What happens when our elected officials forget that they are subject to the will of the people? Unfortunately, not much. House members continue to boast an approximate 90 percent rate of reelection, despite their lack of answerability, and the American people suffer as a result.
In fact, elected officials have become more brazen with their blatant disregard for their constituents and make a mockery of the American people time and time again. There is no better example of such an elected official than House Democrat Peter Stark of California.
On June 29, Congressman Stark appeared at a town hall meeting where he publically mocked his constituents, specifically the Minutemen, a group of private individuals in the United States who monitor the U.S.–Mexican border’s flow of illegal immigrants.
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A self-identified Minuteman prepared to pose a question to the Congressman, but was sarcastically greeted by Stark’s inquiry: “Who are you going to kill today?”
Concerned citizens present at the meeting continued to push further on the issue of border patrol, and rather than engaging in a serious conversation with his constituents, Stark continued to mock those in his audience. “We can’t get enough Minutemen armed. We’d like to get all the Minutemen armed so they can stop shooting people here,” Stark remarked sarcastically.
As the audience grew angry, they insisted that Stark respond seriously.
He did.
“If you knew anything about our borders, you would know that’s not the case. Our borders are quite secure, thank you.”
It’s not too difficult to imagine that the audience was not thrilled with the way Congressman Spark addressed their questions. In fact, they jeered.
Stark then turned the question on his audience, asking one of the Minutemen what he would do to secure the border. To this, the Minuteman responded, “I would send about 25,000 troops for one thing and build a wall down so vehicles could not pass.”
Stark responded to this by suggesting that he and the Minuteman start a ladder company together so that they could build the wall, as long as the Minuteman promised not to shoot any of the people coming over.
The dialogue continued like this throughout the meeting. If you possess a strong tolerance for shameless insult, feel free to watch:
Unfortunately, the antagonism does not end there. In an interview with journalist Jan Helfeld, Stark continued to play the role of “know-it-all politician being unfairly subjected to inquiries by a far less intelligent person than he.”
The focus of the interview was the national debt, which, according to Stark, is an indication of American wealth.
Helfeld appeared confused by that statement.
In an effort to have Stark clarify his remark, he asked, “So why shouldn’t we borrow another trillion then next year?” Frighteningly, Stark responded, “we probably will.”
He then went on to ask his interviewer, “Did you ever study economics?”
Helfeld had, at the University of Puerto Rico.
Stark responded, “Oh the University of Puerto Rico? Do you have a doctorate in economics? A master’s degree? How many classes did you take? What I would suggest….”
When Helfeld attempted to disrupt the plethora of insults that Stark prepared to dish, Stark insisted that Helfeld was asking “simple-minded questions that don’t relate to the realities.”
Helfeld tried to regain control of the interview, but was told to “shut up for a minute” because he apparently was “blabbing away here about something you don’t know anything about.”
Agitated, Helfeld asked Stark to clarify his statements about the national debt once more: “So you think if the national debt increases, we become wealthier. So I don’t see why you don’t want to go for it — and go for two or three billion dollars."
Stark concluded, “It’s why you probably never graduated from a very good college, Jan. And I’m not going to take the trouble to educate you here”.
Here is the video of the interview Jan Helfeld posted on his website:
Notice that Stark concludes the interview by hurling an obscenity at Helfeld that most people would consider to be beneath the dignity of a member of the U.S. Congress: "Listen. You get the f*** out of here or I’ll throw you out the window!"
Representative Stark has served in Congress since 1973, when he ironically campaigned on the premise that his predecessor served for far too long. He is the founding member of the Progressive Congress and ultimately assigns belief to all things Progressive — universal health care, big government, freedom of choice, and a greener economy.
Above all, Stark seems to believe that he is far more intelligent and educated than the average American.
So what happens when elected officials forget that they are subject to the will of the people? It almost sounds like the start of a good joke.
Except this time, the joke is on the American people.
