Post Your Letters To Congress

Many of you may feel that expressing your opinions to your elected officials will fall on deaf ears, but
action is the only way to get a reaction.

I hope our members will not use this thead to attack each other's opinions personally.

All letters TO CONGRESS regardless of political affiliation are welcome.

Contacting congress
www.visi.com...


Below is my letter to:

Senator John W. Warner (R- VA) 202-224-2023 202-224-6295 warner.senate.gov...
Senator George Allen (R- VA) 202-224-4024 202-224-5432 allen.senate.gov...
Representative Frank R. Wolf (R - 10)

Dear Sir,

"I hope that you will strongly consider how history will reflect your service to your country and it's citizens.
You have a sworn duty to your country and your own loved one's to protect and serve
The Constitution of The United States of America.
I have no loyalty to any party or candidate that would dare to send our young into harms way
without just cause.
The Bush administration deliberately discredited any attempt to prevent their Iraq agenda from moving forward.
They lied to congress and the world to build support for our involvement in an avoidable military conflict.
Anyone who is directly involved in this cover-up deserves to be tried for conspiracy and treason.
All campaign finance records must be fully disclosed as well as any correspondence proving the real motive
for these actions.
These men are directly responsible for the death and injuries suffered needlessly by our brave young soldiers and countless civilians.
I understand that these are serious charges, but they are fully warranted in my opinion.
Our country deserves far better leadership.
The public has put their faith in you and I hope you agree that this manner of extreme corruption
simply will not be tolerated.
Regardless of the outcome, you have no other choice than to begin impeachment proceedings."

althrough i think you will not get thought to them, they are politicains and I

do hope you succeed i just have no respect or faith in our goverment any

more!!! After all the killing at 9/11 and are men dying and fighting for nothing, what can you belief any more

Originally posted by matrix007t
i just have no respect or faith in our goverment any
more!!!

I understand your point of view. Nevertheless, I feel we need to do what we can, whatever that is. If we give up, our voice is silenced.

I write my reps all the time. There are only 3 people any one of us need contact. Once you're set up to do it it's easy. Please reconsider.

Thanks, Fallen, for the timely reminder. Here's another interesting site I have used many times:

People's email Network

As long as each is an original effort, I'd like nothing better than to see thousands of ATS'ers sending letter's to their representives and bumping this thread for years to come as an indication of our P@ATS motto:

Deny Apathy.

Unfortunately I can't find my emails I've sent in the past; I'm guessing I used their submission forms and not my own email. If you don't mind, I'd like to post an email I wrote on the tenth of October, 2004, after I had finally gotten a response from any Illinois congressperson. It explains what I wrote and what the response was, and I'll keep searching for the actual letters to them. I usually copy myself on things like that, or, if I use the online form, I also email a copy of it to myself. I do not, however, clean up my inbox, so it may take a while.

Below is the email.

Hey all!

Well, I'm happy to say I recieved my first letter from a senator.
Considering I've been fairly active in writing to the house and
senate, I'm kinda surprised it took this long to recieve a response.
However, I did, and from an unlikely candidate: Richard Durbin.

Some of you may recall a while back I found a bill before the house
and senate to institute a draft. This, for those of you who don't know
or don't remember, isn't a draft like the one implemented in the 60s,
where you're called into service as the numbers are needed. This more
reflects Israel's manditory military service for citizenship.
EVERYONE, male, female, rich, poor, serves the state for 2 years out
of high school.

Naturally, being an American, my letter to Durbin was fairly direct.
These bills were both put forward by democrats. I wanted to know what
they were thinking. Were I able to write the letter again today, it
would be far more scathing because Kerry's been talking about this
"secret draft" Bush has planned while his own party has a secret draft
plan before congress. But hey, I got this letter from Durbin, it might
answer some of my questions.

Well, as I opened it up, I wasn't 100% sure it was going to be a form
letter since the media hasn't touched the draft bills, and most people
have no idea it's in congress. Open it up and, yes, it's a form
letter. Good, this means more people are concerned with this than just
a few, they took the time to compose a letter addressing those
concerned Americans who are writing to their senator about such a
draft.

I have finished reading the letter from Richard Durbin, the only
person who has bothered to respond to my questions...With the wrong
form letter. For those of you who don't know, apparently Durbin is in
favor of the Patriot Act, but he's also in favor of rolling back the
Patriot Act at the end of 2005. Wow, good to know. What about my
question, tho. Oh Richard, you dick...

Although I do disagree with Durbin on 90% of his politics, he does get
a kudos from me for having his staff respond to letters he gets, even
if it's the wrong response. At least one Illinois congressperson takes
their job seriously, but now we're going to have one appethetic
senator (Fitzgerald) replaced with a whole new nightmare no matter who
wins the race unless Illinois gets lucky and one of the people we
chose, or could choose, in the primaries decides to run and wins as a
write in.

And that's my rant for today. Pretty clever subject, eh? Got that from
Van Wilder (movie). Have fun, and remember, I don't care who you vote
for, as long as you're educated on why you're voting for them.

Rock, rock on!
Jake

think this thread is speaking volumes for the apathy of Americans. In the last election, there was a huge movement to remove Bush from office, both here on ATS and in the fake world (the world outside of ATS). By all accounts and polls, John Kerry should have been our president. I think the response to this thread is the explanation as to why. We have had 4 threads that I can recall, one by me, calling for a writing campaign to congressfolk. All of them had extremely low response rates.

It really seems we're dealing with the weather here. Everyone is adamant and stalwart in their condemnation of it, but they won't do a thing about it. You have the power to change the weather, but it takes an effort. As we can see from all these posts demanding action, people would rather just bitch about the problems, not try to solve them.

You have the power to exact change. Every letter a senator gets they assume reflects 1000 opinions (don't remember where I read that, but I did read that). Representatives see your input as 100 opinions (fewer constituants). You have the power, but you choose not to excersize it. To make a culture reference, do you remember what happened when Peter Parker was apathetic?

So tell me, Above Top Secret, what is your purpose here? Are you here to bitch and complain, vent and make yourself feel better, or do you want change? Right now, y'all are more than happy wacking each other off complaining about the other side, how horrible they are, but you just want to vent. You do not want change. If you did, you would use that superpower granted you, and change government through an influx of letters.

Superpower, you ask? I bet you wouldn't question it if you had to actually drive to a poll, but you can question it sitting there in your underwear in the comfort of your home. Yes, it's a superpower, just like John Walsh has. You have a voice, and you choose not to exercise it. Some think it doesn't matter. Most create a smokescreen along the same lines to save them selves from extra work. Your voice speaks volumes, yet you remain silent and complain on a website. Talk to your congressperson. Talk to your fellow believers who have lost confidence in government. Vote. Choose. Speak out. See what happens. You've assumed you have no voice. Prove it. Speak up, get friends to speak up, then you can say you will be ignored. And do it during an election. You cannot influence a president who got more votes than any president in the history of the US and has the majority of the votes., Not after he's been elected. Yet, look at what happened after over one million Americans voted for the socialist candidate for president. FDR changed all his policies to incorporate socialism.

You, yes, you, the 14 year old looking that that monitor, the 53 year old jaded to the point they reject all idealistic thought can change America, and thereby change the world. Everyone bitches about the weather. You have the ability to change it. Will you?


[edit on 7-15-2005 by junglejake]

Thanks for your support jj

Writing your local and state representatives only takes a few moments.

The content of your letters can be about any matter or issue that concerns you.

As long as your comments are within the law, it's your right to voice an opinion.


Be glad you still have freedom of speech while it lasts at the rate things are going.

Well, I sent the big man himself a little somethin' somethin', and I am actually kind of looking forward to the flame about to come

Mr. President,
I can't thank you enough for the past almost 6 years. While I don't always agree with some of your policies, you have demonstrated yourself to be an honorable man, holding to the principles of your faith in Christ. Your nomination of John Roberts for the Supreme Court is just another example of how you do what you say, and you say what you mean.

Thank you for your service to this great nation, and yet again demonstrating that you can be held to your word. I am proud to have you leading this nation that I love so dearly. Stay the course, maintain your integrity, and know that I and many others are backing you up.

Thanks again,
Jake [left the rest out

]

I just received another reply from Congressman Frank Wolf in reply to my concerns about the cost for education here in the U.S. compared to most other civilized nations.

I must say I was delighted that he took the time to address my concerns.

I had proposed a congressional brain storming session addressing the need to reform higher education
policies for state and federally funded institutions of higher education to better support our continued leadership roles in education on a global scale.

Why should OUR students be burdened with $40-$120,000+ in student loan debt when most other industrialized nations provided a universty education at little or no cost to any student with a desire to learn.

I also proposed a policy that any corporation who is permitted to employ low cost overseas workers
must contribute heavily to a dedicated education fund here for OUR students.

I hope other ATS members will take the time to contact their representatives.

It may help if your letters not only address a problem, but also offer a realistic solution
to your concerns.

While I doubt that you and I would agree on some political subjects, I applaud your active interest in politics. I have learned the hard way that most people, even most ATSers, simply wont take ten minutes to write a letter (ECK and I tried to organize a letter writing campaign once- less than 10 people were willing to get involved. One actually had the gall to request that we write a letter for him- he couldn't be troubled to do it himself!

Thanks Vagabond!

The more I read, the more I believe that the most serious threat to our national security is not terrorism
or corruption, but public apathy on a massive scale.

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[edit on 28-8-2005 by FallenFromTheTree]

mod edit: resize image

[edit on 3-9-2005 by DontTreadOnMe]

Dear Congress:

Please resign immediately (except Ron Paul). If you can't follow the Constitution you have no business claiming to represent us.

Love,
Patriotic Americans

Originally posted by Amethyst
Dear Congress:

Please resign immediately (except Ron Paul). If you can't follow the Constitution you have no business claiming to represent us.

Love,
Patriotic Americans

And who, pray tell, did you send that to? Or were you just making one of those one liners forbidden by ATS rules?

Originally posted by junglejake

Originally posted by Amethyst
Dear Congress:

Please resign immediately (except Ron Paul). If you can't follow the Constitution you have no business claiming to represent us.

Love,
Patriotic Americans

And who, pray tell, did you send that to? Or were you just making one of those one liners forbidden by ATS rules?

It's something I'd love to send...but it would end up in their shredders. And it's hardly a one-liner. I think of a one-liner as something to the tune of "I agree."

I've been mailing (real mail too, woot) Rick Santorum and Arlen Specter for years, about various issues (well, I was until I moved to ND)....and for every letter I sent, I received a response.

Sometimes two.

At one point, I was mailing 'em both at least once a month...and now I think about it, my name just might be on the 'Oh god not HER again" lists

Causes:

Poverty
More money for education in impoverished areas
Tibet
Longer sentencing for repeat sex offenders
Medical malpractice lawsuit caps
Anti death-penalty
Human rights (worldwide)

That's off the top of my head.




Darn it, forgot to add to causes:

Asking for reasons why we're in Iraq
My concern about voting irregularities in two elections



[edit on 3-9-2005 by Tinkleflower]

Trolling Congress with meaningless insults benefits no one.

If you are going to take the time to contact your local elected officials, try to make it count.

If you have a valid complaint fine, but offer a solution.

I spoke with Virginia Congressman Wolf's assistant by phone yesterday for quite some time and was treated very well.

I was told that the phone is ringing off the hook with complaints about FEMA's failure to adequately help
the victims in New Orleans.

I was assured that Congressman Wolf is NOT blowing this off.
There are too many important people asking the same question.

The way that things have been handled in New Orleans is a loud wake up call for all of us living here
in the suburbs of Washington D.C.
Many people simply assumed that FEMA was far better prepared and organized than this.

It stands to reason that people are now asking what would happen if a major event happened here?

What will happen here in Virginia if suddenly 500,000 people are told to evacuate Washington D.C.?


I'm finding that it really does help to have a positive and constructive rapor with your local representatives.

Diplomacy can work wonders if used wisely.

Absolutely.

I actually had a few telephone conversations with Mr Santorum's aide, too, and we'd developed something of a rapport over the space of about 6 months.

Diplomacy is really the only way to get satisfaction in matters like this; a polite, well-informed constituent is far more likely to be taken seriously, and thus garner support, than one who is abusive or simply throwing verbal stones.

To the Honorable Ron Paul, U. S. Congress

Now is the time to write the next chapter in your work The Republic. If I recall correctly, you ask, “Can we keep it?”

In a way we both have answers, neither satisfied nor satisfactory. We both learned constitutional guarantees mean nothing when weighed against money.

Once again Congressman I am being taken to court in Houston County. When I drove into that little county I was paranoid. I still see it as the backwoods of Texas, where I do not trust the system, the lawyers, the judges, or those working for the state.

I remember it as the place where I was ambushed in a court with a fraudulent test and put before a supposed judge who had been brought before the Judicial Ethics Commission the month prior.

I remember it as the place my son was taken from me violating judicial boundaries, and the rights of the citizen through the most inhumane, indecent, and illegal actions that can be perpetrated against a citizen.

I remember it as the place where the lawyer threatened me over my child and where judge said, “If you don’t do as we say, I am going to bring federal laws to bear on you.”

And I remember all those threats by my exe if I didn’t do what she said, “the lawyer and the judge are going to take my child and you’ll never see him again.”

It is the place where I stood and watched another judge wipe the illegalities and the sins off the lawyer who proclaimed, “This man is not paying child support,” even as he held in his hands the pay summaries showing that I was taking home about $75 a week after my child support was taken out.

I remember it as the place where it is easy to take a man to court, threaten him over his child, his freedom, take everything he has, throw him on the street, and then laugh at him.
And then do it again.

I remember it as the place where I stood deaf in front of a judge, sanctioned, then ordered to defend myself, and finally thrown in jail with the promise of a lawyer for a crime perpetrated by a supposed judge and fraudulent test by a lawyer.

I remember it as the place I spent 171 days before I got a Pro Se Writ of Habaeus Corpus in front of the federal courts in Lufkin when the judge's promise of a lawyer was not kept.

I remember it as the place where then district attorney termed me malicious for stating the constitution, the above facts, and my numerous writing to public officials detailing the failings of the Houston County justice system including the conditions of the jail.

It leaves one in fear that they could face the same mindset again.

As I have written before, I had no lawyer, was refused clean clothes, fed on $3.17 a day, no hot water, lived in an overcrowded facility under a leaky roof, denied medical treatment or a pen to write the federal courts, while the Health and Safety Codes were kept in the jailers office to prevent the inmates from knowing the inadequacies they were experiencing.

When one is put under those conditions how could they be called malicious for stating law and the constitution? I wonder what conclusions the Cindys and the Bills and the Lynns would draw having been treated to the same.

These are burdens that change the way men see their country and horrors they take to the grave. I will never see the justice system as an honorable attempt to resolve personal issues again.

Put me in Janet Reno’s circle. I agree we need a better class of citizen to become lawyer.
Put me Gloria Allred’s circle. I agree judges have to quit making social decisions.
Put my in Orin Hatch’s circle. I agree we have to find a way to take the money out of divorce so the Bill Pembertons and Lynn Markhams quit the adversarial approach and find solutions.

Under the laws of America men like the lawyer adn the judge are no less guilty of kidnapping than any person who would act in a like manner. They acted outside constitutional boundaries with disregard for Texas law, violating jurisdiction. And with this understood, we should realize even the barbaric ideas of Hummarabi’s code seems sensible.

For what is it to a party to go into a court, lie, cheat, steal, breaking the very laws he is sworn to uphold knowing he has nothing at stake? Yet, if he stood in the court of Hummarabi acting in a same manner he would leave in chains to be drawn and quartered.

In such light, it does make a difference when the supposed judge and lawyer have something at stake other than an amount of money. Those people who willingly buy and sell our constitutional rights would come to the realization that law as a human endeavor is more necessary and much safer than law by the dollar bill.

As for the idea of competition, if it were such, then it is a business and not an affirmation of the rights of the citizens to which is its intent. Even so, in the competitive marketplace there are those whose integrity and honesty cannot be spoiled by the promise of money. Market competition does not spoil the honest man like the title lawyer in some cases rots the idea of justice, warping the process in search of a way around the boundaries protecting the citizen.

Law, after all, is written with clear thoughts and moral responsibility which makes its intent clear; that is, to protect the citizens. So why should the courts ignore the citizens whose lives are most profoundly affected by the outcome, choosing instead to listen to skilled liars who argue only for money?

The law of this nation prescribes decent and humane ways to do any terrible task, if it must be done. But the person who is ambushed in a courtroom by a lawyer and a supposed judge and mentally abused will take that day to his grave. There is nothing in my life that comes close to the horror played to on August 20, 1998.

As Janet Reno writes of Gideon v. Wainwright we need a better class of citizen to become lawyer. We need people in positions to make decisions demonstrating integrity, honesty, and have the willingness to evaluate the circumstances affecting the individual’s life.

Yet we have in these men persons who argue in their cleverness telling us what we feel, how we feel, and how we should think. And when we see through that thinking we see how destructive their mindset and the courts can be.

Three times I have been in psychotherapy. And no therapist has made decisions so quickly as those in a courtroom. Thus, I am to conclude such decisions are colored by money, or I must not know what a terrible criminal I am. In either case they judge me guilty by their cleverness and warped thought, forgetting the constitution which assures all men certain unalienable rights to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.

And that truth does not change by the amount of money put in one’s hand, or the lack thereof. Still there are those who change their mind and reality by dollar bill, taking a horrid step into the dark side forgetting what law was meant to be; that is, the equalizing measures put in place between men to ensure fair courts and fair trials for all Americans.

But some lawyers, those piddling little trophy hunters, hold fast to the idea they are only there to make an argument even where there is no honor in just making an argument, neither before the court nor before God.

This is, of course, the reason our founding documents state clearly when men have no courts to hear them they are left to protect their rights and liberties by arms. And it is the reason the Second Amendment remains the strongest measure we have as people; living, breathing human beings, to make our own choices, not leaving them to those who know nothing of us, and refuse to hear the true circumstances of our lives.

Men died for these ideas. Twenty-four were lawyers who willingly gave their lives and the lives of their families to ensure, we as Americans, have the right to question the laws, and as Janet Reno says, to make the necessary changes to ensure our system works to protect the rights of the individual.

Thus, law is not written with the intent of granting wishes, rather to determine what is suitable under given circumstances. Nor was it put in place as that liars’ competition which it has become by those who get paid to argue, not with decency, or honorably, but by whatever means will achieve their clients’ desires.

In this case, the lawyer's wish list crossed the boundaries depriving the other party of even the possibility of maintaining a life of minimal necessity.

In this case, his being ‘right’ meant my living on the streets, homeless and in poverty, in psychotherapy with bottles of pills to maintain my sanity and physical ailments. It has meant continued counseling, more group therapy, and the inability to find, or maintain employment. The continually process offers more of the same. Yet, the people who suffer can attest it is wrong.

Law is shredded; the constitution ignored while lawyers, like small children on a playground, push and shove and when someone gets hurt they claim nobody did it. Yet do they not make their living by cause and effect?

So they must have some understanding.

Even I have enough psychotherapy to understand Bill Pemberton and Lynn Markham took the clock apart and now they wonder why it will not tick. They took a bolt out of the engine on an airplane and now wonder why it crashed. They killed the mule and now wonder why they can not plow. And when you try to explain, they throw the clock in the trash, bury the mule, and forget the human life in that airplane because they refuse to be the cause.

I have tried very hard to understand why they have done this. And eventually, I was left to wonder what excuse God will accept for such actions.

I was only doing my job?
It was the law?
It was his fault?
He should have?
He could have?

Unlike the courts where the judges rule everything is in the past, when we stand before God everything we have done will be in the past. And it will be right, or it will be wrong. So do we say, “God that is all in the past?”

To the lawyer, to the judge, to the state, it may be the past but I live it every day. So it is not my past, it is my present, and it is my future. Not a present or future of my choice but one thrust upon me, not by the system, but those who care nothing for the system aside from the amounts of money and snippets of prestige they receive, those piddling little trophy hunters as Gerry Spense calls them..

Where the courts say it is in the past that does not make it so with God. For when one lives the result of an unjust and unwarranted destructive verdict issued by a supposed judge and brought by a lawyer who filed a fraudulent test, it is not the past. Living it makes it the present.

And where the courts say it has nothing to do with the issue, they do not speak for God, nor do they speak for me. For when one is left in poverty and on the streets without the ability to maintain a minimum lifestyle providing one’s self with those basic necessities of all life, it has everything to do with the issue.

And where the courts expect one to forget God does not require it, nor can one forget living on the streets, put there not by his own actions but by the actions of those acting without care or concern for the individual rights guaranteed by the constitution.

And finally I realize where the pastor says God will forgive does not make that so either.
It is true that if a man’s soul means nothing to him, your soul means less. And if a man cares nothing for his soul, he must think you care none for your own.

In seven years of living this issue I have seen parents walk into courtrooms with an attorney and the indication to the court is they have more than they are willing to admit.
And I have seen parents walk into a courtroom without an attorney and the indications to the court are they do not care enough to protect their rights.

Let me not get reality confused with truth, but what about the man who can not afford an attorney? In seven years I have learned the fallacy.

When judges say, “You have not looked hard enough to find a lawyer.” Law is nothing more than a consumer product. Of course, the citizen has a right not purchase a product that does not work, and to bring into courtroom the defects of it.

Still, the refusal to purchase cannot take away the guarantee of a fair trial provided for by the constitution. For the constitution does not require a consumer to purchase anything, much less what he can not afford. Yet, the court is required to uphold the guarantee of a fair trial promised by it. Maybe I have read too many law books but it is negligent to do otherwise.

Likewise, if the key to being legal is being paid, we need not bring any murder for hire to a courtroom. After all, the hit-man was only performing the task he was paid to do. Thus if we fail to recognize law as nothing more than a consumer product then murder for hire is as legal as the hit-men/lawyers who destroy the citizens under the pretense of only being there to make an argument.

It has been held continuously throughout the history of this nation that the most important thing a lawyer will ever do is protect the rights of the citizens. Yet protecting the rights of one party does not equate to violating the rights of another.

To that end the State Supreme Court put a Code of Conduct for lawyers in place in November, 1989. I talked with the state bar about the violations with regard to this case. They claim they are exempt from that code. Instead they have their own, which they sell. It reads like a law book, confusing, confounding, nothing more than a barricade to anyone who has a met one of those, who the Supreme Court calls, minority of lawyers who do a disservice to the citizens and consumers of the state.

I am an American. I am promised the right by the constitution to question the actions of that occurred on August 20, 1998 in the Houston County Court-at-Law, overseen by this judges who was not sitting in a time of good behavior and where this lawyer put before the court a fraudulent test violating jurisdiction.

Of course, they will not admit that, no more than they will admit they changed the transcripts omitting a great deal of that type of activity on the supposed judge's ‘ruling’ these things were not before the court.

We will not read how judge pointed at a witness while she sat in the back of the court and allowed her to set an exchange point for my child, even with the lawyer laughing, knowing there was no way I would be able to see my child because I had no transportation and knowing I would not be able to pay any child support because my tools were on my truck sitting in Jeri Perdue’s driveway.

The stenographer assured me these would be in the transcripts. And when I asked why they were not, I was told the judge ruled none of it was before the court.

That is a painful, pitiful, extremely warped idea of a courtroom, where lies predicated on hate and revenge were being offered as fact with the understood knowledge that a man can not deny what he does not know. Thus he looks like a liar which is all that is truly necessary in the eyes of the court.

Congressman if I wanted to lie, I would not be saying the same things seven years after the fact. The truth has gotten no action and certainly a lie would be more believable. Yet, I tell the truth because it is the truth. And it is this truth that keeps me from seeing my child and keeps me in psychotherapy and on medications, in hopes that I will not eventually pick up a gun.

Such as it is kidnapping is the result of those actions by the lawyer and the judge, as well as my exe. They threatened me violating jurisdictional boundaries and took my child. I can not see him. I cannot find him. And their ransom note says, “Pay a lawyer.”

Can these seemingly brightest of the bright not understand that once you have taken a jackhammer and torn up part of a highway we can not just run over it with a steamroller and say, “There! We fixed it?”

I do not understand that thinking Congressman any more than I can understand why I am being taken back to court.

Yet times have changed in Houston County. And this time I have been appointed counsel. He has tough task. I sympathize with him because he has a client who believes in the constitution and the protections guaranteed by it.

He has a client in psychotherapy and on pills trying to maintain some stability and sanity; a client who no longer can function as a normal person because his life has been dramatically and destructively changed by a piddling little trophy hunter and a supposed judge in a small county courtroom where his rights were taken away to have his child in his care in a county of his choosing without interference.

He has a client who was forced to get a divorce by a lawyer and supposed judge without the option of trying to work things out with his spouse.

He has a client who has tried to stay in contact with his child and yet has been hindered in the process by the custodial parent moving the child and hanging up the telephone when the child has tried to tell the father where he was.

He has a client hindered by former district attorney who refused to take charges on the custodial parent.

He has a client who willingly made the effort to start an allotment for his child and was hindered by the state inasmuch as the state refused to provide the necessary information to get that allotment started.

He has a client who does not understand how the state can ignore a man walked out of court without the ability to see his child, the tools or the transportation necessary to get a job, and without any possibility of being able to pay child support. He has a client who realizes he was made a criminal by that court.

He has a client who recognizes we can not go to Wal-Mart and buy a bolt to put the engine back on an airplane exclaiming, “There! Good as new!”

Sadly, he has client who recognizes the need for this matter to be brought before the federal court so that the necessary changes can be made to ensure our system works in a manner that does not utilize the adversarial approach to divorce that leads to the disruption or the destruction of either party or the children of any marriage.

He has a client who recognizes there are as many Pro Bono attorneys offering their services to the poor and homeless as there are pollsters asking the beggars about disposable income.

On the other hand, he has a client who appreciates the precarious circumstances in which this man has been placed.

I was immediately impressed by this man. I like the enthusiasm, his personality, and I realize he is knowledgeable, extremely qualified, and too damn likeable. So I find myself confused.

Personally there are many variables in this issue: the trauma, stress, distress, depression, poverty, homelessness, pills, psychologist, psychiatrist, and the wonderful claim this is all for the child. But anyone who says that refuses to admit my child has had seven years of his life turned upside down.

And that leaves me to wonder if I do not push to get this matter into federal court to demonstrate how destructive this law can be, what will happen to my child tomorrow?


Respectfully Submitted

Well, I wrote to Durbin and Obama requesting an independent investigation into who leaked classified information to the NYT, and for justice do be done in that regard.

Still haven't gotten anything from Durbin yet, but Obama sent me a response. Keyword response, I'm guessing, because it's not talking about what I brought up. Rather, he's saying...Well, I'll let his form letter speak for itself:

Dear Jacob:

Thank you for contacting me regarding the news of President Bush's domestic spying program. I appreciate hearing from you and share your deep concern about this situation.

I support the calls of my colleagues for immediate oversight hearings and investigations into the President’s domestic spying program. Although more facts may be forthcoming, from what we have learned, it is clear that the President’s program is in direct contravention of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). If the President believes that the nation’s FISA laws need be amended, he should present to Congress his recommended amendments. However, the current facts indicate that the President should have been able to obtain court authority for the wiretaps conducted under his authorization. FISA courts rarely, if ever, deny a request for a wiretap and routinely provide law enforcement with swift access to court orders.

I am concerned by on-going efforts to increase the power of the Executive branch at the expense of strong checks and balances. It is imperative that the President, and all elected officials, recognize that this is a nation of laws.

Thank you again for contacting me. Please keep in touch as this situation develops.

Sincerely,

Barack Obama
United States Senator

Oh well...Congress doesn't have a good record of responding to me, it seems...Two responses back, both about something different than what I wrote them about. The worst part about it is in their writing statistics; my letter just got chalked up as another person who thinks there should be an investigation in Bush. Sigh.