Critics in Congress

John Ensign adds insult to injury by slapping back at his supporters. He rallied them together at my health club by questioning critics, “Resign? I am not going to resign. In fact, I am raising money to run for re-election. Go 2012! Come join me in Summerlin. I have got to warn you about health care costs that will increase if Obama gets his way.” I was invited to join John membership drive. Phone calls started arriving as soon as I signed in. Robo calls automated my number into a phone database that dialed my house automatically. Robo calls aren’t only expensive. They are annoying, terribly impersonal, and a cheap telemarketing tool. I will never forgive John Ensign for infecting my home phone line with his fund raising campaign based out of his fundraiser in Summerlin. The pastries and hot tea didn’t cut it. Few showed any interested in donating. Most were the same as me, engaged in listening to what the hypocrite caught in the act had to say. His mini-convention in Summerlin was clearly aimed at the rich. Summerlin is an expensive suburb to the northwest of Las Vegas. Wealth meets nice weather with a view of Red Rock Canyon right next to Summerlin. The area not only has the best air quality in Vegas, but families love to take their children to stables with horses nearby. Bicycles race amongst the best trails on the West Coast. Still Summerlin supporters were shy to buy the services John was selling to them in Summerlin. John thought his defiance would put his enemies in a defensive position, but critics laughed at his attempt to raise money from the supporters he screwed,  “Bend over as if this is a prison aerobics class and grab your ankles as I ask you to support me with more money.” Prison officials call this a shake down. Ensign probably looked at is as passive aggressive charm aimed at paying his legal expenses. Either way, the listeners knew the government was also listening. Federal investigators had so much evidence against this Senator asking for money in a small room with washed walls that appeared cleaner than laundered money washed after a skim in the casino. John Ensign was clearly running a campaign on arrogance if not ignorance if he thought the eye in the sky didn’t catch him stealing from the dice dealer. “I will not resign. I did nothing illegal. I seek your support for my re-election in 2012.” He repeated as if he was trying to convince himself of his own innocents. Please allow me to remind the reader a lesson consisting of time. Sixty seconds combine into a minute. Sixty minutes divide into an hour. This is what was flowing through my mind as I tried to convince myself that these wasted hours were worth every minute I was taking away from my wife, child, and day in Vegas. Costco Wholesaler was minutes away. I wanted to collect pennies of the ground to buy a hot dog for $1.25. I hoped to dig through the dust of my pocket to collect $2.00 for a slice of Costco pizza. John Ensign was annoying. The attention he raised got redirected. C Street members were being investigated. C Street authors were selling books on national broadcasts. John Ensign was bringing down a house of cards within the GOP, because he had to defy a Federal investigation by coming out to shout, “I am running in 2012. I will not resign.”