Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Reply to Senator Ted Kennedy


Or: Having gone to the considerable Trouble and Expense of acquiring Several Dogs, I find myself being Requested by Them to do my own Barking.

Dear Senator Kennedy,

We seem to have a different idea of the roles of the electorate and elected representatives. I had understood that under the US Constitution, the system is that one elects representatives, who then carry out the will of the people by enacting legislation, carrying out oversight and, when necessary, removing incompetent persons from office. I realize it is somewhat more complicated in practice, but I think that is the general idea, is it not?

Your suggestion that 'I can help' leaves me confused. What exactly do you think I should do? Write *another* letter? Maybe a nice poster, or a T-shirt or even a march? Oh, a *petition* this time???

Sir, I have done my job: I voted for candidates in my district and financially supported and worked for candidates in other districts who *said* they would do such-and-so when elected (Mr. Conyers, for example). I have let all my reps and those whom I supported, Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Reid know what I hope they will do for my country. If they are not well-acquainted with my views on Gonzales, the Bush administration and the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq then they are not reading their email. It is now time for the houses of Congress to do their job, starting with drawing up some articles of impeachment. Mr John Dean has recommended starting with Alberto Gonzales. As a private citizen, I can't do it. You are a Senator -- is anyone stopping you? Instead I get these damned cheerleader letters from you / your staff.

You write:

> Two weeks ago,
> the Bush Administration and their rubber-stamp Republican allies in
> Congress forced revisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance
> Act to expand the government's right to spy on American citizens
> without outside oversight.

Well, and that was Majority Leader Reid, now wasn't it? Rumor has it that it was a deal for no recess appointments or some such. It wasn't 'protecting and defending the Constitution, that's for sure.

If you can't get Senator Reid to honor his oath to the Constitution, how do you think I'm going to do it? I resent and reject your suggestion that I/we as voters are responsible for the failure of our elected representatives by somehow not 'supporting' them sufficiently, as if it were the resuscitation of Tinker Bell.

Please carry out your oath to defend and protect the Constitution with some action where it counts, and do not waste your energy and my time with this hand-flapping e-mail business.

Thank you,

Sincerely,

HotFlash

The Sen's letter to me (and a zillion other people) dated Tue, August 14, 2007:

> Dear (HotFlash),
>
> I don't trust Alberto Gonzales with the power to spy on the American
> people - and neither should you.
>
> In recent months, Gonzales has been under increasingly heavy fire for
> his shameful role in a number of shocking scandals, including the Bush
> Administration's illegal eavesdropping program and his refusal to
> come clean about what he has done. He's lost the confidence of the
> American people, and many -- myself included -- have called for his
> resignation.
>
> But rather than holding Gonzalez and other members of the
> Administration accountable for breaking the law, the White House
> pushed for legislation that legalizes their actions. Two weeks ago,
> the Bush Administration and their rubber-stamp Republican allies in
> Congress forced revisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance
> Act to expand the government's right to spy on American citizens
> without outside oversight.
>
> Once again, George Bush, Dick Cheney and Alberto Gonzalez are taking
> the Bill of Rights into their own hands. Tell the White House to stop
> scaring the American people into surrendering their basic rights:
>
> http://www.democraticmajority.com/wiretaps
>
> There's no doubt FISA had serious gaps that Congress needed to
> close. But as the New York Times stated, the new FISA law goes "far
> beyond the small fixes that administration officials had said were
> needed to gather information about foreign terrorists."
>
> Under the new law, any conversation between an American citizen and a
> foreigner can be monitored without a warrant.
>
> Any conversation at all!
>
> But even worse, there's no accountability for this massive new
> surveillance program. The Bush Administration will set the rules
> about who gets spied on, and will also have the responsibility for
> determining whether they're complying with their own rules.
>
> It's like taking a test, and then getting to grade it yourself.
>
> Each of us wants to do everything in our power to protect America
> from the threat of terrorism. But the Bush Administration refuses to
> draw any line between fighting terrorism and violating basic civil
> liberties.
>
> Together, we can draw the line. Sign the petition, letting Washington
> know that you don't want Alberto Gonzales spying on honest,
> hard-working Americans like you:
>
> http://www.democraticmajority.com/wiretaps
>
> This is the same Administration mentality that gave us Guantanamo and
> Abu Ghraib. Again and again, Alberto Gonzalez, Dick Cheney, and George
> Bush have thumbed their noses at the Constitution and the rule of law,
> and then demanded that Congress condone their abuses and trust their
> judgment.
>
> Not this time. We owe the nation a better approach, and you can help
> us do it.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Senator Edward M. Kennedy
>
>
> ---
>
>
> Paid for by The Committee for a Democratic Majority

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