If Cathy McMorris Rodgers Were Serious About Her Craft

I was recently pondering the lyrics to Hozier's Take Me To Church, said actions necessitated by the song becoming an earworm for me, when my reverie was interrupted by an email from Cathy McMorris Rodgers.

Friend, 

I need your feedback. 

For the last few years, our hands have been tied by a do-nothing, liberal Senate that stood in the way of allowing us to tackle the challenges facing our country. 

This last November, America rejected this continuing logjam and elected a record number of Republicans to the Senate. Now we have an incredible opportunity to get our ideas passed into law. 

We're hard at work crafting our legislative priorities for 2015, to build a better future for ourselves and our children -- but before we finalize anything we need your input. 

Please, can you take a minute to fill out our survey and share your ideas with us? 

Thanks for your help, 

Cathy McMorris Rodgers

She's asking me, her friend, for feedback.

She says the rejection of the logjam created by the liberal Senate is an incredible opportunity to get Republican party ideas passed into laws. We all know how many ideas Cathy McMorris Rodgers and her party have offered up over the years. You'll find the list on any blank sheet of paper.

Well, she's not going to let all that political capital, brought on by the lowest voter turnout since 1942, go to waste. But before she can finalize the crafting of her legislative priorities, she wants some input. And what better way to do that than to use technology and craft an online survey that offers up a wide variety of topics and choices to find out exactly what I and her other friends think should be her priorities.

Or not.

The survey consists of five questions.

She helpfully provides education, health care, Islamic terrorists, jobs, and taxes as high priority topics. And then there is the ominous Other. And concerning Obamacare, there's Other and the even more ominous other Other. And she thoughtfully provides a space in which you can share your thoughts, presumably addressing Other and the other Other, about any topic you like.

Topics like manufacturing a crisis using Social Security Disability Insurance beneficiaries, the greater threat of domestic rightwing extremists (PDF) as compared to Islamic terrorists, the increased militarization of our police forces, and law enforcement's ability to take your money or property without charging you with a crime and in spite of your innocence.

You know, specific topics. Topics you can research, discuss, and really do something about if you were serious about serving your constituents. If politics were your craft instead of robotic talking point performances and surveys thrown together with the skill of a fifth grader creating her first Powerpoint presentation.