DRAINING THE SWAMP

September 29, 2017

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher,

101 Main Street #380

Huntington Beach, CA 92648

Dear Congressman,

Re: Draining the swamp

So much for “draining the swamp,” eh?  What a farce that’s turning out to be! Your Trump’s top guys are busy enjoying extravagant perks at taxpayer expense. Trump and his family cashing in royally on the presidency. A tax “reform” proposal that promises to save them literally billions of dollars in estate taxes…

I’m sure that you, Congressman, would not stoop to such shenanigans. But how is it down in the swamp these days? Is it getting a little… smellier?

Respectfully,

Peter Clothier, Ph.D.

ASSANGE, AGAIN...

September 28, 2017

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher,

101 Main Street #380

Huntington Beach, CA 92648

Dear Congressman,

Re: Assange, again. Oh, please...!

So I read, in your telephone interview with the Daily Caller, that you now believe there’s “a wall” around Trump that prevents him from getting the valuable information you brought back from your visit with Assange in London a couple of months ago. Apparently the White House Chief of Staff John Kelly told you to take this information to the House Intelligence Committee. You have been angling for a direct meeting with the president to persuade him that your information will let him off the Russia hook. It seems that your credibility in the White House is not what you had hoped it would be.

As I understand it, the deal you’re anxious to bring directly to Trump involves a pardon for Assange in exchange for information that proves beyond a doubt that Russia was not colluding with the 2016 Trump campaign. I myself tend to trust our intelligence agencies more than I trust Assange. The rebuff you have received from the White House suggests that, despite the president’s frequent maligning of those agencies, his staff feel the same. Hence the “wall” that you complain about.

I could wish you’d find better things to do than pursue these conspiracy-minded avenues. There is now the issue of tax reform to be taken up by Congress. The sketchy Trump proposal looks to be a boondoggle for the very rich. Any chance that you’ll oppose it?

Respectfully,

Peter Clothier, Ph.D.

MEDICAL MARIJUANA

September 27, 2017

 Rep. Dana Rohrabacher,

101 Main Street #380

Huntington Beach, CA 92648

Dear Congressman,

Re: Medical marijuana

Hurrah! We have found something else we can agree on. I certainly approve of your current amendment on the protection of the medical use of marijuana.

In fact, I would go further than you are likely to and approve the legalization of drugs in general. I wonder if you caught the Nicholas Kristof piece on the subject in last Sunday’s New York Times review section. He used a statistical comparison to show that our “war on drugs” involving punishment and mass incarceration is much LESS successful in addressing the problem than Portugal’s decade-long experiment with legalization.

Again, it comes down to the profit motive. The privatized prison system in this country obviously has no interest in reducing the number of convicts, many of them jailed for no more than minor offenses. And meanwhile, on a parallel front, the opioid epidemic goes virtually unaddressed…

Time to consider legalization, I’d say. What do you think?

Respectfully,

Peter Clothier, Ph.D.

GIVE HIM A CHANCE?

September 26, 2017

 Rep. Dana Rohrabacher,

101 Main Street #380

Huntington Beach, CA 92648

Dear Congressman,

Re: Give him a chance?

You are probably not so irritated as I am by those Trump voters who show up on television interviews and say: “Give him a chance.” I suspect that many of them are those who voted for him because they were brainwashed by the anti-Hillary tidal wave—promoted in good part, as we now know, by trolls and bots operating out of your friend Putin’s Russia.

Their mantra irritates me because these people are choosing to remain deaf and blind to everything that has happened since the Trump inauguration. Has he not had every chance in the world, as “president” of the United States? What more powerful position is there anywhere on the face of this benighted planet? Given the almost daily, often multiple crises that plague our country today, I’d say the man has squandered that incredible chance that he was given.  

Not only that, every Tweet he has put out into the world, every speech he has made represents a chance he has been given. Instead of taking advantage of those chances to “make America great again”, he has used them to create chaos and dissent. With his intemperate words and deeds, he has succeeded in insulting our closest allies and further destabilizing a world that badly needs a calm hand and a visionary mind to solve its many problems.

From my perspective, the plaintive call to “give him a chance” has the hollow ring of ignorance and willful blindness to the grim reality of the Trump presidency. This past weekend, having created such rage and discord in the sports community, he squandered his opportunity to calm things down with an apology for his outrageous statement, and instead doubled down on his original insulting remarks.

Give him a chance, indeed! I say, give him the boot!

Respectfully,

Peter Clothier, Ph.D.

TAKING THE KNEE

September 25, 2017

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher,

101 Main Street #380

Huntington Beach, CA 92648

Dear Congressman,

Re: Taking the knee

I did not watch football yesterday. Did you? I did, however, watch reports on the NFL games and the reaction to Trump’s presumptious , crowd-pandering Friday night speech, in which he castigated a football player for “taking the knee” instead of standing for the national anthem; and, by extension, suggesting that all (well, mostly black!) football players were sons-of-bitches who should be hounded out of the stadium if they exercised their first amendment rights.

What’s wrong with this man? Has he no sense of or respect for common decency—nor for the basic rights of all Americans? His arrogance and ignorance are simply monstrous. Even if you happen to disagree with this form of protest against the inherent racism that infects our society (I don’t), the chosen alternative of “taking the knee” seems to me entirely respectful and, indeed, powerfully eloquent.

I found the solidarity among the NFL players, backed up by the team owners and coaches, to be profoundly moving. Yesterday was a quiet day of reckoning for many Americans, I believe, who were challenged and provoked to thought by the action of so many of their sports heroes. I wish I could think it was a quiet day of reckoning for the man who sits in the Oval Office, masquerading as our president. I can’t. I’m quite sure he thinks he did nothing wrong, and that he’ll spurn the request for an apology I heard from so many quarters yesterday.

What do you think about all this? I’m sure you respect our athletes. Will you join them, in solidarity, in condemning the president’s rash oratory?

Respectfully,

Peter Clothier, Ph.D.

FIRST CONTRIBUTION, CAMPAIGN 2018 (TO DEFEAT YOU!)

September 22, 2017

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher,

101 Main Street #380

Huntington Beach, CA 92648

Dear Congressman,

Re: Personal letter #151 (Yesterday, as I mentioned, was #150.)

Well, well! Late night comedy, no less! Perhaps not as you might have wished. Seth Meyers treated you to a 7-minute roast. Did you watch, I wonder? He did a pretty thorough job of it, going through a good deal of your congressional history and most of your wacky ideas. All in good sport, of course.

On a different note: I made my first contribution today to the effort to unseat you. It was a modest one, but I plan to do what I can on this front. I understand that money talks, and money gets people elected. You have a good base of support. Your Democratic opposition, such as it has been in the past, has enjoyed less in the way of campaign funds. I trust that this time it will be different. I plan to do my part—and will do everything I can to persuade others to do the same.

It’s nothing personal, of course. It’s just that a significant number of your constituents want a representative who has fewer wacky ideas and a greater sense of responsibility to all the people of this district—and all the people of this country. More money means a fairer fight. And maybe, just maybe, voters will make the wiser choice next time.

Hopefully,

Peter Clothier, Ph.D.

WRITE ME!

September 21, 2017

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher,

101 Main Street #380

Huntington Beach, CA 92648

Dear Congressman,

Re: Conspiracy

I wonder, did you read the letters in today’s Los Angeles Times, denouncing your embrace of conspiracy theories? A reproof that I have to say is well deserved—as I myself pointed out in an earlier letter. These crackpot theories are wildly off mark, and do no one any good. And incidentally, to blame Obama for everything that goes wrong in the country today is neither fair nor credible.

Speaking of letters, though, this is my 150^th to you—all written with care and thoughtfulness, all individual, all hand-signed and hand-addressed. Though we disagree on every issues, my letters do not deal in mud-slinging or personal insult. Their tone is respectful—although sometimes perhaps a little teasing. And all have been written since the Tr*ump inauguration in January. Have you ever received so many unique letters in one year from a single source?

So is it presumptious for me to think that my effort merits some response? I am, after all, a constituent. But I have heard not one word from you, save a handful of boilerplate position statements. I even wrote a letter to your staff, enquiring—politely, I think—what happens to my letters when they reach your office. Again, no response. Not one word.

You are reputed among your constituents to be reluctant to meet with any but those who support you and agree with your opinions. It’s a pretty easy thing, however, to dictate a letter. I would consider it a courtesy.

Respectfully,

Peter Clothier, Ph.D.

STEALTH HEALTH

September 20, 2017

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher,

101 Main Street #380

Huntington Beach, CA 92648

Dear Congressman,

Re: Stealth Health

So your fellow Republicans in the Senate are trying to sneak through yet another attempt to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act. Have they not learned by now that the American people want, need, and deserve a health care system that serves their legitimate needs and protects them from disaster? So far as I gather, the “new” bill is just a rewrap of same old tired ideas, adding to the deficit and benefiting no one but those who profit from the misfortune of others.

I heard that House Speaker Paul Ryan already announced that the House would pass the Senate bill, virtually sight unseen—or at least without a cost estimate by the CBO. And I presume that you would go along with that?

How loud do the American people have to shout to be heard on this issue? The dreadful truth is that this bill could actually attract enough Republican Senate votes to pass, with a majority of one—that Vice President’s vote. A bill that is not only absurdly cost-ineffective, but is also totally pointless, unless as an act of sheer spite against the previous president. And the only people who want it are partisan Republican politicians.

If this bill is passed from the Senate back to the House, you should vote against it.

Respectfully,

Peter Clothier, Ph.D.

TRUMP AT THE UNITED NATIONS

September 19, 2017

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher,

101 Main Street #380

Huntington Beach, CA 92648

Dear Congressman,

Re: The UN week

The picture on the front page of today’s New York Times shows Trump at the United Nations. He’s seated amid rows of serious diplomats, jaw set, chin raised in its familiar truculent pose. I read somewhere that he does this thinking that it makes him look like Winston Churchill. Some hope! He looks like what he is—a reality show TV star totally out of context and out of his depth in an ocean of complex international problems.

He offered up a mild speech yesterday, acknowledging the importance of the UN but insisting on reform. He has perhaps learned by now that problems such as that presented by the belligerent Kim Jong Un cannot be solved by the return of belligerence. He has tried that, and has ended up looking foolish and powerless. He knows now that he needs the support of the international community to address the problem.

I wonder, though, what he will say today in his scheduled speech? Will he hew to his “America First” line in the face of multiple nations plagued by famine, disease, and violence? I hope that he will be able to dig deep inside and find some semblance of compassion, dignity and generosity of spirit. Given his record to date, my hope is tempered with a healthy dose of skepticism.

What say you, Congressman? Is wealthy America obligated to the rest of the world? Should we embrace that responsibility? Or is it truly “America First”?

Respectfully,

Peter Clothier, Ph.D.

ANOTHER SHAMEFUL ACT IN CONGRESS

September 18, 2017

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher,

101 Main Street #380

Huntington Beach, CA 92648

Dear Congressman,

Re: SHARE Act

I haven’t been able to verify it, but I think it’s a safe bet that you voted with the majority in favor of the dreadful SHARE Act last week. The so-called “Sportsman and Heritage and Recreational Enhancement Act”—heavily sponsored and promoted by the NRA—sneaked in a long-sought easement of the ability to buy silencers for guns. It would also make it easier to buy armor-piercing bullets—as though they were not already currently available for those gun enthusiasts who wish to pierce armor.

All of which opposed by most law enforcement agencies. The pretext for making silencers readily available on the open market is that those poor people who love target shooting are suffering damage to their ears! As though they were unable to wear those sound-canceling ear muffs more sensible people wear on airplanes. Incidentally, the law also allows for the importation of 41 frozen bear carcasses, whose killers had missed the deadline on an importation ban. As Gail Collins wrote in the New York Times last Saturday, “I think we can all agree it’s time the government did something on behalf of rich guys yearning to have the head of an endangered species over the fireplace.”

There are other provisions in the bill, of course, favoring the sale and distribution of deadly weaponry. Important work for Congress, no? At a time when our nation is under threat from Russian interference in our electoral process, amongst other pressing problems.

I wish to state for the record that, as your constituent, I deplore this action. I am quite sure there are many others like me. I only hope they are informed about this misuse of congressional time and power.

Respectfully,

Peter Clothier, Ph.D.

AN ALEX JONES FAN?

September 15, 2017

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher,

101 Main Street #380

Huntington Beach, CA 92648

Dear Congressman,

Re: Conspiracy

So, are you now an Alex Jones fan? I see, from a report inthe Los Angeles Times, that you now subscribe to the theory that Charlottesville was a Democratic plot! “It was a setup for these dumb Civil War reenactors,” you’re quoted as saying. “It was the left-wingers who were manipulating them in order to have this confrontation” and to “put our president on the spot.”

Nobody “put him” on the spot, Congressman. If you recall, he stepped right on to it with his absurd statement that both sides were to blame. Then, challenged, he doubled down on the insinuation and even yesterday, so I heard, tripled down on the same vile equivalency, that the American left is no better than Nazis and KKKers. Please! He showed his own colors, willingly. He was not tricked by “left-wingers”!

Whether knowingly or not, it seems you picked up on a conspiracy theory promoted by the widely discredited right-wing extremist, Alex Jones. And did so in a forum (the SF Chronicle, in the article I referred to in my letter yesterday) that you well knew would be publicized. In other words, this could not be considered an off-hand slip of the tongue, but an expression of your true belief.

I have to tell you, Congressman, it’s beyond my belief that you would believe such wicked nonsense.

Respectfully,

Peter Clothier, Ph.D.

PEANUT BUTTER... AND POLITICS

September 14, 2017

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher,

101 Main Street #380

Huntington Beach, CA 92648

Dear Congressman,

Re: Nice article

Well, I read the long article about you in today’s San Francisco Chronicle, as I imagine you will have also done. It’s a flattering piece, that paints you as a kind of folksy, barefoot, peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich eating surfer guy who swats away criticism of yourself (and the president) as “Bull!” It also notes that you’re a Reagan-esque, conservative, libertarian kind of guy in a Reagan-esque, conservative, libertarian kind of district, and that you will be hard to beat.

I’m sure you will have been quite chuffed with the article, which simply made light of those things that outrage many of your constituents, including your dismissal of the Charlottesville events as inspired by leftist conspirators and of the Russian interference in the 2016 election as “baloney.”  Not mentioned at all was your avoidance of all public contact (or private, I presume) with those who oppose you and wish to have you hear their voice.

The kitchen-counter video that accompanies the article online shows you in your Goodwill bargain-purchased “stained white t-shirt and khakis”—just a harmless, friendly, somewhat kooky regular guy digging into a peanut butter jar.  Good PR for you. I wish that the interviewer who visited you and wrote the article had taken the time to interview some of those you represent. When it comes to serious matters that affect us all (like health care) it’s not about being a good ol’ boy.

Respectfully,

Peter Clothier, Ph.D.

RENDEZVOUS, OR NO RENDEZVOUS?

September 13, 2017

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher,

101 Main Street #380

Huntington Beach, CA 92648

Dear Congressman,

Re: A quickie

Today, just a quick note: I’m wondering whatever happened to that “rendezvous” you said you were planning with Trump, to convey the important insights gained from your meeting with Assange in London (our dime, I presume, to get you there)? Trump is sinking ever deeper into the mire of lies about his Russia connections. At this point, I don’t think he’ll ever be able to extricate himself, even with your promised information. Do I smell a self-pardon in the air?

Oh, and while we’re at it, whatever happened to the letter I sent to your staff last week? Will that, too, go unanswered?

Respectfully,

Peter Clothier, Ph.D.

CHICKEN DON

September 12, 2017

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher,

101 Main Street #380

Huntington Beach, CA 92648

Dear Congressman,

Re: Chicken Don

I see where they inflated a huge “Chicken Don” outside your Huntington Beach office the other day. Originally installed outside the White House as a parody of its current occupant, it was intended, here, to chide you for your failure to meet with constituents. I have written about that several times in the past, and believe that the jibe was no unjustified. My letters—do they go unread?—are a part of that same effort on the part of your constituents to be heard. As yet, no response, either to the letters or to the reiterated requests from others than myself.

You have not heard from me for the past couple of days. There are times, I’ll admit, when I wake up so dispirited by the state of our country that I can’t summon the gumption to get to my computer. Yesterday was one of them. The fact that the latest two natural disasters, Harvey and Irma, fail to provoke any serious public discussion among Republicans about scientifically proven effects of climate change on such disastrous events leaves me both depressed and angry. Does the money waved about by fossil fuel interests and their lobbyists supersede the future of this plant? Of our grandchildren?

This shameful failure to speak out and act is yet another example, sadly, of the moral cowardice of “Chicken Don” and his fellow Republican climate change deniers. Time to wise up, Congressman, and listen to Mother Nature and the scientists who know her more intimately than we do; time to speak out, boldly, and to act.

Respectfully,

Peter Clothier, Ph.D.

THE DREAM ACT

8 September, 2017

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher,

101 Main Street #380

Huntington Beach, CA 92648

Dear Congressman,

Re: Dream Act

I write to today as one constituent asking for your support for the Dream Act. I am unsure when Speaker Ryan will bring it before the House, but when that happens it is important to finally give official American status to those many young people who were brought here illegally, to be sure, but through no fault of their own; and who have known no other country than this one.

By all accounts I have read, these are upstanding young folk who strive for nothing other than a great education, a secure home, and the opportunity that every other American can—or should!—enjoy. Your president’s action in revoking DACA left them in a cloud of uncertainty. He passed the ball to you, to decide finally on their fate. No matter whether you approve or disapprove of his action, the matter is now in the hands of yourself and your colleagues in Congress.

I ask no more than that you do the right thing by these deserving young people, and vote in favor of the Dream Act. First introduced by Sen. Hatch and Sen. Durbin, it has been kicking around Congress for over 15 years, without finding the necessary tally of votes to pass. It is time that you and your fellow Republicans showed the courage it will take to turn it from vain promise into law.

Respectfully,

Peter Clothier, Ph.D.

MARIJUANA!

7 September, 2017

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher,

101 Main Street #380

Huntington Beach, CA 92648

Dear Congressman,

Re: Credit…

… where credit is due. What a pleasure to be able to applaud one of your actions in the House of Representatives! And what a shame that your Republican colleagues proved less enlightened than yourself in the matter of medical marijuana.

I note that yesterday you made an “impassioned” effort to persuade colleagues to support your effort to protect the rights of medical marijuana users. That your opposition succeeded in blocking this effort is a sad commentary on the lack of compassion that characterizes too many of your party’s policy. Would that your own compassion on this issue reached to other areas!

I wonder, did you at one time indulge in the recreational use of this medicinal weed?  I suppose this might pave the way to your support for its medical application. No matter, I believe that many of your constituents would join me in thanking you for this efforts.

Respectfully,

Peter Clothier, Ph.D.