It may surprise some of you to know that one of the members of the U.S. Congress that I have the highest regards for is none other than Cong. Frank Wolf (R-Va.)
I am a Democrat.
I met Wolf while working at "The Shenandoah Valley-Herald" in Woodstock, Va., in 1999. I covered many stories regarding both his visits to Shenandoah County, which is now represented by Cong. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va) as a result of redistricting, and his frequent travels to Africa to promote human rights. His most stirring efforts were trips he took to Sierra Leone and The Sudan, which is now undergoing the Darfur Genocide crisis.
Wolf's efforts have caused some friction however.
In last week's edition of "The Sleuth," a "Washington Post" political column by Mary Ann Akers, it was disclosed that Wolf let members of a Chinese-American business delegation 'have it.'
The group had scheduled a conference with Wolf in his Capitol Hill office. While there, the men were confronted by Wolf with a video of human rights abuses that had occured in China.
The video showed Chinese police officers executing prisoners, and then harvesting their organs.
Wolf sent a letter to Condoleeza Rice in April listing a number of alleged horrors in both countries. The 10th District Congressman has also been an active advocate for stopping human rights abuses in Vietnam.
According to a more recent article in "The Post," journalists and religious group members are also jailed in Vietnam. The topic lead to a milder confrontation between George W. Bush and Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet when the later came to Washington, D.C., recently.
In other news, another Republican friend of mine Gary Frink, of Luray, Va., has a cameo in the new blockbuster "Evan Almighty," which is strangely being promoted by evangelist groups even though the film has a central environmental message in its theme!
Frink ran for Congress on at least two occasions while he was in Michigan. His first effort was as a Democrat, and his second as a Republican.
Frink made his feature film debut in the political comedy "The Contender" (2000) as ...........a member of Congress. Ironically, he is also playing a Congressman in "Evan Almighty" and a bird (which is really a special effect) flies over his head. "Evan," which was partially filmed in Charlottesville, Va., also marks the second time that Frink hashad a cameo in a movie with Morgan Freeman as he was also in the thriller "Along Comes a Spider" (2000).
I recalled that Frink was on a web site that was called "Politcal Graveyard." That particular web site dealt with politicians of the past and what had happened to them. I found a site (which I will provide a link for below) that was also called "The Political Graveyard," but it actually lists the burial sites of dead politicians. Frink is thankfully still alive and well.
However, I imagine my uncle Eric Robinson of Tallahassee, Fla., who actually enjoys visiting old graveyards as a hobby might take an interest in the later site.
We actually spent an entire afternoon in Georgetown, SC, watching Eric take in his hobby. I think each of us would have rather spent it at the beach, even though we visited that coastal town in mid-December.
Useful links:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sleuth
http://www.politicalgraveyard.com
There is an earlier entry on Frink in the archives edition of this blog, which detailed his travels to over 100 countries. I think I've been to 20 or so. I'm not sure of the exact number because we visited Yugoslavia when I was a kid. It was one country back then................oh well!
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