I called the office of Senator Ron Wyden, D-OR, to ask whether he has placed a hold on S.2590, the bill that will show the public who and/or what is getting money from earmarks. Honestly, I expected “No, he hasn’t, and we’ve answered that question many times already,” because the blogsophere has scoured this story to death this week. I was a nervous little constituent, never having called an elected official’s office before. With the previous elimination of all the senators but Stevens, it was a low-odds gig that D-OR was the correct D-.

I called, a staffer answered on the first ring, and after stating my question, I got an answer that sounded like, if I’d been in the room with him, he would have been gazing off someplace over my left shoulder as he replied in a distant voice, “Um, not that I know of,” went on to ask the name of my blog, and said he would look for the person in the press office who could answer that question. She wasn’t available. I declined to leave a message and said I would call back later. I will, after lunchtime in D.C. Hopefully with a little more backbone.

Or maybe I won’t. As I wrote this, Allah got the word that Red State got the word that the culprit is Byrd. Oh well–I made my call. Go me, participating in the legislative process. Or at least getting a staffer to trot out “Not that I know of” while looking for somebody to hand me off to. Woo!