Another election is coming up, and my mailbox is getting swamped with political ads. I have come to view them all with contempt.

In my 56 years, I have written my Florida congressmen maybe four or five times. I never received one whit of assistance from any of them.

The last instance was the most galling. In 2008, I and scores (hundreds?) of other Defense Department contractors lost our jobs when U.S. Forces Korea and Contract Command Korea reinterpreted a USFK regulation and decided retroactively that they should never have given us status of forces agreement status because they had been “misinterpreting” said regulation for the last 10 to 15 years.

All of the affected contractors I know wrote their congressmen, but nothing was done, and USFK got away with it.

The only conclusion I can draw is that USFK can pretty much do as it pleases without fear of congressional interference.

I no longer live under the illusion that I have any representation in U.S. government. And if I no longer believe I have any representation, then what is the point in voting?

I’ve voted in every election since high school, but I won’t be voting this year. Nor any other year. I’m done.