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.

TO STAFF MEMBERS

Someone asked the other day if I thought that the Congressman ever reads these letters that I send. Or whether they get passed around the office? Or simply trashed? I nurse no illusions about my letters having any practical result in terms of Rohrabacher's opinions or voting practices; I'm content to reach a wider readership via this blog and social media. Still, I admit to being curious about what happens to these near-daily letters, so I wrote to ask:

6 September, 2017

Staff Members

Office of Rep. Dana Rohrabacher

101 Main Street, #380

Huntington Beach, CA 92648

Dear Staff Members,

I’m curious. Would someone in the office be kind enough to let me know what happens to the near-daily letters I write to my Congressman? Someone must surely have noticed them? I have now sent nearly 140 of them since January of this year, all politely and personally written, hand-signed, and hand-addressed. Are they read by anyone on staff? Are any of them, ever, read by the Congressman? Or are they simply filed in the trash bin as soon as they arrive?

As I say, I’m curious. I nurse no illusions. And the letters serve a purpose anyway, since they are all published on my blog, The Rohrabacher Letters, which has a growing readership and is fed by links from various social media. They also appear frequently on the “Indivisible OC 48” site on Facebook.

True, my letters are written in opposition to the Congressman’s political positions, and to those of his Republican colleagues, and to the president. Still, I’m curious to know if the Congressman listens to, or values, opposing points of view?

I am a Laguna Beach resident and therefore a voting member of the Congressman’s district, though my office is in Los Angeles. The courtesy of a response is requested to the above address, where I shall be in residence for the next couple of weeks.

Wishing you the very best,

Peter Clothier, Ph.D.

I'll let you know if I hear back! 

THE SWAMP

6 September, 2017

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher,

101 Main Street #380

Huntington Beach, CA 92648

Dear Congressman,

Re: The swamp

Do you happen to know a character named Robert Stryk? I ask because you are mentioned in an article in last week’s New York Times Magazine as “having traded tequila shots” with him. What does that mean? Buddied?

Also, I wonder if you had any further business with this man, who is described in the article as deep in the Washington swamp—by now, as we all know, the Trump swamp. Along with other characters of his ilk, this Stryk is profiting mightily as a lobbyist from a rather tangential association with Trump and his administration, peddling consultative services and the appearance, if not the fact, of influence with the president to both corporate clients and officials from a variety of foreign governments.

This article makes it clear that not only has Trump failed to “drain the swamp,” as he promised repeatedly in his campaign, he has made it deeper and more murky than it was before. The bottom line is the nexus between influence and money. The lobbying firms mentioned in the article are unashamedly raking in the cash, and Trump is the source of corruption that simply keeps on giving. Sadly, he also provides the example for these money-grubbing clones.

To what extent, I wonder, Congressman, are you involved/affected by this dark side of politics? Does your association with Stryk—or others—go further than “trading tequila shots”? Do you, like Trump—heaven forbid!—stand to profit from your position in government? If you read the NY Times article, you might be as appalled as I was. I certainly hope so…

Respectfully,

Peter Clothier, Ph.D.

DACA: A SLY MOVE

5 September, 2017

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher,

101 Main Street #380

Huntington Beach, CA 92648

Dear Congressman,

Re: A sly move…

… on the part of Trump, no? He found a way to halfway satisfy a campaign promise to his rabid anti-immigrant base—to end the Obama’s Dreamers act—and land the ball in your court! His presidential degree to end it came with a six-month delay, to allow Congress to come up with a solution to a problem for which he has none himself.

So now you have the problem, Congressman. How many dreamers do you think you have in your district? I imagine quite a few. In addition, inland, to the south, you must have a substantial Latino population; and, of course, a huge immigrant population from Southeast Asia. My (admittedly uneducated) guess is that these latter lean conservative, but then you also have people like… me! Whose sympathies lie distinctly with the dreamers, who have been brought up in this country and are American in every respect other than their ancestry.

I am aware of your hard line on immigration. Indeed, your boilerplate response to one of my to earlier letters laid out your position. It was not a generous one. Nonetheless, when this issue comes up before the House, I urge you to listen to the voices of those many constituents who see things in a different light than you, and to consider a change of heart and mind. Our many immigrants—including those from our southern border—contribute greatly to our economy and culture. They deserve an acknowledged place in American life.

Respectfully,

Peter Clothier, Ph.D.

LABOR DAY

Labor Day, 4 September, 2017

 Rep. Dana Rohrabacher,

101 Main Street #380

Huntington Beach, CA 92648

Dear Congressman,

Re: Labor

It’s an odd word, when you think about it: Labor. When I grew up in England, my father was a reliable supporter of the Labour Party, favoring the rights and welfare of the men and women who constitute the labor force, the “working class.” And when I first came to America I was quite surprised—and pleased—to discover a rapidly diminishing working class, an aspiration on the part of virtually all working Americans to become, and be recognized as a part of the great and ever-growing middle class.

This was surely due in good part to the strength of the unions in post-war America. By the early 1960s, when I arrived in this country, they still wielded great—and to my mind beneficial—power. I think of Cesar Chavez and the United Farmworkers Union... It was Ronald Reagan, was it not—ironically once a good union man himself, and one who profited enormously from union action—who started the process of union disempowerment? I remember his fierce, vindictive, and very public attack on the air traffic controllers’ union. It was referred to in a New York Times op-ed piece years later, in 2011, as “the strike that busted unions.” Since then, American unions have continued to decline, with a resultant loss in strong representation for workers’ rights.

Today, alas, you and your Republican colleagues resist any meaningful action to improve the lives of the people who work hard for an often meager living. You refuse to consider even a minimum wage, as workers labor long hours for $6 or $7 while executives rake in obscene amounts of money. If you won’t consider a minimum wage for works, I’m sure you would not favor a “maximum wage” for their bosses—though this would surely be a good idea, to help control the growing and increasingly poisonous disparity of wealth.

So please, Congressman, today, a thought for the unions, for the good they have done; and a thought for the hard-working people of this country, who so often receive a pittance for their Labor. It’s their day. They deserve better than they get from their government.

Respectfully,

Peter Clothier, Ph.D.

THAT RENDEZVOUS

2 September, 2017

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher,

101 Main Street #380

Huntington Beach, CA 92648

Dear Congressman,

Re: That “rendezvous”

Well, it has been three days and I’ve heard nothing further about that rendezvous you have been angling for with Trump. Still, watching the other news, I gather that he’s busy trying to polish up his image with his visits to Texas. First time around, he apparently forgot to make nice with any of the victims, or even take a look at any of the damaged areas. Hence the return trip today. In my view, he should have done the right thing on the first trip, and saved the taxpayer the considerable cost of doubling up. It’s widely reported that the travel and secret service costs for himself and his family are already completely out of hand. And he made no bones about his pouncing on Obama for much more modest expenditures!

Have a good weekend—though you won’t get this letter until Monday. And good luck with your rendezvous.

Respectfully,

Peter Clothier, Ph.D.

THOSE DEMS

1 September, 2017

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher,

101 Main Street #380

Huntington Beach, CA 92648

Dear Congressman,

Re: Those Dems

I see (from “The Hill”) where those Dems are agitating to have you removed from your position as Chairman of a House Foreign Affairs Committee overseeing Russia. I guess they are suspicious of your ties to that country and deem you overly biased to serve in that capacity.

In a related matter, it appears that the Senate Intelligence Committee investigating the Trump/Russia connections is debating whether to call you to testify about that meeting with the eminently untrustworthy Assange, in which he gave you his (eminently untrustworthy) assurance that Russia was not involved in the Wikileaks dump of emails that damaged Hillary Clinton’s electoral chances. Should be an interesting session.

A propos of which, how are those plans for a “rendezvous” with the president* going? (That does seem an odd choice of words; sounds somehow conspirational!) I have to say, honestly, Trump does not seem to eager to see you. But I’ll be eagerly awaiting further reports.

September! Can you believe it? The summer has flown by. Back to work now, I suppose, with plenty to keep you occupied in Washington. Tax cuts, especially for the very wealthy. Tax reform. The debt ceiling. And so on.

We out here in your district will be watching you, and next year we get to vote on your continuation in office—and hopefully your replacement. We’re increasing in number, and increasing in the strength of our opposition to the Republican agenda. And the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is behind us. Just saying…

Respectfully,

Peter Clothier, Ph.D.