COP on the Hill: Stories from the weeks of late July, 2023

Stories from the weeks of late July, 2023

Special Cops Project:

I participated in the 50th anniversary of the River-to-River ride called RAGBRAI in beautiful, downtown Iowa. This year I had about 29,000 bicycle people as companions of whom I had about 300 rolling chats during the 413 miles I rode. Another 200 or so road by and simply yelled I agree with your shirt.  My best chats were with three doctors, two pharmacists and a young cop from Arkansas who reminded me of myself 40 years ago.     It was like doing 1-2 Rotaries every day.

Because I was going so slowly at 11 to 12 MPH (average speed of biker was about 16 mph), I estimate a good 15 to 20,000 read the message. The rhythm was about every 8 minutes, someone would slow down, ask why, chat for 1-5 minutes and they would speed off…Note: after the first hundred soybean and corn fields to look at and admire, there is not much to do, when riding a bicycle across Iowa.

I very much enjoyed meeting and conversing with regular people from all 50 states and several countries. This in contrast to the atmosphere and be careful with every word you say, when I go to work in Congress. I did not enjoy the weather, as temperatures reached into the mid-90s. On the worst day – 83 miles, I drank 2 gallons of water and Gatorade and never peed!!  Cowboy Up!

My fiancé was very happy I did not end becoming a FORD (found on roadside dead)!!

Personal Note:  I learned how to say in Ukraine:  F*** Russia!! and All Glory to Ukraine !!

Weekly Activities:

RAGBRAI – 7 days + my travel time

98 Radio Interviews:  01 this week;  Houston Station

COP stats since inception: August 2009

362 personal chats with a Member of Congress… 0 this week

4029 Presentations to Congressional staffers… 0 this week…

441 chats with other elected officials, state reps, senators, VIPs, etc   0 this week

Meetings

109 Appearances/Interviews on major TV/Radio/Print media. 0 This week.

215 interviews and reports in minor media …0 this week –

33 major conferences attended – CPAC 2023, (3 UN drug conferences in Vienna, Austria),  LULAC, NRA, CBC, ASA, DPA, Dem & Repub. Presidential conventions., National Review, Republican Annual Retreat etc.) 0 this week

in the past – Blaze TV {new, popular right-wing}, (Fox, ABC, CBS, NBC, Univision, BBC, CNN, NPR, OAN, German, Swiss, French, Spanish TV and radio) Detroit News, Detroit Free Press, Grand Rapids Press + 9 other MI papers. Chicago Tribune, Honolulu Star Advertiser {foto and caption}, Reason Magazine, Reuters

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