Congressman Jim Cooper To Hold Series Of Town Hall Meetings On NSA Spying

In the forests of remote Indonesia. a panel of zoologists reported that satire is often used among Komodo dragons to ease tensions and to make political points within a group. The giant lizards, some as long as twelve feet, have long been known for their barbed comments and straight-faced humor.

Meanwhile, in Nashville, Tennessee, Congressman Jim Cooper (D-TN) announced that he would be holding a somewhat lengthy series of town hall meetings to learn his constituents' views on NSA and other government spying. Cooper, no stranger to wading into controversial waters, even when his fellow congressmen and women fear to, said that the only way to learn what citizens thought is to simply ask them.

"We're being very proactive on this," Cooper said yesterday. "The old argument is that citizens, voters, will let their elected representatives know when they are for something, or even against it. But in the case of all this government spying revealed recently, no one knew about it, so they couldn't inform their representatives of their position in the matter. It's pretty outrageous. Well, we're going to ask them.

"I want to know; Do you want your telephone calls monitored, or listened to? Do you want your e-mails read? Do you want your letters scanned or read? We're not waiting for voters to write to us; we're going out and find them and get their views. It's simply never been done before in this fashion, to this extent."

Cooper, who noted that he planned to hold at least a dozen separate meetings on the matter, said he personally had no position on spying, somewhat unusual for the congressman known for taking the firmest stands on any and all controversial matters. "Some things are so evenly balanced that I honestly can't decide. On this one, I need the voters to decide it for me."