Other articles by Ron Solomon:

Spineless jackasses take note: You owe these old vets a great debt

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Sales Reps

The election's over. The people have spoken. Fine. Now let's speak one more time before the next one rolls around. Or at least let me speak.

The automated phone calls from politicians almost drove me batty, especially in the last week. It got so bad Sunday that I had to take my phone off the hook.

My situation might have been worse than yours, though. I'm a registered independent voter in Congressional District 8. You remember that race — the one between Gabrielle Giffords and Randy Graf, one with national implications. Politicians look at my vote and see low-hanging fruit.

Can't you picture them in front of their focus groups? "Get that guy! Get that guy no matter what!"

Call after call. Politician after politician. Waking me up in the morning. Interrupting my dinner. Good grief. Enough already.

Picture this: I've just shut off the shower and started to towel off. Phone rings, and I trundle into the bedroom, dripping all over the rug, and snatch up the infernal thing.

Recorded voice: "Hi! This is Irving Ballotstuffer, and I'd sure appreciate your vote on Tuesday."

This actually happened to me, and I'm still steamed.

Is it possible to stick your hand through the telephone and strangle these people? Aw, what am I thinking? Strangle a machine?

Used to be, when politicians or their representatives called, they were actual people. They would ask for your vote politely, and you could curse them with gusto and feel at least that much satisfaction.

Maybe this isn't all harmless annoyance. This is speculation, but it seems plausible: Imagine a sick, elderly person, needing rest, whose telephone is his or her only contact with the outside world. Can't take the phone off the hook, and can't tolerate the deluge of useless calls. It's not too much of a stretch to imagine how this abuse of the phones could contribute to such a person's death.

And what about all the people who voted early? What possible good does it do to harass them? Make no mistake — that's what this is, too: harassment.

Political calls are not subject to Do-Not-Call registration. But one way to curb the flood of these so-called "robocalls" is to have your number removed from your voter-registration card. To have this done, call the Pima County Recorder's Office at 740-4330. Do it, and send a message to the politicians, after all the messages they've sent you.

Here's one more message to the guilty parties (you know who you are), Democrat, Republican or whatever: My telephone is exactly that. Mine. Not yours.

Next time, leave me alone.