Dear D.C. Power Brokers:
Hiya! You don't know me, but I'm a concerned citizen living in Colorado. It's a very easy-breezy environment here (Colorado Springs notwithstanding), and I'm sure it's extremely different there in Washington, D.C. For example, Coloradans often greet passersby with, "Hey, wassup?" instead of "Dear my fellow Americans".
So, ya know, you guys make the rules and stuff. We don't. It kind of sucks sometimes, especially when we elect you to do shit that you don't do. I guess we're supposed to live in a democracy, but it feels more like a corporation right now. I keep putting in requests to the Human Resources department about that broken sink in the ladies' bathroom, but it's been over a year now, and sink still isn't fixed. I cannot even tell you how many floods there have been as a result.
Just so we're clear, we absolutely cannot imagine what it's like to have your job. Fuck, I wouldn't want it. I'd be horrible at it. Having to please all of your constituents? Fielding angry phone calls? Receiving legitimate death threats? Attempting to listen, without laughing, to teabaggers? Legitimizing Joe Lieberman? Yeah, that's why I don't want your job and why I couldn't do your job.
But that's also why we pay you the big bucks. That's also why you have awesome healthcare insurance. That's also why you have gobs of power. That's also why you seem, upon leaving elected office, to immediately become lobbyists with some high-falutin' company.
The system is broken. Some of those not already disaffected by the political machinations typical of Washington are starting to become so, and quickly. It is simply not doing the Beltway any favors ignoring this broken system anymore. If you continue to ignore this largely inconvenient fact, and continue to insist upon placing a teeny tiny Band-Aid on top of a an enormous gunshot wound, you will start losing elections. As a Democrat who spent eight very long, morbid years suffering under the weight of George W. Bush, I cannot handle anymore of your fucking bullshit.
We want change. We need change. And if you refuse to give us that change, then we'll find someone who will. At this point, Americans are so desperate (both emotionally and financially) that lots of us don't even care what that change represents, as long as it's something different. And although the Beltway may think this is a mistake on our part, it's not. It's the culmination of a very long series of events and occurrences that have made us more cynical by the hour.
I'm writing this letter to tell you that you're moving in the wrong direction. Please stop.
Incremental change is awesome, and we support it, but we do not support Wall Street. We do not support a crappy healthcare reform bill. We do not support remaining in two unjust and illegal wars. We do not support torture. We do not support letting the former Bush administration off the hook for crimes against humanity. We do not support the continuation of DADT and DOMA. We do not support letting the Earth cave in on itself. And how can you expect any of us to support anything when a ton of us don't even have jobs?
The system is broken, people. We do not support glossing over arguments to the contrary anymore because, in case you haven't noticed, this country is sort of falling apart. We're in a bit of a crisis, man. We think it would be kickass if you noticed.
We also thought it might behoove you to know why that Senate seat in Massachusetts might go to a Republican now DID go to a Republican.
Very Sincerely,
Colorado is the Shiznit