Things I May Have Learned From the Experience (second draft)

draft

A woman I only know on Facebook said how happy she was that I had given up on politics because now I could be funny again.  If only she knew what I was really like.  Maybe I should get a date before she finds out?  

But it is true that my attitude has changed about politics and I think I have learned some things.  Most of my friends wont agree with these but that is just too bad isnt it?  Maybe they learned something else?  This is what I learned.  

For those of you who are too fragile to handle my reality, go to the end, because I say a few positive things.   I mark such items with an (*).

1. Protests dont matter, at least peaceful protests dont.  Yes, it does build morale, and I suppose it is better than doing nothing, but not by much.  You are ignored, it makes no difference that I noticed.  Go ahead and protest all you want, I will certainly be with you.  But know up front, you are going to come home and discover that you were laughed at by those in power.

2. Calling your Congressperson (or sending email or ...) almost doesn't matter.  It might matter a little bit more than participating in a protest, but that is not saying much.  By all accounts, the helpful assistant will verify your residence, put you in a database, and your opinion is likely to be part of a weekly summary that goes to Congressperson or one of their top aides in aggregate form.  Ironically, my Republican congressman, Duncan Hunter of CA 50, was much more responsive than Salud Carbajal, my current congressman from CA 24 who is a Democrat.  I never hear back from the latter.  From Hunter's office I would actually get a phone call or two, and I was invited to a nice town meeting.  Ultimately it would not have changed his vote on anything, because Hunter is a hardcore Republican, but it certainly felt nice.

3. Your vote is almost useless.  If you are voting for a congressman, you have probably been gerrymandered out of existance.  If you are allowed to vote, it is perfectly likely that those on your side have not been permitted because of the Republican efforts to control voter registration. 

4. There is no point in discussing politics or even facts with a Republican.  They are just going to insult you and couldnt care less what you think.

5. The judiciary has been destroyed by Republicans.  Do not expect justice from there.

(*) 6. On the other hand, Actblue has made it very easy to give small donations to pretty much any progressive candidate and I hope you will do so.  I try to give $25.00 to any cause or person I believe in.  I always leave a tip for Actblue for their incredibly useful service.  I know it is having some impact because the Republicans hate it.

(*) 7. Direct action of some non-violent type is likely to make some impact, even if it only just gets attention.  Doing so requires serious work.

(*) 8. AOC proves that we can run candidates who can make a difference.  Find this person in your area and work for them!  It wont always work, but sometimes it will and it is one of the few things the elite pays attention to.

(*) 9.  Even though I dont believe that protests, calling your Congressman or voting actually makes much of a difference, I plan to keep doing so for its symbolic value.  I expect that I will be characterized as a "crank" for expressing my opinion.  Thats OK with me, I expect it.

I Called My Congressman Again Today

I called my Congressman's office again today, I try to make them laugh. I pointed them to the front page of politico.com and suggested that any other president would be impeached (or at least it would be in motion) just for what is on the front page today. It wont do any good, I know, but it lets me feel better and hey, I know that they do add up what the phone calls from constituents say as some sort of informal poll, so maybe every little bit helps.

The Congressional Database and the Townhall Meeting

Apparently all our elected representatives, at least on the national level, have a database system to track their constituents.  They are required to select from a list of preapproved programs because of security issues.

I call my representative, Carbajal of CA 24, once a week to find out what his position is on impeachment and on removing rapists from the supreme court.  The phone is answered promptly and there is always a nice person who takes my message and says that someone will get back to me, but they never do.  

But this time it was different.  First, the nice person at the office told me that he was at a "townhall meeting" with Carbajal last March and that at the time that Carbajal was cautious on the whole topic but had not made up his mind either way.  That was not what I wanted to hear, of course, but it was helpful because the primary goal here was to find out what my representative thought.

Second, just for fun, I asked the person in my Congressman's office if he could tell how many times I had called.  And he could!  I had called 8 times plus today, for a total of 9.  

I think that this is mostly good.  They are supposed to keep track of what their constituents think, and it should be computerized in this day and age.

4th Letter to My Congressman

Dear Congressman Carbajal,

This will be my 4th letter to you without a response.  Even Duncan Hunter (CA-50) did better than that (I sent him 10 or so emails, and got nice responses to almost every one). 

This madness in Washington has to stop, now.  People are getting all riled up.  Open the government, impeach Trump, make a statement, already.  A press release, whatever.  Do it today.

Yes, I would like a response to this email.

Your humble constituent,
Michael Wahrman

Another Pointless Letter to My Congressman

Note: typos are intentional as I am told it fills the Congressman and his/her staff with both contempt and fear.


Dear Congressman Carbajal,

I am sure you staff is very busy, as are you, but I did not get a response to my previous email and, sadly, in these times the electorate must be more demanding of their elected representatives.

I read your website with interest but failed to see anything from you demanding the immediate impeachment of that traitor and racist, Donald Trump.  Why not?  There is ample evidence even without Mueller that he should be impeached at once.  And yes, please, I understand that the Senate may not convict that p.o.s., but that is their problem, you are in the house.

Could someone get back to me as soon as possible to tell me your plan for the impeachment of Trump, Pence and Kavanaugh?

Thank you,
Michael Wahrman