Congressman Writing

Under normal circumstances, which is almost all of the time, I do not write congressmen about anything. I think I had to for a school assignment at some point, but today, for the first time in my adult life, I wrote one. To whom? Matt Dean, the Republican Majority Leader in the Minnesota House. To what end? Simply put, he's being a dick.

Offense the first: he has introduced a bill that he doesn't understand--in fact he admitted that his "superiors" handed down this bill--that could in effect tank Minnesota Public Radio (among other things). MPR has a few channels, one of which is The Current, which is unequivocally the greatest radio station in America, perhaps the world. You can stream it from their site at any time. You might not think that a public radio station would play such fantastic music across all genres, but alas, here it is. Bonus pretzel: no commercials.

Offense the second: he has, on the House floor no less, said that he "hates" the "pencil-necked little weasel" of a thief that is, according to this man, Neil Gaiman. Set aside the fact for a moment that he is one of my most favorite authors and look at the language here. The Majority Leader of a State House of Representatives says that he hates someone. Why? Because Coraline scared you? Because you didn't get American Gods? Because you really wanted Beowulf to be good movie? You hate people that kill your family, for example, not ones that are more famous than you and make more money than you and are less Republican than you.

For these reasons, I wrote the man the following letter:

Dear Mister Dean, As both an elected official and a leader among other elected officials, your words carry a certain weight. Your comments about author Neil Gaiman--a resident of your state and mine--are simply deplorable. You have used the same terminology that people reserve for Hitler to describe a popular fantasy and children's book author in addition to frankly silly name-calling that has absolutely no place in any place of business, let alone the State Legislature. If anything, you have only revealed yourself as an ineffectual leader, one in whom all respect has been lost. No one likes a bully, Mister Dean, and no one wants a bully for a leader. I sincerely wish you all the best of luck in your reelection campaign, should you choose to run again, as it will no doubt be the hardest one you have ever--or will ever--had to run. By remaining in the position of Minority Leader for the Republican Party in Minnesota, however, you are doing the office, the party, the state, and the people a terribly disservice. Sincerely, Nathaniel Ray Pickett

Look him up on Congress.org if you want to do the same.

 

 

Posted via email from BLOG.NATHANIELRAY