| Oct. 2nd, 2008 @ 12:10 pm OMG! Politics! |
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Well, the squeaky wheel truly DOES get some grease now and then.
So there I was, after a long night burning several candles at both ends, finally trying to fall asleep at about 11:00 am (yes, an hour ago, that is), when the phone rings. I figure just let the machine get it, as Jodi is at work and nobody calls me anymore, anyway, unless they are trying to sell something, usually with a recording.
So the machine picks it up, and sure enough, I hear something along the lines of, "Hello, this is Congressman Steven Kagan. I wanted to thank you for your support during these troubling times..." and I think to myself, "Ah, another recording. Well, at least he sounds like a nice guy." And then I hear, "...and I want to thank you personally, James, for all your phone calls, e-mails, and input into the financial bill. Sorry I missed, you, I wish you and Jodi well..." and that's when I realize that, this is my ACTUAL, LIVE CONGRESSMAN calling ME. He called me by NAME, and the only way he would have known about Jodi was through the message, "Hello, you've reached James and Jodi, sorry we aren't home now..."
Bam! Zoom! I don't think I ever got to the phone so quickly. "Hello, hello?" I call plaintively, as I heard him about ready to hang up.
But I caught him. And spoke with him directly for 10 minutes. 10. Solid. Minutes.
During one of the biggest crises in our day, my congressman called ME and spoke with ME and asked ME about what *I* thought about the situation. I had sent him two or three e-mails and called three times (spoke with the same volunteer twice and left a message the third time). What did I expect from this? Nothing, nada, nix, niente. NOTHING.
Least of all a PERSONAL call and 10 whole minutes of his time.
Holy cow, I'm still jazzed. Holy crap, this man has my vote, even if in the end he ends up voting for the monster of a bill they have now.
Steve Kagen proved to me that he's MY congressman with that one call.
And you know what? He and I are pretty much on the same page with this bill. It is a terrible, horrible, rotten monster of a bill, and will do more harm than good. Far more harm than good, as the whole house of cards built on a Ponzi scheme is going to come down anyway; this bill and the giveaway it represents only makes things worse and will make the Greater Depression that much greater and that much longer.
As we talked I discovered that he really, honestly had dug around the issue, and wasn't just taking talking points from an assistant or lobbyist. And he was really, honestly concerned about what the whole situation meant for the people of Wisconsin. He didn't talk about the effect on the global economy; he didn't talk about the effect on the nation; he was worried about Wisconsin and folks from our district. And he was honestly concerned, and deeply so, or he is truly the best damn actor I've ever met.
And as if that wasn't enough, this is the man who Freepers scream is a stark-raving socialist, traps Karl Rove in the men's room to threaten him, and personally thanks Cheney and Bush for campaigning in his district because it got him elected. This guy is awesome!
In the end he might just end up voting for the bill; I hope he doesn't, and I don't think he wants to. But I don't think Bush, Paulson, Bernanke, and crew are going to let the Congress even look at any other alternatives. They are holding this gun to the heads of our Congress, literally acting like economic terrorists, and saying, "Give us your money or the economy gets it." So if he votes for it in the end, I can forgive him. At least he put in a great deal of effort to listen to his constituency. Feingold is golden with me, too; he voted No yesterday, and actually sent replies (automated, yes, but with detailed follow-ups of his thoughts and actions) to my e-mails. Kohl is dead to me; hell, he doesn't even send automated replies, and he voted Yes.
Obama would be dead to me, too, but he's still far and away a better alternative than McCain and Palin (the PPOW and VPILF). So he's going to get my vote by default, as anything less would be a crime against humanity.
As an aside, I finally figured out what the "W" in "George W. Bush" stands for.... "Weimar" |
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