Congressman

I've been fuming all day because of the comments made yesterday by my congressman. The "Honorable Patrick T. McHenry." He and some of the other cronies out running for reelection soon were stumping on their "Operation Offsets." Clever name, eh? I understand the principle: we owe a bunch of money, especially with Katrina and Rita, and we need to figure out some way to pay for these expenses. But McHenry called for the end of public funding of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Now I have personal affection for PBS. My son--who is 20 months old--can count to 23 or so, because of the Count and Elmo and all his friends on Sesame Street. And maybe Sesame Street could be picked up by a competitive network in the free market, but what about Ken Burns? broadway performances such as Les Miserables? What about NOVA?

I'm a fairly principled conservative on most issues. I don't like my tax money being spent for worthless things. But slashing PBS? That would save me... wait... that's right a whopping $2.70 a year. Then there's $990 billion dollar budget that we passed. McHenry's vote: AYE. Then there's the pork laden Transportation bill. McHenry's vote: AYE. And the pork laden Energy Bill. McHenry's vote. AYE.

So, please, congressman, don't stand on your stump and rant about principled conservative spending, when your record clearly shows that it's all for political gain. I know that you dislike Bill Moyers and BBC; I don't particularly agree with their points of view either. But I can handle the elevated discourse. I prefer the elevated discourse, to the ratings driven talking head shows: like when McHenry was on Hardball defending that old time Conservative principle of government intervention in state affairs. Remember Terry Schiavo? Sarcasm noted.

I'm sick and tired of demigogues controlling the political process. The American people--at least some of us--can handle honest debate. I realize that things aren't as black and white as we would all prefer. But I am intelligent enough to handle big issues. I look forward to McHenry's response to my emails.

john q.