Well, THAT waa a disappointment.

I expected an answer from my congressman.

I expected an evasive, buck-passing, worthless answer, but still some recognition that there is an issue here that he needed to finesse.

No. He blew me off. 

U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz

I wrote Republican U.S. Representative Cliff Bentz, my Oregon Second District congressman -- twice -- with the same request. Both times I used the official web page request form to ask Bentz whether he supported President Donald Trump's settlement agreement with the IRS that would awarded Trump $1.776 billion to give to January 6 rioters and anyone else Trump's appointees chose. The Congress has the "power of the purse" if they choose to exercise it. 

My presumption is that it would be an uncomfortable question for Bentz or for any other Republican senator or Representative. In the world after Trump's opposition to Rep. Thomas Massie (KY), Senators John Cornyn(TX) and Bill Cassidy (LA), and the Indiana state senators, there can be no question in Bentz' mind that open disagreement with Trump could be fatal to his career. A vaguely-positive non-committal mumble might be OK, but there is no way Bentz can say aloud that he understands it to be an outrageous self-dealing corrupt theft.

But if your political office gives Bentz, and every other Republican representative and senator, the power to stop an outrage, by speaking out against it and becoming part of a voting block to stop the slush fund deal, but he does nothing, then Bentz and the others are politically accountable for their inaction. They should have to explain themselves.

Here is the letter I got in response. I will summarize it because I expect readers to skim it, then give up and stop reading. He says that Trump told us he would issue executive orders and that Trump is trying to stop wasteful spending on programs that people like but we cannot afford. There is nothing whatever about the $1.776 billion slush fund deal. Zero.

I consider Trump a dangerous autocrat, a narcissistic sociopath who is corrupting our politics. He has profound character flaws and he is acting them out. He is being genuine to his character.

I have contempt, though, for craven representatives and senators who enable Trump to be his worst self. I presume that Cliff Bentz knows better. I presume that he has the moral sense that this self-dealing is wrong, that this deal stinks to high heaven. Surely in his former law practice he would refuse to help a client who has some public trust to do anything similar. 

I doubt Trump feels guilty for what he does. Since he is a narcissisic sociopath, he feels entitled to take whatever he can take. But Bentz is not blinded by mental illness. Bentz is protecting himself, doing the wrong thing out of selfishness and fear for his career. Americans in public jobs show selfless courage and duty every day. Police. Firefighters. People in the military. They put their lives on the line. Meanwhile Cliff Bentz lets Trump do as he wants and does nothing. It is beyond disappointing. 

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