I know, I know. When I write I generally get a response that indicates
the congressional aide has a "menu" of 4-5 topics, and sends back the letter
that appears to fit what I said the best. Sometimes the fit isn't good.
I still think it's worth writing, though, because I figure *after* they have
selected their pre-written letter to send back, someone will actually read
it, and my view will be tallied along with those of other letter-writers.
I believe if you made a mistake it was in writing as if this were a letter
to the editor of a publication--or some other type of human being, rather
than a senator. It's good to acknowledge that you are a registered Democrat,
but you need to do that quickly, and get right to the "meat" of your
concern.
You don't actually discuss Colombia until the third paragraph. They didn't
wait
that long; they saw you mention the war on terrorism in the second graph,
and
went with that.
These letters need to be really easy to skim and get the gist of. They
shouldn't
be "well-written" or literary--just very blunt and simple. State your
position. If
you want to get fancy, back it up--but afterward. There should be a simple
statement
that could be highlighted and passed along to the senator--like "stop the
war on drugs,"
or "put human rights first in Colombia."
Of course, the fact that your letter was well-written and cogent means you
might win the
"letter lottery" after all: someone might actually put in in Feinstein's
hands. And wouldn't
that be nice?
> Every time I see the news I get more depressed that something
> terrible is going to happen soon. It seems the United States is at
> war with a group of totalitarian governments and terrorist groups
> scattered around the globe.
>
> This helpless feeling I have is surely misplaced, isn't it? I mean,
> our government is more representative than most. (And that ain't
> saying too much, when you look at a country like Iraq!)
BTW, this didn't make sense to me, because the root of your "depressed"
feeling
isn't clear. Is it a feeling that we are outnumbered, or is it the awareness
that
we ourselves don't always live up to the ideals we espouse? Or is is an
instinctive
loathing for the notion of war?
--Q.M.
What can I do, as a citizen of these United States?
Besides voting in every election since becoming of age, for many
years I have written letters to congresspeople with my concerns.
These letters were often unanswered, or I got a note back saying
something like "thanks for the letter". Heck, I could have said
anything in the letter, and I would have gotten such an answer! Did
the letter get read? I stopped writing for a while.
Last month I sent a letter to Dianne Feinstein. Amazingly, this was
answered in a way that indicated that someone, somewhere, read it.
Please feel free to look at my letter and Feinstein's response.
Here is my letter, with whatever heading and formatting removed:
Dear Senator Feinstein,
First of all, I want to acknowledge that your party has
always had my support, as I have been aggressively voting as a
Democrat for many years. I would like to bring a matter to your
attention, which apparently has been going on unnoticed:
As media attention focuses on President Bush's "War On Terrorism"
which targets the Middle East, we now ignore past military
involvements during our "War On Drugs" which targeted South America.
What ever happened to the "War On Drugs"? Did we win?
For the citizens of Colombia, the results of this war have been
tragic: Over the last several years the United States has supplied
military aid to different repressive governments of Colombia, while
paramilitary death squads have been killing opposition figures and
union activists, almost with impunity. The new president, Alvaro
Uribe Velez, is no friend of democracy. He declared a state of
emergency after taking office in August 2002.This crackdown will
permit further attacks on civil liberties.
The Colombian government should not be receiving any military aid
from the United States, a country that has long espoused human
rights. When President Bush recently told the Cuban government to
stop its repression, he should have sent the same message to the
Colombian government.
I would appreciate it if you, being an important senator from an
important state in the union, would bring attention to this problem,
which is occurring in our hemisphere.
Sincerely,
John Turley
Here is the response:
Dear Mr. Turley,
Thank you for your letter about my vote for the Resolution
authorizing the use of force against Iraq.
This was not an easy decision and it came after a great deal
of thought, consideration, and study. While I continue to have
serious concerns about a pre-emptive, unilateral attack against Iraq,
I voted for the Resolution because I believe it will encourage the
United Nations to pass a new, robust Security Council Resolution to
compel disarmament of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and avoid
war. I have been reassured by statements made by the President in his
address to the United Nations on September 12th which conveyed a
commitment to work with the U.N. towards that goal.
There can be no doubt that Saddam Hussein and his arsenal of
chemical and biological weapons pose a real and persuasive threat to
the safety and security of the United States, the Persian Gulf, and
the Middle East. We must push for a resolution now or risk paying a
high price later.
Attached please find a copy of the floor statement I mande on
the subject which fully express my views. I understand the
seriousness of this vote and I thank you for sharing your views with
me.
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Received on 2002-10-30 12:46:37