[altroots] An Open Letter to Senate Democrats

An Open Letter to Senate Democrats

September 8, 2005

The most costly natural disaster in our country's history will play out in
the political arena for years to come. We've already seen how the Bush
administration intends to deal with the aftermath of hurricane Katrina:
blame the Democrats, blame the victims, keep the media from showing any more
bodies and muddle through until the heat is off. Perhaps FEMA Director
Michael Brown will get the sack, but no one else will pay a price.

This is totally unacceptable. I expect accountability and I expect you to
deliver it.

I've been a Democrat for 40 years, served my country in the Navy and pay my
taxes. I have watched you let my party and my country down time after time.

In 2001, not one of you stood with the delegation of Black House members
pleading for justice in the rigged 2000 Presidential election in Florida.
Not one.

Following the attacks of 9/11, only one of you voted against the Patriot
Act, a piece of pernicious legislation with chilling, and predictably awful
implications for our Constitutional freedoms.

I've watched you vote in favor of a costly and brutal war based on lies.
I've watched as Bush steamrolled you with tax cuts for the rich; with
prescription drug reform that benefits the pharmaceutical industry; with
bankruptcy reform geared toward the wishes of the banking industry; with
energy legislation that does nothing about our long-term needs.

In short, I've watch Bush and the Republicans walk all over you. I'm sick of
it. In the aftermath of Katrina, you have your last chance to stand up and
do the right thing - to stand up and say, "Enough. No more."

No more tax cuts, no more corporate welfare, no more no-bid deals. It's time
for accountability. The Bush administration is the most corrupt, venal and
immoral government we've had in my lifetime. If you do not hold them
accountable at long last for their perfidy, I am through with you.

It may not seem like much of a threat; I am a contributor, though not a
wealthy man. But I represent something much more important: your base. And
if you allow Bush and his pals to get away with their utterly appalling
neglect of our citizens and our security, I will leave the Democratic Party
and I will make a point of taking everyone I can with me.

Do your damned job. Serve the American people.

Rodger French

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