Email to Bush
I've sent the following to the Dallas Morning News, my local newspaper, and to the Prez and Veep at the whitehouse email address. I'm going to send it to my local PBS station, as well. If you have any other ideas where I should send it, please let me know.
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Dear President Bush:
I am a white middle class woman from Dallas, Texas. I am registered to vote. I am well-educated, and attended the University of Texas at Austin. I graduated from Highland Park High School in 1979. I currently work as a legal assistant. I was raised by white, well-educated, upper-middle-class professionals. My father was a lawyer and my mother was his legal assistant and office manager. I promise you that I am neither a minority, nor poor. Do I have your attention?
As your constituent, I would like to ask you a question.
Have you ever gone five days without changing your underwear?
That sounds like a silly question about an indelicate subject. A nice young lady from Texas wouldn't ordinarily ask such a thing, And unless that was part of your pledgeship in Skull & Bones, I'm willing to bet you haven’t, either. I've never gone five days without changing my underwear either.
I do have a good reason for asking. There are tens of thousands of people in my city tonight who have been forced to go without a change of clothes for five days.
Have you ever gone twenty-four hours without water?
I never have. I can't imagine what that would be like.
There are thousands of folks at the New Orleans Convention Center who have gone without water for five days.
Have you ever had to stand in a hot, dark room, in feces for days on end?
Even Skull & Bones wouldn't do that to you. There are thousands of people at the New Orleans Convention Center who have had to do just that.
Have you ever been stranded, alone in the attic of a house that filled with water, to the point that you had water up to your neck, and you couldn't sit down because you would drown, and you'd had no potable water, no food, no contact with the outside world for five days?
I haven't. I hope that neither you nor I ever do. But there are thousands of people stranded in New Orleans, Louisiana who are in just that position.
Your response to this horror has been to have your picture taken with two pretty girls in Mississippi.
Now, please understand. I know the people of Mississippi need help, as well. I don't begrudge them a bit of help. But if you think, for a moment, that your photo opportunities constitute help, you are horribly wrong.
There are citizens mobilizing, throughout the United States and Canada, and throughout the world to come to the aid of the people of New Orleans. I am especially proud of the people of North Texas, the Houston area, and the San Antonio area, and of our Governor, Rick Perry, for doing what we can to alleviate this awful situation.
But it's not enough, and it hasn't been enough for days.
President Bush, please prove to me, and to all of your constituents, that you are a decent human being, and worthy of the office you hold.
Send whatever military help you can, not to restore order, but to rescue, feed and provide comfort to the people stranded in New Orleans.
Accept the help citizens and governments around the world are willing to give us in this time of need.
Instead of laughing about Trent Lott's new house, give some serious consideration to efforts we can make to prevent similar tragedies in the future.
And most of all, please do these things quietly, from the White House. Keep us updated on your efforts through your Press Secretary. Let us know that you are so completely focused on alleviating the misery of your fellow Americans that you can't spare the time to appear on television.
Thank you.
*Me*
*****
I'm also sending emails to my state and federal senators and representatives tonight.
I can't rant at my governor. He's done the right thing and proclaimed our state's arms, hearts and facilities wide open for the people of Louisiana, so Governor Rick Perry has my full support at this time.
****
Dear President Bush:
I am a white middle class woman from Dallas, Texas. I am registered to vote. I am well-educated, and attended the University of Texas at Austin. I graduated from Highland Park High School in 1979. I currently work as a legal assistant. I was raised by white, well-educated, upper-middle-class professionals. My father was a lawyer and my mother was his legal assistant and office manager. I promise you that I am neither a minority, nor poor. Do I have your attention?
As your constituent, I would like to ask you a question.
Have you ever gone five days without changing your underwear?
That sounds like a silly question about an indelicate subject. A nice young lady from Texas wouldn't ordinarily ask such a thing, And unless that was part of your pledgeship in Skull & Bones, I'm willing to bet you haven’t, either. I've never gone five days without changing my underwear either.
I do have a good reason for asking. There are tens of thousands of people in my city tonight who have been forced to go without a change of clothes for five days.
Have you ever gone twenty-four hours without water?
I never have. I can't imagine what that would be like.
There are thousands of folks at the New Orleans Convention Center who have gone without water for five days.
Have you ever had to stand in a hot, dark room, in feces for days on end?
Even Skull & Bones wouldn't do that to you. There are thousands of people at the New Orleans Convention Center who have had to do just that.
Have you ever been stranded, alone in the attic of a house that filled with water, to the point that you had water up to your neck, and you couldn't sit down because you would drown, and you'd had no potable water, no food, no contact with the outside world for five days?
I haven't. I hope that neither you nor I ever do. But there are thousands of people stranded in New Orleans, Louisiana who are in just that position.
Your response to this horror has been to have your picture taken with two pretty girls in Mississippi.
Now, please understand. I know the people of Mississippi need help, as well. I don't begrudge them a bit of help. But if you think, for a moment, that your photo opportunities constitute help, you are horribly wrong.
There are citizens mobilizing, throughout the United States and Canada, and throughout the world to come to the aid of the people of New Orleans. I am especially proud of the people of North Texas, the Houston area, and the San Antonio area, and of our Governor, Rick Perry, for doing what we can to alleviate this awful situation.
But it's not enough, and it hasn't been enough for days.
President Bush, please prove to me, and to all of your constituents, that you are a decent human being, and worthy of the office you hold.
Send whatever military help you can, not to restore order, but to rescue, feed and provide comfort to the people stranded in New Orleans.
Accept the help citizens and governments around the world are willing to give us in this time of need.
Instead of laughing about Trent Lott's new house, give some serious consideration to efforts we can make to prevent similar tragedies in the future.
And most of all, please do these things quietly, from the White House. Keep us updated on your efforts through your Press Secretary. Let us know that you are so completely focused on alleviating the misery of your fellow Americans that you can't spare the time to appear on television.
Thank you.
*Me*
*****
I'm also sending emails to my state and federal senators and representatives tonight.
I can't rant at my governor. He's done the right thing and proclaimed our state's arms, hearts and facilities wide open for the people of Louisiana, so Governor Rick Perry has my full support at this time.