Day 29... Dear Mr. President...Complaint from a reader... my letters are too much like a Hallmark Greeting Card.

Day 29                       

Dear Mr. President,

This morning I received an interesting email regarding my LTTP’s (Letters to the President), basically saying they were too conversational, not hard hitting enough, and essentially toothless, and asked if another “Hallmark Greeting Card” was required. The writer further reminded me that I had not fulfilled my initial goal of reminding you in each letter, to bring our troops home. In essence I had failed in my daily goal to remind you of your campaign promises that have to date, not been kept.

The writer reminded me, that people need health care “today”, that the homeless need a voice and a vote “today”, and that people still need jobs “today”, and she is right. She said that, “If we’re going to do something “important” in life it should be done with passion and depth. It should be with the intention of making a difference and creating impact.” In addition, she reminded me that my brother died of a heart attach because he had no health insurance, and that there is a freight train of heavy baggage wait for real resolution, but that hardly any of that warrants a daily “Pep Talk”.

I disagree. I think we all need ‘daily pep talks’, even if we have to give them to ourselves. We’ve had enough of being hit between the eyes with a two-bi-four. After a while all you have is a headache, but you can’t remember how you got it. I think gentle reminders achieve better results. Occasionally I think it’s wise to be more aggressive or more demanding to make sure a point is taken seriously, but not on a daily basis.

The writer wanted to know why I wasn’t reminding readers (I post the letters on my Blog at washboardexpress.blogspot.com) that it is NOT okay to allow people (meaning you Mr. President) to fudge on commitments and accountability, and was that a good example for my grandchildren or anyone else? I guess setting a good example is subjective and open to interpretation, but at least I’m doing something, even if it’s perceived to be pointless.

I don’t know what happens to the letters I write each day, and perhaps you don’t need another “Hallmark Greeting”, and maybe the emailer is correct in her assumption that once a member of your staff has read the letter, that it is relegated to the FIF… Forget it File. Who knows? I just know that I will keep on writing a letter a day… because at least it’s something. What’s she doing?

Most Respectfully,

Marcia Reimers

The Gadfly Granny