My Congressman, Lamar Smith (R-San Antonio) recently hinted rather strongly that Obama should be impeached for violating his oath of office by not stopping illegal immigrants from crossing the Mexican border. I rarely write to politicians. But I was moved to write the follwing letter.
Mr. Smith,
You may remember me. I interviewed you several times over the years when I reported for the Williamson County Sun, The New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung and the San Antonio Express-News.
I even remember when you bucked the GOP and voted for the Family Medical Leave Act during Clinton's first year in Office. That was the last time I remember you actually breaking with your party.
I realize this is a very conservative district. I know you are a conservative person. But I think you have really gone off the rails and you are playing a dangerous game by feeding into the hateful, and yes I'll say it, racist, agenda of the Tea Party movement.
When you hinted at impeachment of President Obama because you claim he's violated his oath of office by not stopping illegal immigration, it was simply a craven, partisan jab that went beyond the pale.
You know there are more federal agents on the border than every before in U.S. history and we are building hundreds of miles of border fence. We're spending more money and giving more effort than Bush ever did.
So, what you said is simply a lie. Please do not be a liar.
Like I said, you are playing a dangerous game. There are a lot of people out there who simply will not accept the results of the last election. They hate Obama irrationally. They think he is a Muslim. They think he was born in Kenya. They believe he is an evil man bent on destroying the country they love. They actually believe our president, who a majority of their fellow Americans voted for, hates this country.
When you make statments like you did, you legitimize those fears, You feed into their hysteria and it just takes one or two unstable people to create a tragedy. Remember Timothy McVeigh, Lee Oswald, Squeaky Fromme?
As a leader in our democracy, I think you should be trying to tamp down some of the dangerous rhetoric that has become so common, not stoke it. When people start turning on our government, our very society, and seeing Democrats or liberals as the enemy, they are turning on democracy itself. We all have an interest in maintaining the legitimacy of our government, even when the party we favor is out of power.
I hope this letter actually gets into your hands.
I hope you'll think about stopping the use of such inflammatory rhetoric.
I hope the next time someone stands up at a town hall meeting and calls Obama a fascist, or a communist, or a Muslim usurper, you will take your responsibility as leader seriously and do what is right for our country, even if a few Tea Party nuts think you are not reactionary enough for their tastes.
It's the right thing to do.
Sincerely,