Sigh... And He's My Congressman 

My Congressman, Jim Sensenbrenner, has been the subject of quite a bit of news lately... so I thought I would round it up from the perspective of someone he supposedly represents:

The Flag Burning Amendment: Jim... wrong move... again. You voted for it, and I'm very disappointed in you. I personally hate it when people disrespect our flag. It's a symbol of our nation, and what it should be... the ideals that our nation represents. People who burn our flag aren't protesting what our nation is doing right now, at least not as I see it... they're protesting the very idea of what we represent, and that I have a hard time tolerating. At the same time, I cannot live in a country where we outlaw the destruction of a piece of cloth... no matter what it represents. It's a thing. If you bought that thing, then you can burn it... no matter what it represents to other people. Outlawing flag burning is equivalent to condoning rioting because urine was accidentally splashed on a Quran. They're both foolish.

Throwing People in Jail for Not Reporting Drug Crime: Are you out of your gourd?! You want to criminalize not being an informer? You are now forcing people to inform on drug dealers, which could put them in mortal danger, and you're making people choose between death and jail. On the flip side of a coin, you're making parents choose between jail for their child, or handling a drug problem as a family matter and getting that child rehab. Wrong move again Jim. This isn't the Seinfeld finale... good samaritan laws while nice in an ideal world don't belong in the Federal code. That's like trying to mandate volunteer work.

Direct Emergency Elections: I hate being overly negative, so here is a minor good thing Jim did. He helped defeat an amendment which would have allowed appointments to the House in the case of a disaster leading to a large number of vacancies. Instead he proposes emergency elections to fill those positions so that the House is always representative of the will of the people, which is as it should be.

But don't misunderstand me... I'm still pissed about the other two things.