You Can't Write My Congressman

Ever have one of those moments when "The System" has you stymied beyond helplessness?  A company whose voicemail can not be negotiated?  A bank that will not let you talk to a person?  A customer service line that does not have a menu choice that pertains to your issue?  (believe me, I do tech support and try calling back someone you are trying to help and you can't get through the gate at his company.  UGGH!)

I tried to email Rahm Emmanuel today.  He's from Illinois.  I'm from Louisiana.  I don't know how to do it.

The congressional web pages for members of Congress are all form driven and you are not really emailing them when you fill out the form, you are just filling out a web form with a content field.  And the forms ALL prevent anyone outside the district from emailing the congressman (or senator).  How insular is THAT???  It wasn't like this a year ago.  I recall emailing Lieberman and Biden and Hastert and 'em as recently as 6 months ago right from their web forms.  But NO LONGER!!  (RANT, RANT!!)  I want an email address for Joe Congressman that I can plug into my Outlook "To:" box and send from my email client directly to his office.  

I happened to be really pissed at Emanuel today for his vocal condinual disparagement of Dean's 50 state strategy and how, now that the strategy has been successful, that DCCC skunk is claiming credit for it.  What a low class Schmuck that guy is...Just like a Republican.

So I am finding that, even if I search Google for that underground congressional email list that I know MUST exist (probably maintained by a misanthropic curmudgeon of a Washington insider who wants to expose the Ivory Toweroids to the public's inter-district wrath) every list I turn up leads to links to MY CONGRESSMAN's web form.  This form has a zip code field that will prevent YOU from emailing MY representative if you aren't from the right place.  I know I could fake a zip code but, damn it, I want Emanuel to know who the hell I am and what I think of him down here in good old Louisi-freakin-ana.

It's rigged so that only "the constituents" can get in.  And I don't CARE how many emails they would get.  It's their JOB to vote on things that affect ME and if they piss me off enough, I'll come into their friggin state and campaign to get them out.  I can't stand the fact that these people don't want to hear from out of staters.  

So if YOU know of a regularly maintained list of the ACTUAL EMAIL ADDRESSES (no links) of Congressmen and Senators, please attach a link and make my day.  ANd then, (heh, heh, heh) let us all email Emanuel and his DCCC (or DSCC) ilk and let them know that we're on to them and their opportunistic dishonesty.  They had better start crediting Dean for his aggressive approach because, though they may not know who their friends are, he IS their friend.