A Response from Congressman Joyce...

Rep. Joyce, of Altoona, Pa., is seen here supporting the SAVE Act because, clearly, there were problems in the election he won.

I wanted you all to know that I had gotten a response, sort of, from my Congressman after I'd first written him a letter and then later went to visit his 6th Street, Altoona, office. My list of grievances against our current government are many and serious as you can see by reading the entire massacre in the above links. So imagine my shock when, after having visited the office and found the staff hiding behind locked doors and leaving only a contact sheet on a clip-board in the lobby, I got a phone call from Congressman Joyce's office. Now. To be fair. You all have to know that people who work in our representatives' offices tend to be very nice people and they tend to be very helpful. Back in my days as a minimum wage journalist for The Progress, in Clearfield, I found the offices at many legislators' offices to be top notch folks, very helpful and important in many local issues. The lucky guy who was nominated to call me back was named Matt. That's all I know about him except that he had been an intern in the office last year. This led me to try to imagine more about Matt. I suspected that he either just graduated from high school or perhaps from a local Crim J or Poly-Sci program. I imagined that Matt was old enough to drink, but only just. Kidding aside... well.... I'm not kidding... Matt was nice enough and non-committal enough to handle a wise-ass like myself on the phone. And, honestly, I merely wanted to impress on a staffer how little I thought of, say, warrantless arrests without cause or recourse to the law. If you've read my letter above, and Matt told me he had my letter up in front of him on a computer screen and it had been passed back down from the main office in D.C. for him to refer to. "So, if you've read my letter, Matt, you know what I'm on about, right?" He said he understood. He did not say they would do anything about it. Nor that Dr. (he was a dermatologist, I'm told) Rep. Joyce would, you know, take any kind of stand against the illegal arrest and disappearing of people who are legally in this country. Of course, Matt is not paid to have an opinion, nor, apparently, to explain his boss's position on the matter. I felt bad for Matt. I mean, here's a guy just holding the bag, man, listening to a retired police detective's frustration over miscarriages of the law that, had I committed them, would have cost me my service weapon and landed me on desk duty until the date of impending dismissal.

But, you know, Matt was a good egg. He was kind enough. Non-committal enough. And he listened to me at least.... Probably while the rest of the staff down in D.C. were having a good laugh at his expense. But, you know what else? Here is the answer I got:

NOTHING. I might as well have been putting my thumb up my ass. I mean, here's a Congressman's office who is being told to hide behind locked doors and only talk to people by phone. That's how scared Dr. Representative John Joyce is of actually having a conversation about or, God forbid, taking a stand over the illegal abduction of people in this country and the spiriting them off to an American Gulag in El Salvador.

HOW is it possible NOT to have a white paper somewhere on your website against this kind of shit. But no. The only feedback I get is Dr. Representative Joyce's ridiculous newsletter (photo at the top). I get the Republican party news propaganda just fine. Here is a quote from a recent one, where he was supporting this thing called the SAVE act.

"This week, I delivered remarks on H.R. 22, the SAVE Act, legislation to strengthen our nation's voting laws and require proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections. The SAVE Act also requires states to create a program to remove non-citizens from current voter rolls. 

During the previous administration, millions of illegal immigrants flooded into our country, threatening the security of our communities and our elections." I'm gonna go Doctor Representative Joyce one better than he's done for me. Here's what I think of the SAVE act. First, readers can go HERE to find out what is required to vote in Pennsylvania. I'll save you the click. To register to vote in Pennsylvania, you must:

• Be a citizen of the United States for at least one month before the next primary, special, municipal, or general election.

• Be a resident of Pennsylvania and the election district in which you want to register and vote for at least 30 days before the next primary, special, municipal, or general election. 

• Be at least 18 years of age on or before the day of the next primary, special, municipal, or general election.

As you can see, it is already a requirement that you be a citizen of the United States in order to vote. So, my question to Doctor Representative Joyce is, "Why do you find it necessary to pass a law requiring citizenship to vote when it is ALREADY A LAW?"

Never mind that Trump has also just last month signed one of his special edicts requiring an overhaul of a voting system that never wronged him. Trump's order seeks to dramatically shift authority over elections to the executive branch of the federal government.... Yeah, no conflict of interest there... And a federal judge has only today (Thursday, 4.24) blocked key portions of the edict while three other lawsuits against it continue. For those out there who suspect that the elections are being somehow stolen, I'm alleging that YOU are being seriously misinformed. When someone goes to vote, they sign in, right? And the board of elections signs you in beside your name in the voter roles. Your name doesn't get in the voter roles unless you PROVE you are a CITIZEN!!! Are ya with me, here, people? Oh, I hear you already. "What about all those mail in ballots?" Ok. I got you. You don't GET a mail-in ballot unless you request one from your voter registration office. These votes come in in a timely manner and are accounted for by the county election office so that a single voter, having voted by mail, and being marked as such on the voter roles, may not come and vote again in person on election day. Oh, I hear you already. "What about someone printing off ballots and sneaking them into the counting center? Ok. One more time. Votes, when cast in person, are put into a secure voting box. That box is audited at the precinct and again at the county election office. This ensures that there are not more votes than registered voters. LISTEN: It is practically impossible to "stuff" a ballot box and throw an election with fraudulent votes. Now. I know I've traveled far from my original problem with Doctor Representative Joyce. But, again, all I DO get from him is the nonsense he puts in his "newsletter." But this nonsense about the SAVE act is germane to our discussion about unlawful arrests. So let's think now. Let's put our heads together. If it is at least highly unlikely, if not practically impossible, to throw an election with fraudulent votes, what is the purpose for HR 22 the SAVE Act?

My first guess is that such suggested laws help lend credence to Trump's big lie, that the 2020 election was somehow stolen, despite the fact that no evidence to support such a claim has ever been born out despite 63 unsuccessful lawsuits brought by Trump. Hmmmm. Why WOULD Trump bring a lawsuit and not provide any evidence? My second guess is to stoke hatred of minorities, particularly Latinos, and use them as the hated outsider or scapegoat that our elections apparently have to be SAVED from. But, you know, I have a third guess. And it's possible all three are true. My third guess is that Doctor Representative Joyce has to somehow publicly show that he's all aboard the Gravy Train that is Trumpism. My hunch is that The Golden Don doesn't intend to leave office... So federal control of elections might just be what he's after. And maybe, just maybe its that my representative in Congress is actually down with this particular sickness. I have to guess, because he just won't say. I can't believe that anyone who is educated would accept the extra-judicial arrests of anyone along with their rendering to an out of country black site. I can't believe that anyone who is educated and understands how elections work can get behind the real election fraud that is Trumpism. I can't believe that anyone who is educated thinks it is a good idea to cut 80,000 jobs from the Veterans' Administration, that neutering Medicaid and Social Security, zeroing out the dangerous threat that is Head Start, closing State and National Parks across the land and making illegal use of every American's health, tax and social security information.

And you suckers thought you'd get cheaper eggs.