Ah yes, Obama's transparent, responsive administration, which stated its
concern for the disabled and accessibility back in 2008!
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Wednesday, October 26, 2016 3:16 PM
To: blind-democracy
Subject: [blind-democracy] Open Letter to President Barack Obama
Miriam and I collaborated on a letter to president Obama. In checking
on-line, I was assured that the president is most easily reached via email.
So I posted the letter to the address given. I received a note telling me
that this preferred email address was no longer preferred. But a new
address was provided. Again I confidently sent off the letter. No response
that the letter had been received. So I went back, checked carefully to see
that I was indeed following the instructions that would assure me that my
president did receive my letter. No answer. Every other letter I've sent
to one worthy politician or another has been noted by return email. But not
our #1 leader.
So below this rant is the letter. If you read it and like it, perhaps you
could copy it to the president. If enough of us try, maybe one little copy
will cross his desk.
And if you read it and don't like it, then send it to Hillary Clinton, with
instructions to open it when she enters the Oval Office.
Carl Jarvis
*****
Dear Mister President,
We are writing to request that you use your executive power to pardon
Edward Snowden so that he may come home to the United States, the country
that he loves and that he has tried to serve by telling the American people
about how the NSA has been overstepping its legal authority . indeed,
already you have recognized his contribution by requiring that changes be
made in how the NSA functions. Edward Snowden would have been willing to
stand trial here if the trial procedure allowed him to explain his reasons
for his action. But since he would not be allowed to explain his
motivations, any judgment would be unfair because it would be based only on
his actions and would not take into account the patriotism which motivated
him.
We ask that you also pardon Chelsea Manning. The information that Manning
gave to the public exposed the illegal actions of our armed forces in Iraq,
as well as the behind the scenes foreign policy manipulations of our
government. Manning wanted the public to understand what our government is
doing in our name. True Democracy requires an informed public. Chelsea
Manning is being punished for showing us the true human cost of our wars in
Iraq and Afghanistan. .
We also ask that you pardon Jeffrey Sterling who was accused of leaking
information to a journalist, but who asserts his innocence of this charge.
A man who dutifully served his country as a member of the CIA, and who is
now very ill in prison, and may die before he receives treatment.
We would also request that you cease the government actions aimed at Julian
Assenge, since he is not an American citizen, nor has he been acting on
behalf of another country. Therefore, it is a travesty to accuse him of
espionage. Our government asserts that is supports the freedom of the press.
WikiLeaks is a journalistic enterprise, not a malevolent foreign entity.
Mister President,
Too often we forget that this great Land of ours was settled by men and
women fleeing the laws that they felt oppressed them.
And it was the descendants of those same immigrants who later violated the
Established Laws of the Land and rose up against the King of England.
And when we think of the ending of slavery in our nation, and of the many
courageous Black Slaves, owned as if they were nothing more than the
personal property of Law abiding White men, Slaves who violated the Laws of
the Land and dared to run away from their Lawful owners, in search of
Freedom.
And too often we gloss over the fact that the equally brave folks who
constituted the Underground Railroad, aiding and protecting those unlawful
runaways, were also breaking the Law.
And when we think of those bruised and battered men and women who dared to
stand against the unjust rules and laws set down by their oppressive bosses,
and organize Unions. Men and women who stood in unity as the Company Goons,
state militias and even Federal Troops attacked them.
And when we think of those young men and women who left the safety of their
Northern states and headed South, to stand up for the Right to Vote by the
Black Citizens of this Great Land.
Mister President, when we think of all of this, and so much more, we are
reminded that the great social advances fought for and won, and defended
against constant attack, were never handed down from on high, but were
passed up from below, and set in place by courageous men and women who dared
to violate the established laws and demand the respect they believed was
their right.
We know that as President, you are sworn to uphold the Laws that govern this
nation. But as a Human Being, do you ever question whether some of those
laws are unjust and set in place to protect the Establishment against the
American People, rather than to support and defend them?
As you prepare to leave your office, isn't the time right to let history
know that in your own heart you are truly a defender of the American People?
And in that Spirit, you will pardon those brave men and women whose
love of their People brought them to that place in the road where they had
to take a stand.
Sincerely,
Miriam Vieni
miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Carl Jarvis
carjar82@xxxxxxxxx
