Congressional

Arrogance

(Conceit – Self-importance – Condescension)

Congressman to Constituents: You Don’t Pay My Salary

An Oklahoma congressman was caught on video telling constituents that the notion that they pay his salary is “bullcrap” — a remark that has not exactly boosted his popularity. 

“You say you pay for me to do this,” Mullin said. “Bullcrap. I pay for myself. I paid enough taxes before I got there [Congress] and continue to through my company to pay my own salary. This is a service. No one here pays me to go.” 

That response did not go over well with the crowd. Some attendees began shouting back at Mullin, who added, “I’m just saying this is a service for me, not a career, and I thank God this is not how I make my living.” 

To be fair, the thrice-elected Mullin has encountered a great deal of (often organized) opposition at recent public events, a problem common to Republican elected officials since the election of President Donald Trump. According to the Tulsa World, he also had an altercation with an attendee at a March 31 town hall in Pryor, Oklahoma, when that person insisted on holding up a red piece of paper to indicate her disagreement with his comments. Although at first it appeared that Mullin was going to have her ejected from the premises, he ultimately backed down, realizing he was “play[ing] right into their [protestors’] hands.” He canceled a Tuesday-evening town hall, citing safety concerns, although “attendees had already entered the building,” noted McClatchy. 

His frustration is therefore understandable. 

Unfortunately for Mullin, words uttered in frustration often reveal the true character lurking beneath the speaker’s carefully crafted public persona 

— and what Mullin’s remark reveals about him isn’t pretty.

 DYI