As I continue to find more 1966 correspondence to and from the office of Gerald R. Ford, House minority leader and future president, I sometimes wonder whether his staff had realized they were putting all of this effort forth for a teenager who couldn't vote, not to mention I was not a Michigan resident. Then again, as minority leader, I suppose his office routinely accommodated the nation.
This issue of voting districts does raise a sore point with me. Back in the day, when I often wrote congressional members all over the country, each and every one of them responded in writing. These days, should a writer not be eligible to vote in their district, they frequently refuse to reply or they send you a form letter stating that "congressional courtesy" requires your correspondence be forwarded to your own representative. Congressional representatives in alarming numbers seem to have forgotten that they work for all U.S. citizens, not for just the few held dearest merely because they either vote locally or (a bigger problem yet) they contribute tons of campaign money. But why belabor the obvious?
This time around, an Air Force Colonel responds to Mr. Ford on my behalf regarding Air Force policy, and there are no surprises here -- unless one raises an eyebrow over the officer's apparent policy of not signing letters directed to members of Congress.
How peculiar, though. I'm inclined to end today's entry with the words, Quoth the raven. . ."Nevermore."
