Pissing in the wind...

Who's next?
Sometimes you know what you are about to do is wrong or at the very least ineffectual but you can't help yourself. You go ahead and do it. Maybe it was Eric Cantor or maybe it is the inner Howard Beale. The following is a letter I sent to Senators Jeff Markely and Ron Wyden and Representative Kurt Schrader, all of Oregon:

I have held back on writing you and others in Washington whose job it is, ostensibly, to represent me. I naively have kept thinking the bluster and bullying would subside and give way to common sense and common decency. It hasn’t and it’s not. Since President Obama has been called everything short of the “N” word. He has been maligned, attacked and even accused of lying in an outburst in a joint session of congress. Never mind that his predecessor did lie, costing thousands of Americans their lives. The rantings on right-wing talk radio and on Fox news has so riled up the unwashed masses that the fear and anger is palpable. The conservative Republicans continue to raise the temperature of the rage, disrespecting a sitting president like never before. They lie and slander, but worse than that, they pander to their constituents with hubris and condescending nonsense. When Patricia Churchill relayed a story to Representative Cantor — in his first town hall meeting —about a family member who is dying of stomach tumors, he responded by suggesting her relative should seek “existing government programs” or find charity. This would be laughable if not so horrifying. How unconscionable! How despicable! And yet, it slips under the radar as America is glued to their televisions watching indicted Tom DeLay on Dancing with the Stars. I would like to believe in the dictum that the loudest voice is not always the correct one. I can’t ask you to stop the hate in this country or to end the divide, but I can ask you to please vote your conscience in the heathcare reform bill and represent those who voted for you now out of work, out of insurance and underinsured. Please convey to the President and to your fellow Democrats. This is not the time to “cross the aisle.” You cannot placate this contentious, negative groundswell, led by the conservative Republicans in both houses of congress. They do not want conciliation. Stop offering it to them. They are, as it is often said, “the party of no.” We voted for the President because he told us, “Yes, we can.” Now, we find ourselves stymied, stalled and scared. Please, please—stand up. Do the right thing. History is judging you today. Long after Mrs. Palin is a footnote and Rush Limbaugh a Trivial Pursuit answer, you and your fellow congressmen will be held in high regard for standing up and for affecting change when it was needed… the alternative is simply not acceptable.

Thank you for your time and your service.