I had the distinct honor to watch PBS' Memorial Day presentations honoring our service members. One segment, an "Honor Flight" from Pensacola to Washington as veterans visited the various war memorials, was outstanding.

The reactions of the 90-year-old men revisiting their memories as they paid respects to their "heroes," men who gave their all to their country, were honest and sincere. Through tears, I was humbled beyond belief. These service people were from the melting pot of democracy and as Americans, they went where they were sent to do their bit to preserve our freedoms, for those freedoms do not come free.

Their sacrifices made while doing their job for our country caused me to reflect on the job President Barack Obama, Congress and politicians in general are doing and have done to our country. I think if we asked veterans to reflect, they would say, "what in the devil have you done to my country and the lives of the citizens?"

You go to D.C. to represent your constituents. But do you? Your straight-line party votes leads me to believe you represent the winners. How do you get to D.C.? Your party offers you as their candidate and you proceed to vilify your opponent.

History tells us that to raise to power, one needs enemies. You derive your self-assurance from them. When no enemies exist, no effort will be spared to create them. Who do we vote for to get honest and sincere representation?

The approach in D.C. is that government can legislate away problems. So we get new legislation. There is nothing really new in politics and resolutions have been tried before. Some worked, some almost worked and others failed outright. Previous attempts are not considered, so we lose the learning curve that was created.

To present your case to the people, you have no problem in clouding the issue, even using outright lies. You belittle people trying to do the right thing and laugh at them.

Obama's performance in El Paso, Texas, when talking about immigration, was despicable. His actions and superior attitude reminded me of what happened in Nazi Germany. A German scientist, working out of place in a post office, figured out that uranium could be converted to a fission weapon. Thank God the Nazi "bigwigs" laughed at him and threw out his suggestion.

Anyone with business common sense knows you never know where the next million-dollar suggestion will come from. A mighty oak grows from a little acorn.

Compare the job you do with the job our service members did and do. They risk their futures and their lives for our country. Can't you risk your futures by being honest and truthful?

If you can't answer yes to that question, get out of Washington. You owe us.

By the way, how are you going to vote on your cost of living raise due to come up? Enough said.

Virginia Koesters
Gainesville