Opinion | TX3DNews Editorial Staff
If you’ve ever dreamed of democracy where the questions are screened, the answers are vague, and the applause is implied, Rep. Keith Self’s latest town hall had it all.
After a few pleasantries, the event got down to business with an enthusiastic instruction: “*Press 3 to ask a question!” Simple enough. Simpler than ordering a pizza. But somewhere between pressing 3 and getting a straight answer, something got lost in translation.
The tone was set early — think state-run radio, but with better phone reception and absolutely no fact-checking. There was glowing praise for President Trump, a triumphant claim that the southern border is now a “model of security,” and breathless boasts about a booming economy — all delivered with the kind of unverified confidence that thrives when no one’s allowed to ask follow-up questions. Naturally, the credit wasn’t shared — it was hand-delivered to Mar-a-Lago.
What followed was a flood of unchallenged declarations. Illegal border crossings? Down 95%. Mass deportations? Underway. Energy regulations? Rolled back to free Americans from the tyranny of low-flow showerheads and “inadequate” light bulbs. Even dishwashers got a shout-out. If it plugged in or poured water, it was apparently liberated — all in the name of freedom.
Then came the “questions.” Now, we’re not saying they were vetted harder than a Supreme Court nominee, but somehow, no one asked about inflation, rising healthcare costs, soaring property appraisals, or the deficit ballooning like a parade float. Just a coincidence, we’re sure.
Instead, we got the greatest hits playlist:
- How great tax cuts are
- How scary judges have become
- Whether Congress should finally crack down on soda purchases in SNAP (because nothing says fiscal responsibility like policing Sprite)
- And of course, how to keep those pesky out-of-towners from crashing otherwise “safe” town halls — democracy, but only if you’re on the guest list.
A Real Question — Rewritten
To be fair, one real-world question about tariffs did make it through… sort of.
It was summarized on the call as a question about “the cost of containers going up.” That’s not exactly what was asked — and we should know, because it came from TX3DNews’s own R.J. Morales. Interestingly, every other caller was credited by name. Ours? Quietly reworded and anonymized. Curious.
The original question was based on a conversation with a North Texas business contact who shared — off the record — that their company had recently paid nearly $100,000 in tariffs on just two shipping containers, one from Canada, one from Mexico. It was a serious concern about how new trade policies are hitting local businesses — and one we felt deserved a real answer.
Instead of addressing that directly, Rep. Self drifted into vague references to “revenue redistribution,” “recommendations to the administration,” and what can best be described as a policy shrug:
“We’re a hundred days into this… we’ll have to wait to see if the secretaries and the president agree… we’ll have to see how they reallocate those dollars.”
Translation: No clarity. No plan. No accountability.
And for a representative who brands himself a fiscal hawk? “We’ll see” doesn’t cut it — especially when his constituents are footing the tariff bill.
Other Notable Moments Included:
- A constitutional history lesson suggesting the judiciary was intended to be the “weakest branch” — a reading Alexander Hamilton might kindly call “imaginative.”
- A firm “no” to Trump serving a third term — credit where it’s due, though the bar is buried somewhere beneath the Capitol lawn. We’re guessing that answer’s going to earn him a call later.
- A glowing preview of a “big, beautiful” reconciliation bill that promises tax cuts without increasing the deficit — a feat just slightly less complicated than juggling chainsaws while tightrope-walking blindfolded.
And in case you were wondering — no, we still don’t know how the questions were chosen.
Just press *3… and pray.
At TX3DNews, we don’t screen your questions. We ask them.
After sitting in on the call, we’re more committed than ever to covering politics in TX-03 with facts, transparency, and zero spin. Because town halls shouldn’t feel like campaign ads — and North Texas deserves real answers.
More coverage coming soon at TX3DNews.com — where we don’t duck the questions. We press them.
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