Wednesday evening’s town hall meeting, hosted by First District Rep. Jim Hagedorn, was a small microcosm of the bigger reality plaguing American politics in this new era.

Almost from the beginning the meeting quickly descended from an orderly discussion to yelling, interruption and often time mockery from both sides. This needs to change.

To begin with, however; we would like to commend Hagedorn for holding these town hall meetings. This is the second time he’s come to Austin to listen to and answer questions from constituents in the First District and it’s an important part of the process of representation. If a representative of a district spends all of his or her time in Washington, D.C., then that important trust from constituents begins to dissolve.

Support him or not, Hagedorn’s public appearances are positive steps toward connections to those issues we find important to our daily lives.

However, the way Wednesday’s meeting deteriorated, often times into shouting matches, is part of a larger issue that is preventing anybody from getting anything done.

This problem started with the questions Hagedorn was asked. Mayor Tom Stiehm, who was moderating the discussion, pulled a question, ask it and Hagedorn would attempt to answer, but would only get a little ways into his answer before he was interrupted with argument or descension.

That immediately negates any good that can come from these town halls. If you only know the answer you want to hear, why ask it in the first place? Yelling and shouting degrades the discussion to a point where the bottom falls out and the ends to which we may be able to fix a problem goes with it.

This doesn’t mean we are supporting every idea or ideology Hagedorn holds, but we are defending his right to have them and present them in an orderly manner.

And that’s the base of the problem. There is a lack of order, primarily pushed asunder by partisan politics, leaving a valley wide-open from lack of compromise and working together.

These problems aren’t the only root of all political issues plaguing our government, but it’s a large part of it. The blind, obedient finger-pointing, which levels wholesale blame on the other side, closes the door to the work that needs to be done.

We welcome all discussion and urge voters to level the hard questions on your representatives, but we also stress that you remember that when we fail to hear the other side because of the rising voices of indignation, we risk missing out on hearing the fixes we need to truly right this ship.