They Work For Us!

Hey Everyone,

I'm not sure how many of you may be interested in this, but I thought I'd share anyway.  A while back, when our tangerine study in moral turpitude attacked "The Squad," and told them to "go back where they came from," I wrote to my Congressman, a Republican, urging him to speak out against this hate-speech. His response, the meat of which I pasted below, irritated me. So, I wrote a letter responding to his letter that I pasted below his letter. Ain't democracy fun? ;-)  At any rate, in case any of you might be curious, or might need some inspiration to write to your own representatives, I thought I'd share.

Congressman's Letter To Me:

Some have expressed frustration with some of President Trump’s recent Twitter activity. Specifically, a tweet that referenced four freshmen congresswomen. I have said that the President should tone down his Twitter rhetoric. However, I think he is correct to be unhappy when Members of Congress constantly talk of our country with disrespect.

As you may know, House Democrats brought H. Res. 489, condemning President Trump's comments, to the floor of the United States House of Representatives on July 16, 2019. Each Congress the House votes on a rules package that includes certain rules of decorum that are to be observed on the floor. Unfortunately, the Democrats prioritized politics over upholding the rules and precedents of the House, by engaging in personal attacks towards the President in the text of this legislation. In fact, had a Member of Congress read the entire text on the House floor it would have been a breach of decorum.

I am hopeful that people across the nation will take a moment of reflection and realize that while we may disagree on the issues, elected officials, both Democrats and Republicans, or liberal, progressive, or conservative, choose to serve because of a dedication to their communities and our country. Just because we disagree does not mean that someone on the other side is inherently evil. People on both sides of the aisle tend to forget this.

My Letter Responding To Congressman:

Dear Representative XXX,

I received your email and appreciate you writing back to me, but I feel I need to respond further to what you said. Your letter seemed rather dismissive of the issue I wrote to you about: the racist rhetoric directed by President Trump towards the Congresswomen who have popularly been dubbed "The Squad." It seemed to me that you were more focused on what you perceive as bad behavior by some in Democratic leadership than in the hate-mongering by the President of the United States of America. You referenced "rules" and "decorum" that had been "violated" by Speaker Pelosi, in particular. So, since the issue of behavioral norms seems to interest you, I thought I would bring up a few more.

We can start with Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell's, refusal to confirm President Obama's federal judge appointments in a timely manner. Historic obstruction that culminated in Senator McConnell's refusal to bring up Merrick Garland, or any other nominee from President Obama, thereby keeping a seat on the Supreme Court open for more than 400 days. Something I'm sure you must agree is far outside the norms of accepted partisan politics.

Then, in 2017, McConnell changed the rules again, ending the use of the filibuster even for Supreme Court nominees and clearing the way for the confirmation of Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. This was done in spite of credible testimony regarding serious criminal conduct by Kavanaugh. Again, a severe breach of protocol, as I'm sure you'll agree.

In April of this year, McConnell undid 213 years of history by changing the rules of debate for judicial and low-level executive nominees to reduce the allowed time from 30 hours to only two hours. Again, far above and beyond what one would expect from mere disagreements between political parties.

And let's not forget the systematic blockade by McConnell in the Senate of legislation passed by the House, including on what should be bipartisan issues such as securing the integrity of our elections and common-sense gun legislation reform. This isn't simply voting against such legislation, as would be normal, but refusing to allow it to come up for a vote at all. Which, I'm sure you'll agree, is well beyond the normal obstruction to be expected from an opposition party.

As for "decorum," I think we should look at the president who has declared himself to have an irresistible urge to grab women by their genitals without first obtaining consent. A claim that is certainly supported by the number of women who have accused him of sexual assault. I had wanted to make this a comprehensive discussion of all the examples of this type of behavior from the president -- behavior that really should induce one to do more than simply urge the president to "tone down his Twitter rhetoric" -- but the list is so long that it would turn this letter into a book. So, I'll do my best to just stick with some of the more egregious examples.

We can begin with the instance in November of 2015, when President Trump was still Candidate Trump, when he publicly mocked the physical disabilities of a reporter who had only done his job in challenging what was clearly a lie Candidate Trump had perpetuated regarding how Muslims in America had reacted to the 9/11 terror attacks. That any adult, much less a man in the running for the highest office in the land, would ignore all the social conventions and bounds of decency that prohibit such a display is, I'm sure you'll agree, shockingly indecorous.

In July of 2016, Candidate Trump mocked and belittled the parents of a Muslim-American soldier who had been killed while serving in the United States Army. In January 2018, President Trump, when discussing a bipartisan immigration bill, dubbed the countries that would be affected by the proposed legislation "shithole countries." And, just within the past couple of days, President Trump publicly insulted one of his own supporters because of the man's weight.

Of course, there are also the infamous attacks against the late Senator John McCain regarding his military service. The repeated and virulent attacks against Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and other people of color, which arguably have led directly to several instances of violence by people who admire the president. And the repeated assertions that parts of the United States represented in our government by people of color are "crime-ridden" and "filthy."  And none of this even touches on the numerous instances of apparent fraud, grift, and other potential criminal conduct the president has been associated with.

As I'm sure you'll agree, all of this, and so much more I didn't even get to mention here, represents a complete and utter lack of respect for societal norms, decency, or decorum of any description. Therefore, I found your focus on Speaker Pelosi's accurate use of the word "racist" in describing President Trump's attack against four US Congresswomen to be more than a little disingenuous. So, perhaps, at this point, it might be possible for us to move beyond pointing fingers and whataboutism -- not to mention the sudden, random concern over an assault against your tender, innocent ears -- and focus on another term with which you are likely familiar by now: Stochastic Terrorism.

Stochastic Terrorism, on the off chance you haven't heard of it before, is rhetoric that, though it's impossible to know specifically who will act, has a high statistical probability of inspiring violent action among some of those who hear it. The classic example of this was when King Henry II of England was reported to have posed the "rhetorical" question, "Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?" with regards to Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in the year 1170. The question was presented as a rhetorical device, and one used in the heat of anger, not as a specific order, but it still resulted in four knights who were in service to King Henry traveling to Canterbury with the intention of arresting Thomas Becket, though they ultimately ended up murdering him. King Henry was not held criminally liable for this murder, something that would have been rather complicated given he was king, but the Pope did hold him spiritually culpable and forbade him from receiving mass until he had performed public penance.

We, here in the United States of America, do not have a king. The founders of our great nation thoroughly rejected the concept and, instead, instituted a government that includes a system of checks and balances to ensure that no one can ascend to a level at which they will be above the law. You, Sir, are a part of that system; a member of a co-equal branch of government with the authority and responsibility to rein in the excesses of the executive branch. My initial letter to you was an exhortation for you to live up to that responsibility and perform the duty that We, The People put you in that position to do.

President Trump's hateful rhetoric towards the four Congresswomen, though also arguably towards any member of a minority group he has attacked, goes beyond matters of decorum and civility. His statements are made from a position of power to those who feel they are beneath his authority. Violence is not just a predictable result, under the circumstances, it's almost an inevitability. Once again, I urge you to put aside partisan politics, to put country over party, to speak out against this type of hate-speech, and to make it clear that such vitriol directed against minorities is not to be tolerated from those who serve The People in our government. I say this not as a Democrat, but as a registered Independent and as an American. Because you are correct, regardless of our political leanings, we do need to come together as a country and make it definitively clear that we are not a nation of hate.

Thank you very much for your time and attention to this matter.

Sincerely,


Whoo! That was a mouthful. Congratulations for making it all the way here. I hope this post wasn't too much of a drag, and that maybe you can use some of what I wrote here in your own correspondence with your elected officials...as well as voting in every election, of course Anyway, thanks for reading this far and don't forget to check back tomorrow for the next installment of Mistral Dawn's Musings! :-)

Peace!