I guess for me my cynicism comes from Hastert, and for you it's Emil Jones. Funnily enough, I've actually met dear old Emil a couple of times at events (mostly when I was still too young to drive and didn't really have the faintest idea who he was). All I can say about him is: man, that guy can really give a party! All the IL delegates to the Convention at Chicago '96-- on a boat at Navy Pier. He was smiling at the door and said hi to everyone, especially the kids like me.

I'm not familiar with the exact issue you mention, though. And despite our close, longtime friendship (hee hee!) I'm not going to try to defend Emil Jones. I am going to say that you can't judge the entire political system and the entire political process by one or two people you don't like, or even by idiotic remarks made by the powerful, when they really ought to know better. If you find someone who isn't open to public input, then by all means, find other people to voice your input to (though you can always cc the people who are poor at listening, just in case you catch them on a good day).

There are tons of politicians who disagree with me, but who will still give my views a respectful hearing if I voice them to them. There are tons of politicians who have not formulated particular views on lots of issues, especially if they are new ones or issues that haven't been co-opted by a particular set of interest groups or a party. For instance, I wouldn't recommend that you waste much of your time writing to Congresspeople about abortion- if they haven't come down one way or the other on it by the time they're in office, then they're keeping their mouth shut strategically, and anyway, they probably have an opinion that's set in stone, because it's something that every Rep. has to consider and decide on very early in the political process.

Fuel efficiency for cars, though? This is the kind of thing you write Congress about! Solar power? Global warming? Wind energy? Research funding? It's not a litmust test- if someone hasn't considered it much or in many ways, and you get in first with a well-reasoned argument, you're as likely to have an impact in their opinion as anything else. Use your power as a voter.

I always say- People who don't vote, shouldn't complain. But there's a corollary to that. People who don't communicate with the people they have elected to represent them, have acquiesced in anything that is done on their behalf without their input.