Letter to Congressman Taylor

Congressman Taylor (rep from the district I live in) wrote an article in the Franklin Press about how we should all not question President Bush, but back and support him and praising him for doing such a good job during the hurricane. Then he went on to write about how much of a problem immigration was, and how we all certainly could agree that we certainly needed a fence across the southern US - and certainly this and certainly that. Also he praised the "minuteman" thing that is patrolling the border between US and Mexico, and now Canada. At the bottom, the letter had a place where people could cut out the article and sign it and mail it to him so he could forward it to the White House. I tried to ignore the letter - and did - for a day. Then I wrote a response. I sent it to the paper and also printed it out and actually mailed it in an old-fashioned envelope and stamp to the congressman.



A Letter to Congressman Taylor


This is a reply to your letter to President Bush, published in the Franklin Press, November 8, 2005.
You began by thanking President Bush for his “leadership in handling the recent hurricane relief”. Could you please explain for me what he did that you admired, so I will know what I missed? Which actions of his would you be likely to do yourself if a great natural disaster struck western North Carolina?
Would you remain on vacation for two more days? Would you then fly to another state to raise money for them? Would you fly “low” over the area before returning to Washington to get back to work?
If the local authorities request federal help, would you return their request and just tell them the form was filled out improperly, try it again?
Would you herd the low-income residents who could not get out of the damaged area to the Western Carolina University auditorium say, and keep them there, surrounded with state troopers, so they could not leave? Would you appoint someone who had been associated with horse racing, but never worked in disaster relief - but who was a friend of a friend of yours - to direct the entire operation?
Please let me know which leadership or management traits of President Bush you admire so much? What part of his planning did you admire? The keeping of 30% of the Louisiana National Guard troops in Iraq for such a long time? It was 18 months counting their 5 month training program. Was it the diversion of probably 80% of money approved for levee repair at New Orleans to Iraq? The firing, in 2002, of the Army Corps chief Parker for trying to build a flood control pump in the river?
What was it about the president’s organizing skills that impressed you? Seems to me that there was an amazing inability for almost everyone to communicate with anyone else. Same as in New York on September 11, 2001. Way back in Vietnam we had airborne communication aircraft that would orbit above the battlefield. Those planes carried electronic equipment which enabled all agencies below to talk with each other. The aircraft were there 24/7, year after year, and one aircraft would cover a diameter of almost 400 miles. That’s ancient technology now, what would you want to do if western North Carolina agencies couldn’t communicate during a disaster? Would you do nothing, like the president did? Maybe Swain or Macon county, or Robbinsville could hire one of these airplanes to do this work. Would that make more sense?
Was it his staffing brilliance that you would copy? Have you studied the art of “Croneyship” thoroughly? Have you practiced by appointing enough incompetent friends to work for you in your own office? You probably liked the part when he said “Good job, Brownie - you’re doing a heck of a job”. Did you feel that you could have earned such praise?
You mention the president showed “sensitivity” to the needs of the people in the region. Yes, we saw some of that, particularly when he was talking about Trent Lott’s old porch that used to be on the beach.
Then your letter shifted to suggest a “plan” for protecting the nation’s borders. Your repeated use of the word “certain” was certainly remarkable. That certainly seemed to imply that the nation was certainly united about the issue, and the only hope was to erect a certain “cactus curtain” across the Mexico-US border. Did I miss the national discussion that certainly must have preceded your decision? Where did you study border control? I don’t recall any suggestions for problems this wall might create, or its cost of upkeep, or which companies would make a lot of money from building and maintaining all that, or even any analysis of other alternatives.
As far as the “Minuteman” operation is concerned, don’t you think that it really seems to cry out for a certain type of leadership? Like that already available through Halliburton, Titan, Blackwater and other private police/military organizations, all run by administration leaders like Cheney and Woolsey, and who have already earned their battle stripes in places like Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo and perhaps other places in eastern Europe or the middle East? That would also be another step toward “privatization”, and you always say that government is THE problem. It would be also another step toward blurring the distinctions between lynch mob and authority, “company private” and classified material, and between profit and responsibility.
And speaking of responsibility, you say that the president’s leadership should not be questioned. That seems a proper stance for a servant toward his master, or of a baron toward his king. But Benjamin Franklin suggested that the proper role for a free citizen toward his or her elected officials should be one of constant monitoring and continual questioning.
Although it is not included in the constitution, the right to make mistakes is certainly a God-given right, but IF “mistakes” become “made on purpose”, or with “intent to deceive”, or for the purpose of private gain, then we are not talking about error, we are talking about treason. And the only sure guard against treason by elected officials in high places is the citizen who questions those officials. This is the heart and soul of good citizenship, and that citizen who holds his and her officials responsible, and who questions their actions every minute is the true Minuteman.

Respectfully - and watchfully,

John Womack