Make No Mistake, Know What "No" Means

Written by David DiCrescenzo on . Posted in Op-Ed

Boy is my underwear in a bunch today.  We have a lot of problems in our nation; way more than anyone could list in an Op/Ed.  Today’s issue is going to cause my inbox to fill up with lots of different commentary that will range from agreeing with me to shunning me for casting their guy in a bad light.  So be it.  As always, I call them like I see them; if that earns me an enemy or two, c’est la vie.

I’ll start off with a question for everyone.  How did we arrive at a place where the Congress actually had to vote on whether or not We the People should pay for transgendered military personnel to undergo “gender reassignment” surgery..?!  It seems to me that not that long ago when one started a career in the military; he or she simply joined and did what he or she was told to do, or suffered the consequences.  Uniforms and hair styles were not subject to debate or personal preference; men had their hair shaved off with a number one hair clipper and women wore a short, neat, and easy to manage style.  They ate in one place and no one asked them if they liked the accommodations.  It was the military; they joined knowing what to expect and they sucked it up, or on occasion they got tossed out.  

No more apparently; now anything goes and the security of America be damned.  If one chooses to wear a head scarf or facial hair for “religious” reasons, or anything else that used to be considered out of uniform, it’s okay, because we certainly don’t want anyone’s precious feelings or self-esteem hurt.  No sir, today everything is on the table and if one is so inclined to live a transgendered lifestyle, he or she is not required to seek counseling; instead, everyone else has to take some sort of sensitivity training.  Well you know what, I’m about done with society having to put up with and coddle such behavior that up until about forty years or so ago was, and I might add rightly, classified as a psychological disorder.  I’m even more enraged that some of the geniuses that have managed to get themselves elected to public office think it’s just fine and dandy for you and me to pay for their fantasies.

Look, when I’m not sitting at my keyboard writing the truth about what’s going on and what most sane people think but are afraid to say, (or as liberals call it, “hate speech”) I’m just like most people; I get up every day and do my best to eke out a living and keep a roof over my head and food on the table.  Every dollar I make and have to pay in taxes is soaked in sweat and blood; and while I recognize that taxes are necessary to keep critical services and infrastructure up and running, I am righteously incensed that the Congress would even consider bringing such a matter to the floor.  As if that wasn’t bad enough, the text was deliberately twisted and convoluted in such a manner so that like many Amendments that We the People get to vote on, it becomes hard to tell what the correct vote is. 

And that language manipulating is where much of my angst stems from today.  Was the wording of this bill a tad confusing..?  Perhaps..!  Should it really matter as far as the actual vote is concerned..?  No it should not..! 

While every one of them was disastrously wrong in doing so, one of the 24 Republican members of the House that voted the wrong way on this bill happens to be my Congressman, Brian Mast.  I know the Congressman and I like him and his family; I’ve interviewed him and been a guest in his home before he ever ran for office.  However, I cannot give him a pass on this vote and while showing angst at the others; what I have to say overshadows personalities.
 
Brian, you know me, and you know the group I associate with a great deal of the time; I don’t feel the need to mention their names, but they are all Patriots and people who worked their tails off to get you elected.  You may have noticed that at social and other gatherings, I very often tend stay off to one side of the room and just listen and observe.  While I don’t always say a lot, I do in fact listen intently to my peers and like the majority of them I am extremely put out at how you have handled this matter.

You voted “No” when you should have voted “Yes,” you then suddenly became aware of this inexcusable error and went on record stating that you made a mistake.  Mistake or not, your name is still listed in the “No” column and as far as I know, that won’t change; and even if it does, the damage of it is still done.

I call it inexcusable because damn it all to hell, we pay you and your fellow members of Congress a ridiculously huge full time salary for what most of us hardworking people see as a very part time schedule; you therefore should have had time to read the bill as many times as you needed to make sure you understood how it was written and what the proper vote should have been.  I even heard and became infuriated that you may have relied, as least partly, on staffers and subordinates who may have hidden agendas of their own; and none of whom any of us voted for.  We voted for you and we expect you to read and understand with certainty every piece of legislation that you will have to vote on.  We also expect, nay, we demand that you meet with us ahead of time, every time, to discuss what is coming up so that we can decide what our voice in DC does, not some staffer or lobbyist.

While I’m at it; I remain dismayed by your recent vote on giving a “pathway to citizenship” to illegals in exchange for military service.  Illegal means illegal, and we want US Citizens who love America serving, not anyone whose allegiance is questionable at best.  Also, while I’m not sure of all the details, I heard from a very reliable source that you were doodling something along the lines of waiting until illegals accumulated $5K in parking and traffic fines before sending them home?!  Seriously..?!  If not for the source, I would not even consider it plausible.  Pretty damn lame if you ask me, especially given that you know our positions regarding illegals very well.

Congressman Mast, my final thought is this; I’m just one guy with a keyboard; however I know I speak for many when I say we’re tired.  We’re tired of all of you saying one thing to get elected only to drink the DC water and go along with the crowd leaving our nation in chaos.  If you want to keep that high paying, cushy job, you need to represent us and what we want to have happen.  Take off your jacket, roll up your sleeves, get some blood on your knuckles, make some noise, and start kicking some Congressional asses.  You may be wearing a suit now and the battlefield may have turned into subdued marble halls, but you are a still a soldier who knows how to fight, and fight you must.

On a daily basis, separate yourself and look at everything you do as if you were a constituent looking over your shoulder at what you do.  If Brian Mast the constituent thinks that this or that is not what the vast majority of District 18 would like, no matter what sort of pressure or “compromise” is offered; don’t do it, because as you are seeing, we are getting less and less forgiving.

And remind the other members of Congress that you all work for us and it is our money you are squandering on such things as “gender reassignment” surgery while veterans can’t get so much as mediocre, let alone decent care and are committing suicide at alarming rates.  Damn it…! 

Thankfully, if that piece of trash bill does somehow make it through both houses, we have a real president now that will discard it with vigor.