Letters I sent to my senators yesterday

Dear Senator Feinstein,

I read the text of the Foreign Relations Committee hearing of Condoleeza Rice and saw that the final vote was 16-2 with you voting in favor of endorsing Rice. I would outline my objections here--torture is wrong, endless war is wrong, lying to the public is wrong...--but you are a smart woman and surely you know why Rice is a vile candidate for the post and why you ought to be ashamed of yourself for endorsing her. Thomas Paine said it better than I could:

"I should suffer the misery of devils, were I to make a whore of my soul by swearing allegiance to one whose character is that of a sottish, stupid, stubborn, worthless, brutish man. I conceive likewise a horrid idea in receiving mercy from a being, who at the last day shall be shrieking to the rocks and mountains to cover him, and fleeing with terror from the orphan, the widow, and the slain of America.

There are cases which cannot be overdone by language, and this is one. There are persons too who see not the full extent of the evil which threatens them, they solace themselves with hopes that the enemy, if they succeed will be merciful. It is the madness of folly to expect mercy from those who have refused to do justice; and even mercy, where conquest is the object is only a trick of war: The cunning of the fox is as murderous as the violence of the wolf; and we ought to guard equally against both."

I hope you enjoy your stay in the Lincoln Bedroom or whatever other spoil of war you've traded your soul for.

Ashamed to call myself your constituent,



Dear Senator Boxer,

I just wanted to write and thank you for doing such a great job representing your constituents. I suspect you are the only ethical person left in the Senate, and I hope you keep on the alert so that you can continue to evade the mysterious soul sucking body snatcher that is turning your fellow democrats into pod politicians.

Your vote and voice in the Rice hearings and the challenge to the Ohio vote make me proud to be a Californian (even in the face of my other senator's obsequious performance). Please keep the faith Ms. Boxer. Know that even if some days, you may tilt at windmills, those battles have effects you don't see. You are helping some of us hang on for the next four years.

With the utmost admiration,