To the Honorable Robert Scott,
My name is Scott Wichmann. I am a thirty-two year old married man living in the North Side of Richmond, in the Barton Heights section of town. I love my neighborhood. I love my job-- I am an actor-- and I love my country very much.
I feel blessed to have been born in a country where I have a voice, and the right to speak out against injustice. I am writing to you today because I am troubled by the direction our country is headed. I am deeply disturbed by the actions of the current administration in particular. In the wake of 9/11, The current Administration used outright lies as a pretext to Invade another nation, causing the death and maiming of hundreds upon thousands of Iraqi civilians and US Troops. To date there has been no action taken against them by Congress for propagating the lies that, to this very moment, continue to cause the death of innocents in that country.
The Bush Administration manufactured threats and used deceptive propaganda to mislead the nation to falling in line behind them. They led us to war based on lies. To date, they have racked up the biggest deficit in the history of our nation, while cutting taxes for the rich, destroying environmental protections restrictive to big business, and rendering vital services such as FEMA impotent due to poor funding and cronyism.
They have shredded our Fourth Amendment rights by engaging in illegal wiretapping of US Citizens, laughed off the provisions of the Geneva convention (making torture the new 'American Way'), and, according to an article by Robert F Kennedy, Jr in this month's Rolling Stone Magazine, they were even a party to the outright thievery of the 2004 Presidential Election in Ohio.
Thanks to the powers granted him by the Patriot Act, President Bush now has sole authority to determine who is a terrorist. The CIA and NSA have infiltrated and spied on peace activist groups such as the Quakers, and placed them on super-secret 'terror watch lists.'Dissent is denounced as 'Un-Patriotic.' CIA Rendition flights to Europe are the new norm. The FBI is monitoring libraries.
I ask you, Congressman Scott, WHAT IS GOING ON??
Every day another piece of the Constitution is shredded, as the executive branch grows more and more powerful. Congress has failed utterly in it's duty to provide oversight and accountability on behalf of the citizens of this country and then has the unmitigated gall to vote it's members a $2,300 pay raise on tuesday july 13th?? A pay raise?? For WHAT??
A more cynical man might ask, "remind me again, What do we need Congress FOR??"
I don't have children yet, but when I do, I want to let them know that when the dictatorship began, I didn't stay silent. I spoke up. It is your duty to do the same, Congressman Scott. I wrote to you today because you are a man of principle, and because this Administration must be held accountable for it's actions.
Right now I speak for many when I say that our confidence in members of Congress is at an all-time LOW. The corruption and corporate lobbyist culture of our congressional institution excludes the concerns of the average citizen. I and many of my friends feel we now have no one to speak for us. We wish to sue for peace, but all we hear from the halls of our elected representatives are either the republican call for more war, or the hemming and hawing of centrist democrats who are too fearful of the p.r. backlash that comes with challenging the ideology of violence.
There can be no peace without Justice, and Justice cannot appear without the light of TRUTH. If you choose to take action against this nest of corruption, The truth will be on your side. Speak out on it's behalf.
America is the greatest idea ever envisioned. A rebublic of, by and for the people. It is larger in possibility than George W Bush and his fear-based initiatives would ever have us believe. It's HEART is larger-- It's scope and possibility almost limitless; It's capacity for compassion and creativity simply waiting to be mined. We as a people need to find constructive rather than destructive ways to solve our problems. We need to live our lives consistent with the values our country professes to embody. And we need not ever be afraid to challenge injustice or call it by it's name.
That is why I strongly urge you to introduce legislation or support such legislation relating to the Impeachment of President George W Bush, and to work for the restoration of our lost civil liberties by repealing the Patriot Act. I also urge you to to take action in Congress to call for an immediate withdrawal of all US Military Personnell from Iraq.
I thank you for your attention to this correspondence. I am very proud to be one of your constituents, and I believe very strongly in your platform of social justice, fairness and equality for all people everywhere.
Sincerely,
Scott Wichmann
Scottwichmann@aol.com
