"The dam broke and my obscenities poured out in a torrent.
For a bit of humor or when alone you might rarely catch me, but I had never toss an F-bomb directly at a person in anger. But this was a member of the legislature and he had just made one of our young interns cry.
He had abusively refused to answer her questions on our Courage Test.
My phone call to him started off well enough. He accepted my apology for any error he felt we had made in approaching him and then I said, “You know you sound like a reasonable fellow, someone like me who has been around the block a few times.” He said, yes, that he certainly had. I continued with, “I don’t know if you are like me, but I often feel like the older I get the less sure I am of anything, but I can say this, the one thing I am absolutely certain of is that……..you, sir, are a F*%#* A##hole…” Thus, my torrent began and continued until I heard the click.
Sometimes our staff has to suffer the slings and arrows of unreasonable, often irrational, candidates in order to get the goods on them in their struggle to defend citizens with the facts.
Although I instantly regretted losing my temper, I was not sad that the young lady and most of the rest of our interns and staff had heard me. I was happy that they knew I was 110% on their side and no one would abuse them as harshly as I would abuse their abuser.
Some of you reading this might understand how thankless and difficult their job is and join Vote Smart with your own F-bomb. F as in Funding, that is.
Please help us if you can."
Richard Kimball
Vote Smart President
Vote Smart is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing accurate, unbiased information and making it accessible to all. Our expenses are paid entirely by donations. If you would like to support us defend democracy and fight ignorance, please help us if you can. Every dollar makes a difference.
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