Dear Joe. An open letter to the President.

[Arkansas Granny]

https://newsletterwithecm.substack.com/p/dear-joe?s=r&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

Hey there, Mr. President. Forgive the informality. In an earlier version of this letter, the honorifics left me with a sense that it wasn’t ok to speak my mind to you, and after all, you are the president and I am your constituent, and we should be able to talk candidly. Hello.

------------

We have seen the GOP and their base of white supremacists invade and destroy the Capitol in an attempt to steal the election days before your inauguration, and then we’ve sat here, for almost eighteen months so far, as the Department of Justice fails to indict a single primary organizer of those events despite the deepest, most incendiary actions tracking all the way into the Oval Office of your predecessor.

We have seen the GOP smash our voting rights state by state, gerrymandering districts beyond recognition and decimating one of our most important rights, while the Democratic party sits back and says, oh well, too bad so sad, Freedom to Vote Act, the filibuster is more important than you are.

--------------

And now, we have read a draft opinion from one of those same justices, supported by four more of them who plainly lied during their confirmation hearings, that will destroy the bodily autonomy of more than half the people in this country, and we have watched in response as the Democratic party, and you, have engaged in performative gestures of support while doing nothing, literally nothing, to try to preserve our rights and save our lives, and while a member of our own party claims the filibuster as his protection and thereby sentences pregnant people in America to forced birth and preventable death.

Despite all this, you seem to think that we are the ones who will have to do more, yet again, come November.

[secondwind]

1. In a way, he is right... we need to draw sharper contrasts with Republicans.

[JohnSJ]

4. Those contrasts were very clear in 2016 when the Supreme Court was the issue, and that the

republican candidate made no secret about his racism, sexism, and bigotry

If after January 6th voters still don’t recognize that contrast, then the country is lost

[llashram]

2. I'm beginning

to feel the same. I hold out hope that there is a plan to knock the repthugs on their asses, but my heart tells me the important ones will walk. While it is hoped the 'burning at the stake' of the low-level patsies, I saw Lee Harvey Oswald burned, will satisfy us out here waiting for the other shoe to drop.

[JohnSJ]

3. What a misguided distorted perspective, blaming Democrats and the President for the current

situation.

“We have seen the Democratic party drop the ball on additional Covid relief, and on the Women’s Health Protection Act, and on Build Back Better, and refuse to get it together and pull out all the stops to overcome a procedural rule that has its foundations in slaveowner power since the Civil War, but happily drop that same rule to protect corrupt Supreme Court justices from protests guaranteed by the First Amendment, or to raise the debt ceiling.”

Convenient memories it seems

All of what is happening could have been avoided in 2016

The primary issue in 2016 was the Supreme Court, and this was more than obvious by what McConnell did by blocking President Obama’s SC nominee

What did people think would happen if trump got in?

Hell, what did they think would happen in 2000, which was the warning for 2016?

With a slim majority in the House, and a 50-50 Senate, with two Democratic Senators obstacles to getting much of the Democratic agenda, options are very limited.

Let me speak my mind to the author of this “open letter”, your time would be better served to getting more Democrats elected in the upcoming midterms, instead of blaming them for a situation that to a large degree was contributed to by enough people not voting, and voting third party

[Arkansas Granny]

7. I don't think she's blaming Biden and Democrats for the situation as much as wishing that they

would fight harder for us. It does seem, sometimes, that Democrats give up too easily and aren't very good at getting their message out. We definitely need more pushback on the lies and misinformation coming from the right.

[JohnSJ]

10. The quote I provided from the open letter sure does blame the Democrats for "dropping the ball"

[Caliman73]

5. We are the ones who need to do more. That is how democracy works.

The President has powers they can use to implement the laws of the country. The Legislative Branch make those laws. We, as the constituents who put people into office and take them out, are the ones who have to push the politicians we elect to actually make the laws we want.

Like President Obama before President Biden said, "Make do it. Push me to do it". If only 60% or less of the people can even be bothered to vote in a Presidential election and 40% or less during a midterm, why the hell would the politicians care about actually implementing the will of the people.

This "open letter" is harping on the President and the Democrats about "not doing anything", what besides writing a letter on a blog, is Elizabeth doing to change the situation. Is she driving people to the polls? Is she signing up to be a member of her local Democratic Party? Phone banking? Walking the precinct?

Sorry, but this just seems typically American to me. I am just going to complain and you should do something. I want to lose weight, but I am not going to modify my diet in any way and I am not going to incorporate more physical activity into my life. I want to take a pill or have some gadget that will do the work for me. Months later and now I am pissed because the pill and the gadget have not turned me into a ripped, elite athlete.

Like Benjamin Franklin said coming out of the Constitutional Convention when asked what type of government they had been given...

A Republic, if YOU can keep it.

[BlackSkimmer]

6. Did you read her entire letter?

She quite clearly says what she has done.

More than most here, I’d bet.

[Caliman73]

8. Yes I did.

I will retract my comment about the letter, but the rest of my comment stands.

She is an activist. Good. She should not simply be blaming and asking Biden to "do more" she should be telling the rest of us to do more.

Without support, or consent from the governed, the government can't and/or won't do what some of us demand. Wealthy people have their money. They can pay people to lobby and be a nuisance until their will is done. They can threaten to withold funds needed to run a campaign. We, who do not have money, have only one thing that matters, and that is numbers.

Like another person who responded said, If we give Democrats a 60+ member Senate, the House, and the Presidency and they still fail to act, then that letter stands. If we expect the Democrats to act with the power they currently have, then we are doing what I said.

[JohnSJ]

11. I agree with your assessment, and this excerpt from that "open letter" is blaming Biden and the

Democrats without a doubt:

“We have seen the Democratic party drop the ball on additional Covid relief, and on the Women’s Health Protection Act, and on Build Back Better, and refuse to get it together and pull out all the stops to overcome a procedural rule that has its foundations in slaveowner power since the Civil War, but happily drop that same rule to protect corrupt Supreme Court justices from protests guaranteed by the First Amendment, or to raise the debt ceiling.”

Either the person is naive about how the government runs, or just needs a cathartic experience to blame Democrats.

The Supreme Court was the issue in 2016. It cannot just be conveniently left out of the argument. The voters are where the buck stops, and that enough decided to not vote for the Democratic nominee put us where we are today.

In 2016, in every critical swing state Hillary lost by less than 1%, while Jill Stein in those critical swing states received 1% of the vote. Add to that those who didn't even bother to vote, and some ask why we are where we are today?

[Timewas]

9. This

It should be signed by every single dem in the country....