"Just a ripple on the pond, but when there are enough ripples there will be a tsunami.”
...our STANDING UP FOR AMERICA AS WE KNEW IT group asked our Congressman to do his job...will he? We'll see
Open Letter to a Republican Congressman...our STANDING UP FOR AMERICA AS WE KNEW IT group asked our Congressman to do his job...will he? We'll see
Unwilling to just sit by while America plunges — not drifts, but PLUNGES — into fascist rule, I invited members of our 55+ active adult community to organize to push back however we could.
Several meeting later, a bunch of phone calls and emails, and we were granted a meeting with Congressman John Joyce’s District Director for a “listening and hearing” session. It was a good session. We were firm, blunt, but respectful. After all, she was his stand-in, and didn’t deserve the more heated comments the Rep himself might have deservedly gotten. We left her with this letter to carry back.
Dear Dr. Joyce,
We are a group of mostly-retired residents of ________. We consider ourselves just ordinary Americans who worked hard, played by the rules, and looked forward to a quiet retirement.
What has transpired since January 20 changed all of that.
We are parents, grandparents, and proud citizens of the America we used to know. We are the children of “The Greatest Generation,” but see the current direction of our country to be far off the course our parents set.
As we look around we’re bewildered, worried, frustrated…BUT NOT DOCILE, and not willing to sit by and let this happen. Not willing to leave it to someone else to do something about it.
Our concerns brought us together to share our thoughts and fears – as well as to discuss actions we can take to stand against the most harmful aspects of this Administration – and its Congressional collaborators.
The comments, concerns and questions in this letter and accompanying documents come from a group of about 75 members of this community – our numbers include a disproportionate share of veterans and former employees of the Army, Navy, Marines, FBI, NSA, CIA and NATO, as well as the Public Health Service and the Pentagon. Also among our ranks are teachers, nurses, journalists, businesspersons, and hospital administrators.
We know something about how the world should work.
We are Democrats, Republicans, and Independents, but we are united in our concern about the dire straits of our country under the chaotic “leadership” of Donald Trump, and the way that the once-proud Republican Party has enabled him.
We would like to see you, as our Representative, push back against the Administration’s most extreme and radical actions. We stand ready to heartily join and support you in any such efforts in any way we can; just tell us how we can help.
But if you are not willing to STAND UP FOR AMERICA AS WE KNEW IT we are resolved to do whatever we can to deny your re-election.
As the recorder for this group of 75 Amblebrook residents, I have compiled the comments and questions they would voice if we had direct access to you. We greatly appreciate the willingness of your District Director to visit with us. There is obviously more than we could cover in a 1 hour discussion with her, and we realize that she cannot speak for you, but will convey our messages. For this we are thankful.
The attached comments/concerns/questions reveal several big themes:
· Abandonment of Ukraine, NATO, and the western democracies and cozying up to Putin and other authoritarian regimes
· Dismantling of our government and civil service, and the resulting incompetence we will suffer from
· Trump’s “king fantasy” and Congress’s failure to do its job in a system of checks and balances
· Allowing a private citizen and oligarch run roughshod through our government and personal data
As you read our comments/concerns/questions we hope you will get a sense of what a major slice of the electorate is feeling. We expect a response to our questions, and hope that it does not take too long to prepare.
After the meeting a lady who is usually quiet but who delivered an impassioned and detailed rebuke of the Administration said to me, “it felt good to have my say, but what can we do, we’re just one little group?”
To which I responded: “if we all do what we can it adds up…yes, we’re just a ripple on the pond, but you know what, when there are enough ripples there will be a tsunami.”
Let’s all start making waves…