I get Doug “Gryrocopterman” Hughes’ frustration on many levels.  As a postman, his awareness of the need to personally deliver important mail, rather than to trust the hit-or-miss USPS, is an issue with which I have wrestled on numerous occasions, (just try to actually track something you’ve sent by the on-line method, which, by the way, is the only method available because there is no real person to speak with, nor are there any options listed by the automated phone voice that even approximate the issue you are experiencing, and what does “delivery system not valid for this parcel” mean anyway?).  He’s attempted, on numerous occasions, more conventional approaches to being heard by his elected representatives, receiving impersonal, inattentive or non-existent response for his efforts.  He loves his country and his gyrocopter.  It was a beautiful day for flying and, what the hell, it’s his Capitol Building as much as anyone else’s, right?  This wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment frivolous act.  He’s been making his intentions known for some time, including posting a video and sharing his views and frustrations with the Florida press.  But, his central message, that we have given over control of our governance to billionaires and the special interests of billion-dollar corporations and lobbying groups, will become a mere footnote to the moronic media blitzkrieg detailing Doug’s threat to Homeland Security, his scruffy-bearded appearance, his illegal use of the USPS logo on his vehicle and the heated debate over the visceral effects of flying a vibrating, lawnmoweresque contraption from Gettysburg to DC: tooth-rattlingly irritating or erotically stimulating?

Like most hot-button issues, (climate change, immigration and campaign finance reform, education, health, wealth, racial and sexual inequality), legislation, more today than any time in history, follows the ever-changing guidelines dictated by the financial interests of the biggest political donors.  The Don Quixote’s and Gyrocoptermen, sadly, seldom make a lasting impact on policy, but hey, Cervantes got a Broadway musical…maybe Doug will get a stamp.