My so-called representative, who represents me by dint of Republicans having redrawn district boundaries in an unnatural manner so as to dilute Democratic influence, yes, that person, Mark Meadows of the 11th District in North Carolina — a district more carefully carved than your last prime rib — look at it! — yes, Mark Meadows, one of the six congresspersons from my state of North Carolina to vote against ending the government shutdown, this French-born, Florida-grown (not that I would otherwise hold this against him, if only he seemed more French) person happens to be my representative.

I say “happens to be” with purpose.  I get it about majorities and minorities and that one cannot always be part of the majority when you live in a democracy.  But when one has moved to a place to take part in a point of view generally held by those living in that place, and when political machinery later dismantles that point of view, not by advancing a better idea but simply by dividing up the adherents of the majority viewpoint… well, one (and by one I mean moi) cannot help but feel cheated.

If Mark Meadows were to advance politically in Washington, D.C., a la Frank Underwood, may I assure you it will have little to do with the thousands he is supposed to represent here in his district, and a lot to do with the thousands contributed to his campaign by the likes of Drake Enterprises (CEO Phil Drake describes himself as “somewhere to the right of Jesse Helms”) and the Koch Brothers (who need no parenthetical explanation).

I disavow my representative and not simply because I didn’t vote for him.  My vote and my voice were taken away from me, by cynical forces who disrespect how I think, with no consideration of what I think or how I, or others in this community, have chosen to vote.

I take that back.  Those forces considered it.  And that is exactly why they dismantled it.  Congressman Mark Meadows, if you dislike government so much, why did you bother to get into it?  Or do you just go where the money flows?

Those were rhetorical questions.