Say what you will about Joe Courtney, you must admit that he writes a good letter. I’ll bet that as a child he wrote home every day from summer camp. Baseball, swimming, paddling those tippy canoes, archery, woods lore - none could tempt him away from his pen and paper. If we could step back in time, we’d see Joe sitting in the dining hall, chewing the eraser off of his pencil while he waited for the camp counselor to come tell him what to write about. When he wasn’t spending hours waiting for directions, Joe probably walked around the camp, looking for things to put in his bag to take home: old birds’ nests and feathers, shiny rocks, peeled birch bark . . .

All grown up now and Joe’s still churning out the letters. What has he been up to lately? Let’s see. I know, Joe recovered 4.6 million dollars from the IRS and SS Administration for Connecticut residents. Super, but how long have you been in office, Joe? Wouldn’t it have been better if you had persuaded congress members to help you clean up those agencies long ago instead of crowing about recovering money? Kinda nice for citizens to keep their dollars and not have to forfeit a house or a car while waiting for you to save the day. Besides, under Joe Biden, the cash you claim to have recovered is worth a lot less when the checks hit your constitutions’ mailboxes, so a net loss for them no matter how you look at it.

Let’s talk about food. Joe informs us that he’s busy working on the Young Farmers’ Success Act. Hey, I’m with Joe there. Farming and food have been important to me for years. I got all excited and looked up that bill . . . uh, it has been on the table since 2015. Seven years and you’re still working on it, Joe? Doesn’t matter if you really do care, small farmers don’t seem to be a priority for your party. No, they tend to like industrial farming. Now that’s where the big money is, if you know what I mean. Which brings me back to my usual point. Compliant Joe’s successes are engineered by his party: he rubber stamps what he’s told to approve, and they send Joe home with the goodies they want him to distribute.

Aren’t you tired of it all, Joe? Jump on the train, go home, and rest; maybe write your memoirs. Don’t worry about a thing. Mike France is ready to go to Washington and get to work.