This is the letter I sent to Senator Lamar Alexander a little bit ago. I admit that there are some appeals to his ego, but I am not try to score points, but to get him moving in the right direction. A little ego stroking can’t hurt in the larger scheme of things. Letters and emails do move these folks. Write them.
Senator Alexander, (or whoever is tasked with reading this)
Well, Senator, it has been an exciting couple of weeks. Lots of things happening pretty fast. I bet your phone has been smoking hot.
As a Tennessean, I was hoping I might write you and help you to achieve some clarity on recent events.
First, I would like to thank you for your long service to Tennessee and our country. Tennessee has had a reputation over the years for having governors with a more pragmatic rather than idealogical bent. Our governors, of either party, tend to put the business of the people above other considerations, and your administration was a leader of that trend.
But when you became a senator, you took on a different challenge. You were elected to represent the interests and values of the people of Tennessee, but also to represent and protect the ideals of our republic. I will add that nowhere in your job description are you required or encouraged to represent the interests of your party or your reelection prospects over those of our state or the county.
So that brings us to this point in history. I need not tell you the profound danger our current president has plunged us into. He has declared by his actions and words that fealty to party and his person will protect him from the consequences of abandoning and scorning the values and laws of our nation. Whether or not he is right is up to you.
To fail to speak out now, to unequivocally denounce and sanction this president, is an act of moral cowardice. There are no further facts to be obtained, nuances to be teased out. Everything that must be known is known, provided by the president himself. Events are proceeding ever faster, and every day brings news of deeper rot at the center of the administration. An administration that is looking to you to be a bulwark against the consequences of its corruption.
So tell me, Senator Alexander, where do you stand now? Although I do not agree with you on many issues, I can not demonize you for those disagreements. That is the consequence of democracy. But this is not that sort of disagreement. A failure to stand now and speak out is not a mere difference in policy but an abdication of duty to the values and laws of our republic. Values and laws that you swore to uphold.
Senator, you have had a long and distinguished career of serving the people of Tennessee and of our nation. But if you continue to remain silent or passively accept the corruption and venality of this administration, that will all be for naught. You will be remembered for what you did or did not do right now, at this moment in history.
Sincerely,
Tom Lee
A carpenter in East Tennessee