By Wayne Adkins

The Freedom Caucus is a group of about 40 extremists on the fringe of the GOP in the House of Representatives. They have brought work in the House to a screeching halt and left them in a situation where nobody capable of being speaker wants to be and those who want to be aren’t capable. Why? Because they and their constituents do not understand what the word “representation” means. They seem to think it means winning. If they don’t get their way they feel like their representative didn’t do their job. If they don’t get their way through making persuasive arguments and following normal voting procedures they want to shut everything down and create a crisis as a way to force their will on the majority. That’s not representation, that’s a tantrum.

Let me put it this way. American citizens have a right to be represented in court when they are charged with a crime. Representation is even provided when a defendant cannot afford it. It is a right. But you are not guaranteed a right to WIN in court. That is an absurd notion. You and your representative must MAKE YOUR CASE. If you fail to make your case you can’t replace the judge or the jury foreman or shut down the courthouse until you get your way and you certainly can’t claim you weren’t being represented. You were represented. You just lost. You failed to persuade the jury of your peers.

In your district you are entitled to representation in Congress. You have a right to vote for the representative of your choice and let them know what your views are. That representative has a right to sponsor legislation which promotes their constituents agenda. That representative has a vote on legislation that their constituents favor or oppose. What they don’t have is a right to win. To win, you must make your case. You must make your case to citizens across the country so that they compel their representatives to join yours in voting a certain way. If you can’t do that, you lose. But you can’t say you weren’t represented. You can’t say that your representative didn’t do their job. You can’t take hostage the entire government and the services it provides to all of it’s citizens and force your will on the majority. That’s not how representation works. If you can’t make your case you deserve to lose. If you don’t understand that simple concept then you deserve to be marginalized. The rest of us are not willing to be held captive to your stupidity.