Catch a wave with your Rep.

Judging by reaction to a story in last week’s Daily Pilot, people are

none too impressed by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher’s bill to cut off foreign

aid to Ethiopia. For a man who’s been more focused on Afghanistan,

Qatar and Saudi Arabia, what’s the sudden interest in this African

nation? He met Petros Berhane, who lives in Huntington Beach and

whose father, Gebremedhin Berhane, lost an alcohol factory in the

1970s to the Ethiopia’s communist government of Mengistu Haile

Mariam.

Today’s Ethiopian government has refused to repay the elder

Berhane the amount of money he thinks he’s owed. That’s not fair,

Rohrabacher argues, and the U.S. government shouldn’t be dealing with

countries that don’t act in good faith with U.S. citizens. “You have

to send a message to corrupt governments that you can’t trust them

with aid,” Rohrabacher said.

Of course, it was hard to miss another key piece to this story:

“He’s a surfer, like I am, and we did a lot of surfing together,”

Rohrabacher said of the younger Berhane.

Readers rightly picked up on this piece of the puzzle, and many

have suggested that Berhane may not be the most needy person living

in Rohrabacher’s district. Combining those two facts produces, for

many, a tale of rich special interests getting a cozy seat next to a

U.S. Congressman -- no shock there, right? And no shock either that

reaction from Ethiopia and members of the Ethiopian-American

community has been critical, with officials saying Rohrabacher’s bill

threatens the safety and well-being of Ethiopians.

But there’s another picture easily painted here.

Petros Berhane lives in Downtown Huntington Beach, surfs and has

managed to parlay some sessions in the water with his representative

into a bill that helps his family. Isn’t that exactly the kind of

responsive government we want, especially from our members of

Congress who are supposed to be most closely tied to their

constituents? Is Rohrabacher’s bill much different from his getting

money for improvements at the Orange County Fairgrounds or Fairview

Park? Isn’t it Rohrabacher’s job to act in the interest of those

people he represents?

It is, and Rohrabacher shouldn’t be lambasted for coming to the

Berhane’s aid.

But his responsiveness to the family’s request does raise a

precedent that Rohrabacher now must live with: He ought to begin

announcing when and where he’ll be surfing so the rest of his

constituents will know where they can find him. Otherwise he does

leave himself open to charges of playing in the surf with special

interests.

Separately, if Rohrabacher’s bill really isn’t in the best

interest of America and its relations with the rest of the world, the

Senate has the chance to shoot it down. Having a wider view of the

world, after all, is exactly its mandate in Washington.