That Which Works Locally...

...falls flat on it's face when dealing with the Beltway Bandits. I just called the Washington offices of my two Senators and was treated to a stilted and insulting "conversation" both times. No surprise, as they're both socialists - oops, um - Democrats.

I expressed my overall horror at the so-called stimulus bill and my specific objection to the $20 billion federal seizure of medical records. I asked both how it was that a right to privacy so absolute that it allowed mothers to kill unborn children could possibly allow the government to take control of and snoop through my medical records without my consent.

I must have accidentally slipped into Farsi or somesuch, as this question was quite incomprehensible to both operatives.

Both were well trained in the art of discussion prevention, as manifested by outright unresponsiveness. They clearly already knew best and thus didn't need my input. (Why stoop to actual conversation with those whose lives you manage? What an unconscionable burden that must be...)

What was most revealing came toward the end of each "conversation" when I tried to elicit what percentage of calls were against the bill. The sympathy ploy I outlined below didn't work at all. They responded VERBATIM that the calls were running roughly equal for and against. (Sure. That 50% support for pork is how congress has an approval rating that makes GW look like Mother Teresa! What a crock) The responses were incomprehensibly vague, and they were worded identically. It was as if the first guy I talked to had rushed over to another office to answer the question again the second time I called.

VERBATIM!!! So the fix is in. These clowns obviously have a script for the tough questions, and they are trained to follow it. Obedient soldiers, in other words, and they're lying to us about what we say want - all as cover for predetermined votes yet to be cast. This adds a whole new dimension to slanted polling, doesn't it?

The first guy did at least ask for my zip code and apparently recorded me as "against" or "crackpot" or something. The second guy just hung up.

Those who ostensibly represent us at the federal level have a fixed agenda. If we agree with them, we're at least useful idiots. If we disagree we don't get the time of day. Grim as this is, we should note and consciously relish these times, as I foresee the day when those who disagree will suffer a fate much worse than indifference.

So the Federal Government is now inaccessible by way of reasoned moral argument. Those whose artful ounce of discussion prevention keeps constituents from reasoning with their leaders are in actuality escalating matters. One wonders if they've pondered the obvious pound of cure, or if they think their power is absolute?

It is, as I am wont to say, later than we think.