[Jared Russell]

Unfortunately (and as expected) this town hall went exactly like every other town hall I've ever seen or been to.

The people in attendance have already self-selected for being particularly passionate about the issues being discussed, and damage the effectiveness of their otherwise-legitimate concerns by failing to separate their anger from their message and taking cheap-shots with the microphone. Meanwhile, the people answering questions under the spotlight can't really deviate from the party line, are put on the defensive by all the hostility, and as a result end up getting short with the audience. By the end, everyone's blood pressure is higher. This just proves, that no matter how smart or well-respected the participants are, we in FIRST (on all sides) are human.