I get e-mails from President Trump. I get e-mails from Kamala Harris. I get e-mails from the RNC and the DNC. I don’t know how these organizations got my email address but the messages keep coming. Usually they ask for money. I don’t send any. These political machines already get way too much money for the purpose of spreading their propaganda. I don’t send money but the emails keep coming.

I also get e-mails from U.S. Rep. Nick Langworthy. Langworthy’s regular emails include an update on his work in the House of Representatives on the part of his constituents. These missives contain statements of Langworthy’s support of Trump’s policies. The messages are also filled with much deserved criticism directed toward the Democratic Party. But Langworthy’s messages place all the problems with government at the feet of the Democrats when there is plenty of bipartisan blame to go around. I do wish that one party was as perfect as Langworthy proclaims the Republicans to be. That would make choices about who to support and who to vote for easy. But I recognize the smell of taurus excrement when I read it.

I recently received an e-mail from Langworthy’s office that contained a four-question survey. Each question asked the respondent to choose one of two responses. The flawed survey was designed so that anyone answering the questions could be recorded as being in favor of one of Trump’s controversial policies. At the end of the survey, the message encouraged individuals with questions about the survey to contact Langworthy’s office. Phone numbers were left below the message. I called Langworthy’s Jamestown office. No one answered the phone. A pleasant voice encouraged callers to leave a brief message and someone would get back to them. I left the message that I wanted to discuss the survey with someone and I gave my cell phone number. After a couple of days I hadn’t gotten a call back. I called again. Once again, no one answered the phone. I left another message. It’s been a couple of months now. Still no call back about the survey.

Even more recently I received an e-mail inviting me to join one of Langworthy’s telephone town halls. I enthusiastically signed up. I received a phone call that evening asking me to join the town hall meeting. I joined the meeting and indicated that I wanted to ask Mr. Langworthy a question. I was excited when someone picked up right away and asked me what questions I had for Representative Langworthy. The screener sounded a bit disappointed when I told him that I had three quick easy yes or no questions for our Representative.

My three questions for Mr. Langworthy were:

— Did president Trump win the 2020 election?

— Is the U.S. at war with Iran?

— Would Langworthy support legislation keeping Senators and Representatives from being paid for as long as there is a government shutdown?

When I asked the call screener how soon I might be able to ask Langworthy my questions, he responded with, “I have no idea.” I do think the call screener knew exactly when I would be able to speak to our esteemed Representative. That would be in a word, never. I guess the screener didn’t like my questions. Maybe they were too hard to answer with a yes or a no? I sat through the entire town town hall meeting thinking that as quickly as I was put into the town hall question queue, I would surely get a chance to ask my three simple questions.

I listened to some bigoted people talk at length about immigrants. At one point Langworthy had to ask one of the callers, “Is there a question in there somewhere?” To his credit, Langworthy did make some statements condemning racism while pointing out that Muslim Americans are valuable members of our society and have made some outstanding contributions to America. But Langworthy never shut down or corrected the racist bigoted comments of one of the callers. I listened to the entire town hall and patiently waited for my turn to ask my queries. I never got the chance to ask my three simple questions.

At the end of the town hall, I received a message stating that Langworthy’s team was grateful for my questions and sorry that they didn’t get to them. I was asked to leave a brief message with my questions and told that someone would get back to me. Two days after the town hall, I called Langworthy’s Jamestown office and left another message.

Seems no one ever answers the phone there. Two days after leaving that message, I called the office again. Not because I thought someone would actually pick up the phone. I wanted to document for the purpose of writing this article that no matter what time of day that you call Representative Langworthy’s office, no one answers the phone. And, no matter how nicely requested, messages asking for a return call are ignored.

Surprisingly, minutes after drafting this article with a different conclusion, I received a return call from Langworthy’s office. I had a very pleasant conversation with one of Langworthy’s staffers. After exchanging some pleasantries and discussing people in our lives who we had in common, the Langworthy staff member politely recorded my questions and promised a prompt response from representative Langworthy. Probably in writing.

Less than 48 hours after this phone conversation, I received three separate e-mails from Representative Langworthy. The three separate e-mails contained a written letter attachment addressing each of my three questions. Oddly enough not one of the written responses that I received from Representative Langworthy contained the words yes or no.

In his answer to question 1 Langworthy wrote that he “recognized” Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States. Langworthy went on to write about the irregularities of the 2020 election, the unfair media coverage of Trump’s campaign, the alleged Russian collusion, Hunter Biden’s laptop and the weaponization of the Justice Department. Absent a yes or no, I have to ask Langworthy again. Did Donald Trump win the 2020 election?

In his answer to question 2 Langworthy wrote of his support for President Trump’s military actions in the Middle East and his support for our troops while condemning Iran’s oppressive government and state sponsored acts of terrorism. But Langworthy couldn’t or wouldn’t answer my question with a yes or a no. Is the U.S. at war with Iran?

In his answer to question 3 our representative wrote about the proposed No Budget, No Pay act up for consideration in the House of Representatives. Langworthy also wrote that he “requested his pay be withheld for the duration of the government shutdown at the beginning of fiscal year 2026.” While “requesting” his pay be withheld during the shutdown is a seemingly admirable action, there were no details as to if and how Langworthy’s pay was actually withheld. And once again, his reply to my question did not contain a yes or no answer. Does Langworthy support No Budget, No Pay for the entire US Congress?

I have to admit that it is foolish to expect a straight answer, or any answer at all for that matter, from a politician. I am puzzled as to why, after months of being ignored, all of a sudden Representative Langworthy’s office is interested in responding to my questions. Perhaps his staffers figured that I was going to keep bothering them until someone got back to me? I prefer to think that a Langworthy staffer recognized my name and realized that unlike my previously ignored attempts to contact his office, I now have a column in the OBSERVER. Who knew that the power of the pen and an OBSERVER column might carry such weight?

In a recent letter, Marcia Westling Johnson called out Langworthy for his dubious claims that his Jamestown office had to be closed due to “safety concerns.” Langworthy sounds an awful lot like Fredonia Mayor Michael Ferguson speaking about restricting public comment at Fredonia Village Board meetings for “safety concerns.” Doesn’t he? Langworthy’s Jamestown office was quietly reopened when an investigation raised serious questions about that claim. At the end of her opinion piece Westling-Johnson also had three questions for Langworthy.

— What specific threats justified the closure of Langworthy’s Jamestown office?

— Which law enforcement agencies documented those threats?

— Why don’t records of these threats appear in local searches?

Westling-Johnson’s questions are a little more complicated than the three yes or no questions I had for Langworthy. I doubt that she has received an answer to her queries. After all, Westling-Johnson doesn’t pen an OBSERVER column.

Unlike the call screener who took my questions during Langworthy’s town hall meeting, I do have an idea when Langworthy will answer Westling-Johnson’s three questions. Right after he definitively answers my three questions with yes or no answers.

What comes after never?

Andrew Ludwig is a retired math teacher and a retired public school and Catholic school administrator. He currently works as a substitute teacher in Chautauqua County.