Friday, June 09, 2006

Politics, as Usual...


Mother and Child Portrait
Originally uploaded by katzeye.
About a week ago, I wrote to my senators about an item about which they were about to vote. It was an issue of great import to me. When I got to Barbara Boxer's (aka Sachez) site, there was a form for those of us wishing to communicate with her about such issues.

In order to send one's commentaries to her, one was REQUIRED to choose a topic for the commentary from among the ones that she listed.

There were quite a few topics, and I scrolled through them at least three times in an attempt to see if any of the topics listed was related in any way at all to my commentary, and none of them was even remotely related.

My topic was related to families, and her topics were the war, immigration, civil rights, illegal aliens, taxes, etc. None of her choices fit.

I tried to send my topic as "other" or with no topic chosen, but the commentary would not send until a topic was chosen.

So, I just chose the very first topic which was the "War in Iraq." I wrote my commentary and I even apologized for choosing the first topic on her list, randomly, in order to be able to send my commentary. I explained that I wasn't writing to that topic, but another that did not fit into any of her categories.

I just got a reply from Senator Boxer today.

She writes, "Thank you for sharing your views on the War in Iraq." Then there are several paragraphs which elaborate on her personal opinions on this topic.

I suppose I should not be surprised in the least, but it is as if I got to the end of the yellow brick road and discovered that the wizard is just a little man behind a curtain.

So, she has all of her commentaries already written, to go with each of her topics, and when her constituents write her, she just has the hired help fire off the form response to match the topic.

So good to know that our elected officials actually want to know what we think about things.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

haha. that's pretty funny.

... said...

Thank you for your comment to my blog. Your ideas are appreciated.

... said...

Heh, I was trying to make it sound like a prefab auto response, but we just came back from seeing "Over the Hedge" and a kid was kicking the back of my seat a lot, and now it is late, so maybe I am a taco short of a combination plate at the moment, or at least, just not feeling all that creative.

Anonymous said...

that's funny that you wrote about that... I had the same thing happen to me... pretty sad

Anonymous said...

well, don't stop trying. a senator's assistant told me that all those emails, phone calls, letters, etc. DO make a difference in the long run. You probably got the automated response immediately so you felt heard (or the opposite in your case), and later someone will actually read your letter.

Anonymous said...

I agree with the pshawster. While it may or may not make a difference, politicians ultimately do what their constituancies want them to do. Sad fact. [Hillary's dramatic reversals in positions being cases in point].

... said...

@ Pshaw- I always feel like such a cynic when someone writes with such optimism, and, at the same time, realize that I need to hear that kind of encouragement. One must never give up.

@ nicolle-Funny, and sad, huh? Thanks for your comment. It doesn't surprise me that you have had such experiences, being as involved as you are.

@ anonymous-what you say seems to present us with a paradox, and often politics is fraught with such!

Anonymous said...

This is a superb mother and child portrait!

Anonymous said...

HEY! This photo was chosen for the "Explore" section on Flickr! CONGRATULATIONS!

... said...

bb-thanks so much!

... said...

Anon,
Thanks for pointing that out! I missed it! Thanks.