tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14879983.post4630025612724302728..comments2024-03-18T20:41:39.140-07:00Comments on C. E. Chaffin's Blog: How I Pissed Off Congressman Mike!C. E. Chaffinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02639448512282317750noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14879983.post-84650034408532951552010-07-30T13:43:54.346-07:002010-07-30T13:43:54.346-07:00Dawn, thanks for your comment. At the least Mike ...Dawn, thanks for your comment. At the least Mike is irascible, with a quick temper. I get the feeling he is trying to tread the line of Democratic loyalty too finely instead of absolutely opposing both wars--as the majority of his constituents do. I'm tired of hearing all the reasons we can't leave Afghanistan. It has been well called "the graveyard of empires." It's a lost cause that goes on losing money, enriching criminals, and offending the local populace. Nation-building is ridiculous. We can't judge other countries by our own view of democratic principles; we need to deal with them as they are, not as we wish them to be. I can't believe that the Vietnam generation has been complicit, at the highest levels, with these doomed boondoggles. Whenever we leave Iraq or Afghanistan, civil wars will proceed. The sooner we accept this failure, the better, knowing that the failure was a priori and not post facto.<br /><br />Regards,<br /><br />CEC. E. Chaffinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02639448512282317750noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14879983.post-65949163500924845172010-07-30T13:14:35.964-07:002010-07-30T13:14:35.964-07:00Hi Craig,
I came across your blog while we were w...Hi Craig,<br /> I came across your blog while we were waiting to go on the telephone conference Mike Thompson held in our district this week. We were sort of thrilled to hear about your phone call from Mike, because it corroborates our experience with him.<br /> Not that he has ever called us at ANY time of the day, but this last April when we visited DC, we had his ear for about the time it took him to walk us from the front gates of the White House to the doors where we had scheduled a tour. Apparently it is common for Congressman (or women) to do this for their constituents visiting the capitol. For some reason, we were told by an aide, Mike Thompson had never participated in this activity before, and after we had his ear for the five minutes or however long that walk took, he may not decide to continue. One of the questions we asked him was about why we weren't seeing any withdrawal of troops from Iraq, as we felt this was why Obama and the democrats were so overwhelmingly elected. He was irate with us. We mentioned his not holding out as long as a couple other representatives on the vote to get out of the War in Iraq and Afghanistan. He got very red (and I don't think it was the sun, or Napa Valley wine) and snapped at us "That's not true" but when we asked how many troops were still in Iraq, only his aide could really answer us.<br /> We felt he could and should have been a bit more polite about his disagreement with our facts, though to be fair, we had so few moments, we didn't couch our discontent in too much fluff ourselves.<br /> The question we asked on the forum was:In March of this year you voted against withdrawal of troops, and last week you voted against a bill that would allow more spending for the war in Afghanistan. What was the difference?<br /> His answer was (I think), that in March he was giving the president his support because he had had a plan in Afghanistan before he was elected and he need a chance to make it work. Then he went into his (pat) answer about the War not working in Afghan. which I agree with, but he had said all the same words earlier on the news with KZYX. It might have made some sense if he that vote in March had been 2008, but it was not. It was March 2009. So it's hard to trust him, though we do appreciate that he has done much to promote the interests of Mendocino County... (Mendocino Coast Clinics, Salmon Fisheries, opposing offshore oil drilling). <br /> I hope you and others will continue to tell the congressman how we feel about these wars and that we are watching his record on this.<br />DawnDawn Hofbergnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14879983.post-64321332439355050772007-05-19T11:07:00.000-07:002007-05-19T11:07:00.000-07:00Thanks for commenting, Sorlil. I thought my take ...Thanks for commenting, Sorlil. I thought my take would get a few hoots stateside but am slightly disappointed none of the locals who share my rep. said a thing. <BR/><BR/>Maybe that's because in Northern California weirdness is taken for granted.<BR/><BR/>Hope the baby's sleeping through the night!C. E. Chaffinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02639448512282317750noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14879983.post-41981688976366276952007-05-19T04:44:00.000-07:002007-05-19T04:44:00.000-07:00Your Congressman sounds much more interesting than...Your Congressman sounds much more interesting than my MP, perhaps you should send him a link to your blog!Marion McCreadyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04657757253873577465noreply@blogger.com