Congressman Ike Skelton visited with area residents at a coffee in Warrensburg on Saturday (later in the day he spoke at the Obama rally in Kansas City).

Warrensburg residents Gen Jaeger (left) and Robert Russell (center) with Congressman Ike Skelton (right).

Congressman Skelton briefly addressed the crowd:

…I might say the Armed Services Committee is undoubtedly the most bipartisan committee in the House of Representatives [Ike Skelton is the chairman]…

…Our country is in tough shape. I have a good friend in Washington…and Republican. He was a high level, ranking person in the Defense Department and the State Department under Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. He came to my office not long ago, we’ve been friends through the years. He told me that he’s never seen our country in such bad shape. And that worries me because he was speaking from the bottom of his heart. As a patriot.

We have international challenges which we wish we would undo the past. We can’t. Right after 9/11 the world empathized with us. The world did. We threw that away. At one time we were not only the most respected, but we were the most admired country in the world. A lot of that has, sadly, dissolved…We have to regain that.

…These are tough days [the economy] and you can’t say that it doesn’t affect you or it won’t affect you. It will affect you…