Dear Congressman Mica/Senator Nelson/Senator LeMieux:
I am writing to you to let you know that I support the Veteran's Lobby Day that occurred yesterday, May 11th, in support of repealing the discriminatory and dehumanizing Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy of the United States military.
In addition to being hurtful to the gay men and lesbian women who choose to serve our nation in the armed forces, DADT has the opposite of its intended effect: instead of increasing unit cohesion, DADT damages the esprit de corps by forcing these patriots to lie to the other members of their unit about who they are from the first day of basic training.
This explicitly privileges heterosexual service members, particularly men, who feel they have the tacit approval of the entire institution when they commit acts of verbal or physical abuse against those they suspect of being homosexual. Women can be called into separation hearings on no basis more reliable than the word of a single male accuser - a man the woman has simply turned down for a date, in many cases. These hearings are a tremendous waste of everyone's time and money, and the loss of the skills and training of each of the more than 1,200 people who have been discharged since 1993 are an even greater travesty.
Gays and lesbians are willing to give their lives in service to this country. Why won't America give them the dignity they deserve in return? Please vote to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell as soon as possible and allow these true patriots to serve openly.
Sincerely,
Caroline Leonard
(DA, DT, DBS was the working title of a massive paper I wrote on the subject a year ago. Don't be stupid - it don't work.)
(Also an update summing up the last month is shortly forthcoming, I swears. I've completed another goal!)
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Showing posts with label Letter-writing is too real activism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Letter-writing is too real activism. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
True Patriotism
I feel like such an awesome liberal today! I did my taxes AND wrote a VERY angry letter to Congressman John Mica about how he's going to vote on Sunday. VERY angry.
----
Dear Congressman Mica,
This morning, I awoke to the most disturbing sound my clock radio has ever produced: you and a conservative radio host lambasting the pending health care bill as something that would create too much "bureaucracy" and "ration" Medicare for seniors, and repeating over and over again - without offering any specific alternatives of your own - "there is a better way to do this."
As you can imagine, this was not the way I had hoped to begin my day.
You may be unaware that the average American, whether or not she or he is insured, already experiences an overly bureaucratic health care system that rations care, and, moreover, is in favor of the better way set forth in the Democrats' bill, once informed of the specific provisions it contains. I understand that you, as a member of Congress, are furnished with a very good insurance plan as a matter of course, being an Important Government Figure, and generally have aides and assistants who navigate the paperwork for you. I also understand that as a member of the Republican party, you may be under the impression that the things Mitch McConnell and other prominent opponents to the bill say about it, such as, "Americans don’t want this bill. They’re telling us to start over. The only people who don’t seem to be getting the message are Democrat leaders in Washington," are true. But for you to claim all these positions and then on top of it all, not even offer a reform plan of your own, is ludicrous hypocrisy.
You, sir, are the one out of touch if you truly believe that legislation regulating the criminally negligent behavior of the insurance and pharmaceutical companies is anything less than urgently necessary for the future of our nation. Let's set aside the fact that this bill does not propose an actual government-run health care system (and that you and I both know it). A government system will ration care in an effort to cut costs? A government program will create too much bureaucracy to be efficient? Today's insurance giants deny care to millions of INSURED customers on the slimmest of bases, let alone all those they refuse to cover. Insurance companies, like ALL companies in a free market, are interested first and foremost in maximizing their profits. Please, for the love of democracy, explain to me how a company like Blue Cross or MetLife has less interest in cutting costs (and raising prices) than the United States government. Please explain to me why you believe that delivering platinum care to a few thousand Americans is more important than declaring that ALL our citizens are entitled to a gold standard that is within reach?
You and I agree on one point. There is a better way to reform health care than this. The manner of that reform is where we diverge, in more ways than one: I know what my picture of reform looks like. Congressman Mica, I plead you to recognize the true state of American health care today - see beyond your own friends, family, and campaign supporters to the other Americans who are hurting, physically and fiscally, because affordable health insurance is simply out of reach. You and I both know that each time Congress starts over on health care, Americans suffer - some even perish for lack of treatment. A for-profit health care system is no health care system at all - it is simply another self-interested, for-profit business, one that has no placed in a civilized nation that claims all its citizens are created equal.
The time is now. Please vote in favor of the health care bill on Sunday, for your conscience, for your constituents, and for your country.
Sincerely,
Caroline Leonard
Click for more!
----
Dear Congressman Mica,
This morning, I awoke to the most disturbing sound my clock radio has ever produced: you and a conservative radio host lambasting the pending health care bill as something that would create too much "bureaucracy" and "ration" Medicare for seniors, and repeating over and over again - without offering any specific alternatives of your own - "there is a better way to do this."
As you can imagine, this was not the way I had hoped to begin my day.
You may be unaware that the average American, whether or not she or he is insured, already experiences an overly bureaucratic health care system that rations care, and, moreover, is in favor of the better way set forth in the Democrats' bill, once informed of the specific provisions it contains. I understand that you, as a member of Congress, are furnished with a very good insurance plan as a matter of course, being an Important Government Figure, and generally have aides and assistants who navigate the paperwork for you. I also understand that as a member of the Republican party, you may be under the impression that the things Mitch McConnell and other prominent opponents to the bill say about it, such as, "Americans don’t want this bill. They’re telling us to start over. The only people who don’t seem to be getting the message are Democrat leaders in Washington," are true. But for you to claim all these positions and then on top of it all, not even offer a reform plan of your own, is ludicrous hypocrisy.
You, sir, are the one out of touch if you truly believe that legislation regulating the criminally negligent behavior of the insurance and pharmaceutical companies is anything less than urgently necessary for the future of our nation. Let's set aside the fact that this bill does not propose an actual government-run health care system (and that you and I both know it). A government system will ration care in an effort to cut costs? A government program will create too much bureaucracy to be efficient? Today's insurance giants deny care to millions of INSURED customers on the slimmest of bases, let alone all those they refuse to cover. Insurance companies, like ALL companies in a free market, are interested first and foremost in maximizing their profits. Please, for the love of democracy, explain to me how a company like Blue Cross or MetLife has less interest in cutting costs (and raising prices) than the United States government. Please explain to me why you believe that delivering platinum care to a few thousand Americans is more important than declaring that ALL our citizens are entitled to a gold standard that is within reach?
You and I agree on one point. There is a better way to reform health care than this. The manner of that reform is where we diverge, in more ways than one: I know what my picture of reform looks like. Congressman Mica, I plead you to recognize the true state of American health care today - see beyond your own friends, family, and campaign supporters to the other Americans who are hurting, physically and fiscally, because affordable health insurance is simply out of reach. You and I both know that each time Congress starts over on health care, Americans suffer - some even perish for lack of treatment. A for-profit health care system is no health care system at all - it is simply another self-interested, for-profit business, one that has no placed in a civilized nation that claims all its citizens are created equal.
The time is now. Please vote in favor of the health care bill on Sunday, for your conscience, for your constituents, and for your country.
Sincerely,
Caroline Leonard
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Thursday, March 4, 2010
And you may ask yourself, how did I get here?
Dear Senator Nelson,
My letter today serves as a reminder that there are, in fact, people in our great state who urgently desire health care reform at the national level. I am sure you have received thousands of calls and letters in the last year on this issue, and I imagine a majority of them may have expressed concerns (to put it politely) about the bills proposed by both chambers of Congress and that laid out by the President. Please know that, despite being less well-organized than the tea partiers, we are no less passionate about this issue - and almost certainly more well-intentioned. And, most importantly, we are not as outnumbered as the ratio of letters and calls might suggest. Therefore, I plead that you not only continue to vote in support of health care reforms, but also aid in whatever ways you can to ensure that your reluctant collegues on both sides of the aisle do the same.
Florida is a state long caught between the divisive rhetoric of the two major parties, and myself and others respect and admire you for persevering in the face of persistent pressure to moderate your positions. With health care especially, any concessions to the Senate Republicans are tenfold concessions to the insurance and pharmaceutical industries. Too long has the true backbone of this country, the working middle class, been held hostage by false dichotomies spewed forth by industry lobbyists and the Congressional representatives who profit from preserving the entrenched system.
You must ensure that Senators from other closely contested states realize that the political capital that will result from the passage of a strong reform bill will compound in years to come - just as failure to reform the system now will compound against those who vote against it when the iniquities of the current system grow unchecked, as they inevitably will. This opportunity must not be permitted to slip away.
Sincerely,
Caroline Leonard
Click for more!
My letter today serves as a reminder that there are, in fact, people in our great state who urgently desire health care reform at the national level. I am sure you have received thousands of calls and letters in the last year on this issue, and I imagine a majority of them may have expressed concerns (to put it politely) about the bills proposed by both chambers of Congress and that laid out by the President. Please know that, despite being less well-organized than the tea partiers, we are no less passionate about this issue - and almost certainly more well-intentioned. And, most importantly, we are not as outnumbered as the ratio of letters and calls might suggest. Therefore, I plead that you not only continue to vote in support of health care reforms, but also aid in whatever ways you can to ensure that your reluctant collegues on both sides of the aisle do the same.
Florida is a state long caught between the divisive rhetoric of the two major parties, and myself and others respect and admire you for persevering in the face of persistent pressure to moderate your positions. With health care especially, any concessions to the Senate Republicans are tenfold concessions to the insurance and pharmaceutical industries. Too long has the true backbone of this country, the working middle class, been held hostage by false dichotomies spewed forth by industry lobbyists and the Congressional representatives who profit from preserving the entrenched system.
You must ensure that Senators from other closely contested states realize that the political capital that will result from the passage of a strong reform bill will compound in years to come - just as failure to reform the system now will compound against those who vote against it when the iniquities of the current system grow unchecked, as they inevitably will. This opportunity must not be permitted to slip away.
Sincerely,
Caroline Leonard
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Thursday, October 29, 2009
Three Hopeful Thoughts
1. As you might have noticed, that goal countdown up in my header now reads "99" instead of "100." That's right, folks, on Tuesday evening, in a magnificent confluence of cosmic factors, the room shook and trembled, and in a sudden rush, the rain beat down upon us. I, properly attired in a rain-frolicking-approved sundress and already downstairs, threw open the door, rushed out across the yard, and finally, finally danced in the downpour I'd been waiting so very long for. The rain was thick and heavy, and the lightening frequent, extended, and close. I would say the whole experience was rapturous, but I feel like you have to be aware of rapture while it's happening for that to be possible. It just felt overwhelmingly and ambiguously good to be out in it. Goal #90 is complete, but it was something I've done before and it will certainly be something I do many times again.
2. Yesterday afternoon, exactly three weeks to the hour after the Foreign Service test, I received a letter (a pdf which I had to download, after being given the link to the site with the pdf via email. Unnecessarily convoluted? I think yes.) informing me that my performance has qualified me for the next round of the application process. Five personal narrative responses, in which I have 1300 characters each to describe variously that time I was a leader, that time I lived with a foreign kid in college, and so forth. They also gave me the fax number for ACT, tantalizing me with the promise that I could get a breakdown! of my results by post in just four to six weeks, but two attempts to do so have returned a failed transmission. I'll try again on Monday. I. Need. That. Breakdown.
3. Letters to Washington, goal number 73, has officially been moved to the "In progress" column. I sent my first letter to my brand-new placeholder senator, George LeMieux, in response to this article in today's New York Times. Sure, there's a war on, and a health care reform debacle, and stuff, but obviously some idiot from Louisiana needs the spotlight to stump against immigrants for next year's election. And obviously the proposal in question is so obscenely ludicrous that I simply had to voice my opinion and make sure LeMieux, GOP loyalist extraordinaire (seriously, he's holding Mel Martinez' seat for less than two years under the tacit condition that he not seek reelection so Charlie Crist, our great governor, can run instead), doesn't fall in with this fringe crowd. The grimy flipside of having a solid Democratic majority in both houses is the ability of Republicans to pick up on whatever insignificant issue they think will help their odds with their constituents - not taking into account that such petty issues could hurt real people if passed. Anyway, it's a fairly lengthy letter, so I've put it down below the cut.
Dear Senator LeMieux,
The New York Times published an article today about the push of your fellow senator, David Vitter, to forbid the census from counting non-citizens as residents of the several states and, by extension, our nation. This is not only an outrageous proposition because of the social, economic, and political ramifications such a census would cause, but also thoroughly unconstitutional. I sincerely hope that, as my representative, you will not support Senator Vitter's proposal.
As I'm sure you know, Article 2 of the Constitution empowers the Congress to count every ten years "the whole number of persons in each state" in order to properly apportion representatives. This particular passage has already been amended once in our history, with the idea that government should include more people, not fewer. Originally, the census formula was taken from the whole number of "free persons" plus three-fifths of "all others," i.e. slaves, further diminished the status of certain Americans. With the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment, the three-fifths clause was removed, rightfully establishing non-whites as full citizens worthy of equal representation.
As a representative democracy, America was the eighteenth-century beacon for Europe’s feudal monarchies. Oppressed for centuries by the noble classes, the hard-working serfs rose up and wrenched political power out of their silk-gloved hands. The story of democracy is the story of power continually spiraling downwards and outwards, into the hands of the people. This is where Senator Vitter’s proposal becomes truly farcical.
The Times writes:
“Appealing to his colleagues in states with fewer noncitizens, the Republican senator, David Vitter of Louisiana, warned this month that a vote against his proposal would ‘strip these states of their proper representation in Congress,’ while including noncitizens would ‘artificially increase the population count’ in other states.”
His proposal would strip states of their proper representation – those that are the major entry points for immigrants into our country, like our own Florida. As for “artificially increasing the population count,” I would have to say that people who work, reside, and raise families in our communities are, in fact, part of the American population. They may not have yet acquired citizenship, but we can rest assured that the children they bear and bring here have or will. Not only would this proposal be unfair to today’s immigrants, it would create an unquantifiable backlash with the next generation, as they witness their parents treated unfairly. Worse, measures like this can be used to justify the xenophobic behavior of Americans towards immigrants, both legal and illegal. (Those who would condone or commit violence or hateful speech towards immigrants likely don’t care to see the difference.)
The census began as a device for apportioning government representation– and that remains its primary purpose today. Yet it also serves another important function when it counts residents, and not just citizens: it is one of the most important historical records of who lived where when. My own great-grandparents would not have been counted under such an exclusionary census during their first decade in this country, despite the fact that they worked hard to contribute to America all the same and build a nation their children would proudly call their own. The exponential growth of illegal immigration in the past few decades is certainly an issue that needs to be addressed, but discriminating against all immigrants by excluding non-citizens from the census is neither the right way, nor an effective way, to do so.
Sincerely,
Caroline Leonard
Click for more!
2. Yesterday afternoon, exactly three weeks to the hour after the Foreign Service test, I received a letter (a pdf which I had to download, after being given the link to the site with the pdf via email. Unnecessarily convoluted? I think yes.) informing me that my performance has qualified me for the next round of the application process. Five personal narrative responses, in which I have 1300 characters each to describe variously that time I was a leader, that time I lived with a foreign kid in college, and so forth. They also gave me the fax number for ACT, tantalizing me with the promise that I could get a breakdown! of my results by post in just four to six weeks, but two attempts to do so have returned a failed transmission. I'll try again on Monday. I. Need. That. Breakdown.
3. Letters to Washington, goal number 73, has officially been moved to the "In progress" column. I sent my first letter to my brand-new placeholder senator, George LeMieux, in response to this article in today's New York Times. Sure, there's a war on, and a health care reform debacle, and stuff, but obviously some idiot from Louisiana needs the spotlight to stump against immigrants for next year's election. And obviously the proposal in question is so obscenely ludicrous that I simply had to voice my opinion and make sure LeMieux, GOP loyalist extraordinaire (seriously, he's holding Mel Martinez' seat for less than two years under the tacit condition that he not seek reelection so Charlie Crist, our great governor, can run instead), doesn't fall in with this fringe crowd. The grimy flipside of having a solid Democratic majority in both houses is the ability of Republicans to pick up on whatever insignificant issue they think will help their odds with their constituents - not taking into account that such petty issues could hurt real people if passed. Anyway, it's a fairly lengthy letter, so I've put it down below the cut.
Dear Senator LeMieux,
The New York Times published an article today about the push of your fellow senator, David Vitter, to forbid the census from counting non-citizens as residents of the several states and, by extension, our nation. This is not only an outrageous proposition because of the social, economic, and political ramifications such a census would cause, but also thoroughly unconstitutional. I sincerely hope that, as my representative, you will not support Senator Vitter's proposal.
As I'm sure you know, Article 2 of the Constitution empowers the Congress to count every ten years "the whole number of persons in each state" in order to properly apportion representatives. This particular passage has already been amended once in our history, with the idea that government should include more people, not fewer. Originally, the census formula was taken from the whole number of "free persons" plus three-fifths of "all others," i.e. slaves, further diminished the status of certain Americans. With the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment, the three-fifths clause was removed, rightfully establishing non-whites as full citizens worthy of equal representation.
As a representative democracy, America was the eighteenth-century beacon for Europe’s feudal monarchies. Oppressed for centuries by the noble classes, the hard-working serfs rose up and wrenched political power out of their silk-gloved hands. The story of democracy is the story of power continually spiraling downwards and outwards, into the hands of the people. This is where Senator Vitter’s proposal becomes truly farcical.
The Times writes:
“Appealing to his colleagues in states with fewer noncitizens, the Republican senator, David Vitter of Louisiana, warned this month that a vote against his proposal would ‘strip these states of their proper representation in Congress,’ while including noncitizens would ‘artificially increase the population count’ in other states.”
His proposal would strip states of their proper representation – those that are the major entry points for immigrants into our country, like our own Florida. As for “artificially increasing the population count,” I would have to say that people who work, reside, and raise families in our communities are, in fact, part of the American population. They may not have yet acquired citizenship, but we can rest assured that the children they bear and bring here have or will. Not only would this proposal be unfair to today’s immigrants, it would create an unquantifiable backlash with the next generation, as they witness their parents treated unfairly. Worse, measures like this can be used to justify the xenophobic behavior of Americans towards immigrants, both legal and illegal. (Those who would condone or commit violence or hateful speech towards immigrants likely don’t care to see the difference.)
The census began as a device for apportioning government representation– and that remains its primary purpose today. Yet it also serves another important function when it counts residents, and not just citizens: it is one of the most important historical records of who lived where when. My own great-grandparents would not have been counted under such an exclusionary census during their first decade in this country, despite the fact that they worked hard to contribute to America all the same and build a nation their children would proudly call their own. The exponential growth of illegal immigration in the past few decades is certainly an issue that needs to be addressed, but discriminating against all immigrants by excluding non-citizens from the census is neither the right way, nor an effective way, to do so.
Sincerely,
Caroline Leonard
Click for more!
Friday, September 4, 2009
Sundries - Part 2
52. See a staged version of Angels in America.
61. Join the Foreign Service OR be taking significant educational steps (ie be in grad school) to do so.
64. Visit Atlantis.
72. Learn the dance from Dirty Dancing.
73. Write 101 letters to Washington.
74. Be a member of the live! studio audience of The Daily Show.
78. Accumulate 101 postcards.
80. Bake my own bread for a month.
52. See a staged version of Angels in America.
61. Join the Foreign Service OR be taking significant educational steps (ie be in grad school) to do so.
64. Visit Atlantis.
72. Learn the dance from Dirty Dancing.
73. Write 101 letters to Washington.
74. Be a member of the live! studio audience of The Daily Show.
78. Accumulate 101 postcards.
80. Bake my own bread for a month.
Click for more!
61. Join the Foreign Service OR be taking significant educational steps (ie be in grad school) to do so.
64. Visit Atlantis.
72. Learn the dance from Dirty Dancing.
73. Write 101 letters to Washington.
74. Be a member of the live! studio audience of The Daily Show.
78. Accumulate 101 postcards.
80. Bake my own bread for a month.
Details
52. See a staged version of Angels in America.
It just seemed like the kinda thing a mentally-deranged sex-starved pill-popping housewife would do.
61. Join the Foreign Service OR be taking significant educational steps (ie be in grad school) to do so.
When I was little, I read Goodnight, Moon, and the Berenstein Bears, and, of course, every young girl's favorite, The Hunt for Red October. I wanted to be just like Jack Ryan when I grew up, and married to him, and have like ten thousand of his CIA-trained ass-kicking babies - while still making time for ass-kicking adventures for myself.
The next best thing? The State Department, which will, at the very least, send me abroad for slightly more legal adventures in foreign lands. I'm looking forward to my first hardship post in some tropical developing country, learning a new language and living in a completely new and different culture. I'm looking forward to moving on every three years.
I'll tell the truth. I'm really looking forward to the day when, after a long and faithful career of diplomatic work, I am appointed the Ambassador to the Federated States of Micronesia, where I will work in the embassy on the island of Pohnpei and not, as many people believe, on the isle of Yap.
And also Cuba. I'm hoping that when we reopen proper diplomatic channels with Cuba, I'll be able to go down and be a part of it. It seems rather... well, not glamorous, per se; it's not 1950s Havana or anything that I'm envisioning. I don't know what I'm envisioning, except that I think I really, really need to be there or somewhere similar or anywhere that is not here. More on this theme very shortly.
64. Visit Atlantis.
No, I don't actually think I can find Atlantis, and no, you don't get to know what this goal actually is.
72. Learn the dance from Dirty Dancing.
Um, yes. Just. Yes.
73. Write 101 letters to Washington.
Decisions are made by those who show up.
Complaints lodged: 3
74. Be a member of the live! studio audience of The Daily Show.
Another one of those we-always-talked-about-doing-this-and-never-did-it goals. I love The Daily Show and I will gladly sit outside its studio in New York for six or ten or however many hours, in rain, sleet, or shine, to get tickets. No specific date is set for this attempt, but I'm sure that I will be in New York on some weekday between now and the middle of 2012, so... yeah. Daily Show, woot!
78. Accumulate 101 postcards.
Being a college student, particularly one who moved around as far and as often as I did, it helps to separate one's possessions into those than can be easily and cheaply transported and those that cannot. After you've got your necessary, need-this-to-survive-on-a-daily-basis stuff packed, it feels good to add in some personal effects. My favorite ones are books, but that's not always a practical choice. Posters, too, are good to look at and are generally mobile, but sometimes you really just don't have the space for that tube in your suitcase.
Combine this conundrum with that of how to preserve your memories of your favorite works of art when your camera takes truly terrible pictures with the flash off, and you come out with my postcard collection. Right now, I have about 20 postcards of some of my favorite paintings that I can take with me wherever I go and transform my living space into my home. My goal is to visit enough museums and galleries that I expand this collection to include at least 101 such postcards. Whenever I obtain new ones (they will usually be in batches of between two and five postcards), I'll make a post here with scans of them under the secondary label "Postcards."
Postcards collected: 25
80. Bake my own bread for a month.
First, I should explain why this goal is not listed under creativity with the other "Adventures in Cookery" goals: simply, I already know how to do this. Instead of testing my culinary wits or making me learn a completely new set of recipes, this particular goal is a test of stamina and commitment. I know how to bake bread, rolls, and pastries of most every kind. I know my favorite recipe, a naan recipe that can, with no modification, double as a dinner roll recipe completely by heart. I'm by no means a locavore or invested in any way in the organic foods movement, but I do think it is fun and responsible to do simple things for yourself, especially if you already know how.
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