growing interest that required a bigger venue.

Baloney. (And that’s putting it kindly.)

This same staff member said Giffords had no public healthcare forums planned despite questions and confusion among constituents that is growing by the hour. Then he said Giffords couldn’t possibly schedule a healthcare town hall now because it takes a lot of time to line up a venue and the staff to make it happen.

That’s an odd statement given that they secured the auditorium at Davis-Monthan AFB virtually on a moment’s notice.

To be sure, Giffords hasn’t escaped without bruises in all of this. She was met with shouts in Douglas a week ago during a “Congress on Your Corner” event at a grocery store, and protesters have targeted her in Sierra Vista and Tucson in the past week.

What do they want? Answers.

Her official response: “Southern Arizonans want a civil discussion on reforming our health insurance system, and we must call for an immediate end to the manipulation and misleading statements by outside special interest groups. We deserve a full and honest debate on this critical issue.”

We sure do, so let’s start talking.

I’m guessing just about any school in Congressional District 8 (or any of several rec centers in Green Valley) would be eager to host a town hall meeting on short notice. (And, I should add, if a member of Congress has trouble booking a hall in the face of the most high-profile matter in the country, we’re all in trouble.)

But the fact is Giffords doesn’t want to talk to you right now. Maybe next month when things blow over.

It’s understandable, of course. How much real work can get done amid angry shouts and sign-waving — she said just that a week ago in Sierra Vista. But Giffords needs to remember that anger stems from frustration, and frustration manifests itself in what should be interpreted as nothing less than a demand for answers.

So here’s or proposal: Come to Green Valley. We’ll book the venue and promise the exchange will be civil and informative. The local radio station, KGVY, has even offered to stream it live from another location if that makes Giffords more comfortable.

But come. And help us all make sense of this.

— Dan Shearer, editor