Let’s set aside Russia and the memo for a moment. What has Devin Nunes done for us?

Don’t feel bad for me, Devin Nunes. I’m doing just fine. But maybe, just maybe, you ought to extend a little sympathy toward the residents of California’s 22nd congressional district, i.e. your constituents.

We deserve better than your absent brand of leadership.

This isn’t about Russia, the infamous memo or how you’ve become, in the words of Bloomberg News, “the face of Republican capitulation to a corrupt presidency.” I’ll leave that stuff to the pundits in D.C. and the angry Twitter mobs.

This is about what you’re doing – or aren’t doing – for the people in your district. In other words, us.

After reading your Q&A with Bee reporter Rory Appleton, I’m left to wonder: Exactly what have you been up to during those eight terms on Capitol Hill? Certainly not serving us.

Let’s start with the immature, petulant response to Rory’s question about whether you’re planning to hold any town hall meetings between now and November.

The subject of the question didn’t matter. You knew Rory’s allotted 20 minutes were nearly up. He could’ve asked about your favorite color or your go-to Chipotle order. You were waiting to unleash a diatribe. This was your opportunity, since you avoid local media scrutiny like a hemophiliac avoids straight razors, and you pounced. The only thing missing was a Soros reference.

Incidentally, if The Bee is a “left-wing rag,” as you insist, then how come we’ve endorsed you on multiple occasions? Explain that one, Devin.

It’s odd to me why you’re so reluctant to appear at an open forum in your own district. The 22nd is 55 percent Republican. In the last election, you received 67.6 percent of the vote. Plus, you get to pick the setting. It’s not as if the town hall has to be in Clovis, home base to all those angry leftists. (How’s that for an oxymoron?) You could hold it at a dairy farm in Tulare.

Yet the only time we hear from you, aside from Fox News, is when you’re fielding softball questions on KMJ-580 or appearing at $2,700-a-plate fundraisers for wealthy donors.

Instead, you “communicate” with us through inane mailers packed with phony science and cherry-picked quotes and stats.

Exactly what are you so afraid of? You completely rule the roost, and still you operate like some frightened chicken.

Most striking to me was when Rory asked you to describe your major accomplishments over the last 15 years. It was a question you had to know was coming. Your answer only served to illuminate how short that list is.

Thanks to you, the citizens of the United States know the San Joaquin Valley has a “big water problem.” That’s your doing? Get real, Devin. Water has been a hot-button topic for decades, since before you were wearing a mullet in high school.

Other than complain about enviros and the Endangered Species Act, what have you done to help find a solution?

Just for fun, I looked up a few water bills. Know whose name I found as the sponsor of H.R. 4127, the Upper San Joaquin River Storage Act of 2014 that proposes the Temperance Flat Dam? Rep. Jim Costa’s. Know whose name I didn’t find? Yours.

You say you’re a friend to agriculture, and yet you’re one of the loudest climate-change deniers. Who do you think will get hurt most as the Sierra snowpack continues to dwindle? Valley farmers. But instead of championing a potential solution, like desalination, you blame some poor fish.

And what about poverty, immigration, education, air and water quality and all the other issues that plague your constituents? For such a powerful member of the political establishment, you sure don’t bring home the bacon.

Given the size of your war chest and the demographics of your district – our district, I should say – it’s highly unlikely you’ll be knocked off your perch in this election cycle. Even though in Andrew Janz, you may finally have a worthy opponent.

There are millions across this nation who will love you, or loathe you, based on your actions as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. But you’re our congressman, Devin. The question we should be asking ourselves is a simple one. What have you done for us?

The answer, based on your own answer, can be summed up in two words: very little.

This story was originally published February 26, 2018 at 12:05 PM with the headline "Let’s set aside Russia and the memo for a moment. What has Devin Nunes done for us?."