Old Weird Ward
Unless otherwise noted, that which is posted here is opinion, which is protected by the First Amendment to the US Constitution. If you don't like my opinions, go somewhere else. Nobody is forcing you to actually read this drivel.
The presumption exists that you can read at all.
That may be a large assumption.
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Wednesday, May 12, 2004
- - - - - Congressman Pete Stark (D-Cal) - - - - -
There's a long list of reasons that I'm glad we left California. Traffic, insane real estate prices, expensive gasoline, the list goes on and on.
This one is near the top of my list.
WASHINGTON — When Daniel Dow of California faxed a protest letter to his congressman over his vote last week against a House resolution condemning the abuse of Iraqi prisoners, he expected to get a form letter a month later.
Instead, Dow's representative, Bay Area Democrat Pete Stark, responded by voice mail within an hour. The message went as follows:
"Dan, this is Congressman Pete Stark, and I just got your fax. And you don't know what you're talking about. So if you care about enlisted people, you wouldn't have voted for that thing either. But probably somebody put you up to this, and I'm not sure who it was, but I doubt if you could spell half the words in the letter, and somebody wrote it for you. So I don't pay much attention to it. But I'll call you back later and let you tell me more about why you think you're such a great goddamn hero and why you think that [these] generals and the Defense Department, who forced these poor enlisted guys to do what they did, shouldn't be held to account. That's the issue. So if you want to stick it to a bunch of enlisted guys, have it your way. But if you want to get to the bottom of people who forced this awful program in Iraq, then you should understand more about it than you obviously do. Thanks."
The letter from Dow, a staff sergeant in the National Guard, was certainly provocative, but Dow said he was completely surprised by the response.
"I was shocked. My wife saw the expression on my face as I was listening to it and asked me who it was from, and I said you will never believe it, it's from Congressman Stark," he said. "To have that kind of an attack at me just for expressing my opinion on an issue was really a shock and so I'd rather be represented, no matter what political party they are, by someone who can represent us with dignity and pride and distinction rather than, you know, attacking members of their own locale."
Now then, I'm a former enlisted swine, USN branch. I always resented be "talke down to" by anyone in authority. I always resented the assumption that enlisted people are child-like. Mr. Dow is a Staff Sergeant in the California National Guard - in other words, a volunteer.
Pete Stark obviously holds great contempt for enlisted personnel of the Armed Forces.
When I lived in San Jose, Pete Stark was not my Congressman. That distinction was held by Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif). I have no doubt that Lofgren feels the same way that Stark does.
Boy, am I glad I'm out of California!
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