Get Your Blog Up

“This administration is populated by people who’ve spent their careers bashing government. They’re not just small-government conservatives—they’re Grover Norquist, strangle-it-in-the-bathtub conservatives. It’s a cognitive disconnect for them to be able to do something well in an arena that they have so derided and reviled all these years.”

Senator Hillary Clinton

Sunday, November 28, 2004

Letters to the editor

I was thinking about tacking this on to either the post on Hostettler or Hastert, but I think it deserves a spot all its own.

I encourage people to write to the local papers in both of these guy's districts in order to make sure the public knows exactly how these guys feel. Hostettler doesn't believe in the power of the Constitution and the balance of power. He is hungry for control and would overthrow the court system if he could on order to further his agenda. Like it or not, all Americans may need court protection from overzealous lawmakers, be they Democrats or Republicans. Hostettler seems to think you shouldn't have it.

Hastert on the other hand feels that a majority in out democracy is not the way to govern anymore. He wants your voice not to matter unless he and all of his friends agree with it. He doesn't care how you feel about the government unless he feels that way, too. Imagine you are a voter in Hastert's district and you happen to disagree with him on an issue. He's in power folks. He doesn't care what you think anymore. There is no protection for the little people in Dennis Hastert's world. Bipartisanship is a prop for campaigns.

These are quick talking points off the top of my head. Feel free to add your own. But once they come, bring them on strong. Contact local representatives in your area. Notify local media, and send a copy of the letter to the papers and others in these guy's districts as well. Get people talking about these guys and their failure to uphold America values and American democracy.

Then, when election time comes, we can actually use these issues against them. People will need a simple phrase to remember the arrogance that these two man posses and the disregard they have for the public at large. "Hostettler wanted to dismantle the court system." "Hastert thinks you voice is less important than his." Even if they survive the controversy, they won't be as strong as they were before it.

For a guy like Hostettler who barely eeks out a victory, this sort of thing could be trouble. Hastert has more room to wiggle, but bringing him down would be a solid coup for Democrats in 2006. But the fight starts now.