My letter to Senator John Ensign today (we are acquaintances):

kestrel91316

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Thu Mar-08-07 07:57 PM
Original message

My letter to Senator John Ensign today (we are acquaintances):

Edited on Thu Mar-08-07 08:01 PM by kestrel91316

Note: some personal identifying information has been removed

Senator John Ensign
119 Russell Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510

March 8, 2007

Dear Senator Ensign,
You might remember me. Or perhaps not. I was one of the teaching assistants for your freshman microbiology class in veterinary school at Colorado State University in the fall of (year), and I certainly remember you. This, plus the fact that I am and have been for the past 24 years a resident of California, might be sufficient grounds for you to discard this letter and with it my opinion. But please bear with me for a moment.
I was born in Washoe County General Hospital in Reno. My father was born in Ely, White Pine County, in (year). My grandfather was born in (year) on the George (last name) homestead in the Snake Valley at the turnoff to the dirt road to Silver Creek Reservoir on what is now Highway 6/50. My great-grandfather came to the Snake Valley alone in 1880 at the age of 16 and was the first rancher to run cattle up on Bald Mountain and Wheeler Peak for summer pasture. My grandparents raised 6 boys, of whom my father was the youngest, on the last lonely little hardscrabble ranch where Weaver Creek peters out in the sagebrush north of Baker.
As a child I spent innumerable vacations in White Pine County, where my grandparents lived until they died � where my twenty-some (last name) cousins grew up to become miners and mine engineers, ranchers and housewives � where my Uncle (first name) had his long career as a State Brand Inspector � where my grandfather, (full name), was a White Pine County sheriff and Ely�s Chief of Police. My father left Nevada for college in Colorado (at our alma mater) and then a highly decorated career in the USAF, but he always considered himself a Nevadan. And so do I. You can take the girl out of Nevada, but you can�t ever take Nevada out of this girl.
Before I get to the purpose of this letter, in all fairness I must give you credit where credit is due. I have read your summary of the White Pine County Conservation, Recreation, and Development Act of 2006 and applaud your efforts in this regard. Though it would be nice to keep the area as I have always known it, I accept that this is not realistic. What I do know is that too many young people have had to leave this beautiful land, as my father did, in order to have any future at all. A larger tax base, larger population (within reason), and more jobs would allow more of my extended family, which includes Bakers, Smiths, Hesselgessers, Tilbys, Hickmans, Meachams and countless others, to stay right where they want to. My generation has spread to the four winds, and it�s a family tragedy. Please continue to keep an eye out for the well-being of this forgotten corner of America that my heart still knows as home.
Now to my point in writing to you: I note with some interest your dissatisfaction with the firing of Nevada�s US Attorney Daniel Bogden. According to The Las Vegas Review-Journal you are not happy with how you were misled by the Justice Department. I know full well how supportive you always have been of George Bush and his plans for this country.
Now that you have tasted the bitter fruit of those plans do you feel the same? Do you feel betrayed? Do you feel cheated? Do you perhaps even feel just a little bit afraid? Remember the old joke that ends �You knew I was a snake when you picked me up�? Remember this poem from your history lessons?

First They Came for the Jews��..

First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me.

--- Attributed to Pastor Martin Niemoller

They have come for the Jews, when they came for the Muslim �terrorists� who languish without benefit of trial. They have come for the Communists, when they came for the �commie pinko liberals� who dissented. They have come for the trade unionists, when they came for the United States Attorneys who asked too many questions. And now, John, they will come for you, and the other Republicans from whose eyes the scales are falling.
Are you happy now, John?

Sincerely,

(full name), DVM (CSU �(year))

Yes, I know the format is hinky. It's normal format in the letter. I don't do HTML. I sent the letter by snailmail as I am not legally a constituent.

I wrote it on my professional letterhead.