I'm not nearly as politically active as I'd like to be. I read Daily Kos pretty much every day, but I don't post very much at all. I write an occasional letter to the editor, and they usually get printed in my small town paper.
I do have all of my representative's office numbers saved in my cell phone, and I'll call when an issue gets under my skin, which I suppose is more than most people do. I also use the "Letters to Leaders" tool at congress.org to write an occasional letter to those representatives. Based on a response to one of those letters, I'm left with the feeling that someone in New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg's office is not paying very close attention to what they are reading. Follow me to find out why...
Back in early August, my knickers were very much in a bunch over the Democrat's re-authorization of warrantless wiretapping before the Summer recess.
I was glad to see that both my senators voted against these provisions, and I wrote via the Congress.org website to thank them for their support, thinking that neither of these guys probably get a whole lot in the way of thank you notes. I wrote:
Senator, thank you for your vote opposing the expansion of the warrantless wiretapping bill. I'm dismayed that such a bill could pass, but I'm glad that I have 2 senators looking out for my constitutional protections.
I continued, frustrated that the Democrats just couldn't seem to stand together:
[Please consider] fast-tracking a stem cell research bill so that some of your Democratic colleagues in the Senate can grow a spine and start standing up to our fearless leader.
I ask, do you really have to turn your snark-o-meter up to 11 in order to detect the sarcasm there?
At any rate, the good Senator just replied via email, now that they're all back from vacation:
Thank you for writing to express your support of stem cell research. This is an important issue, and one that I have considered very seriously.
(snip)
I am an original co-sponsor of the "Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007" (S. 5), which was introduced by Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) as one of the Senate's top ten priorities...
Yadda, yadda, yadda. (Emphasis mine)
The Senator (or his staff) does a fine job at patting themselves on the back, but someone in that office needs to WAKE UP and PAY ATTENTION TO THEIR JOB!