Interestingly, I don’t know Margaret.
That didn’t stop her.
No, sir!
Margaret wrote to tell me off!!
Not a little, but more like a royal-just-short-of-cussing kind of tell off.
So you’re probably wondering what I did to the elderly Ms W to cause, deserve or precipitate the letter.
As best I can tell (not knowing her) it was just one thing: I publicly spoke up on a matter of government regulation.
I exercised my rights as a Citizen.
More precisely, I exercised my Constitutionally constructed and protected rights.
The rub?
I’m a conservative in most matters (believing in extremely limited government and excessive personal liberty) and Margaret is not. She, therefore, felt it her duty as a self-proclaimed-zealous-liberal to straighten me out.
Me, a complete stranger.
How this confluence of events transpired is fluke-ish beyond the pale, but insightful into the dissolution of Civility in the U.S. and the uselessness of certain styles of “news reporting”.
First, I feel it necessary to give a bit of a lesson in HOW our governmental processes work. Before some of you get all knotted on “I don’t need no stinking lesson from a blankin’ conservative”, take a breath; I’m only going to explain the procedures of government available to all sides.
When there is a regulatory policy change proposed by the President, Congress or bureaucracy, that U.S. federal agency opens a 30 day public comment period. Literally anyone can leave a comment For or Against the proposed change. Those comments are now, in 2019, posted on an online page at that given agency’s website (think EPA, OSHA and so on).
I knew of a proposed change I wanted to comment on (and No, I won’t tell you the specifics—this is about the principles in play here with ol’ Ms W and me). I went to the appropriate site, left my 2 sentence, 17 word comment and that-was-that.
Some 3 weeks later Margaret’s letter arrives in my mailbox. I read it, annoyed to get "fanmail" like that, and I literally ripped it up and tossed it in the recycle box (because yes, this Conservative believes in recycling). As the day progressed, I continued to mull on: HOW exactly did total-stranger-Margaret know MY views? I had forgotten about posting the comment on the agency website. I knew I didn’t post anything on the socials, I’d never spoken my opinion in public where someone’s cell phone could capture me, just nothing. I told my lovely wife about the letter. I even pulled the torn letter out of the recycle box and taped it together for her to read. She, my lovely that is, was just as mystified by it and began an online search for Ms W, my comment and all things even remotely related.
Here’s the detail-to-process-turn: a lazy NPR reporter apparently saw my comment on the government agency website, my comment being the first conservative-leaning comment among nearly 38,000 logged and decided to quote me to the world. More precisely the reporter decided to quote my 2 sentences and fill in “obvious-to-him-alone” details (full-throated-sarcasm) attributing my opinion to support of the President and his position. Said reporter never tried to find me for further comment. I’m not really that hard to find based on the spelling with which Dick and Bonnie labeled me. Lazy Reporter Guy just did the least amount of “research” for his piece to get published and for him to get paid.
Get this: he wouldn’t try to find me, but ol’ Margaret W sure did! From her rest home in Michigan she tracked me down, even looking up my educational history online. She was clear to tell me many things like:
1) I should be ashamed of myself for my views and
2) because of my opinion, I obviously can’t be a Christian and the ending volley
3) “Seriously, if you were my son, I’d disown you.”
(Yes, that was the closing line.)
So turn with me back to this concept of Civility in Public Discourse.
I exercised my rights.
In doing so, no one was harmed.
I used my freedom of speech in the appropriate context.
Yet an unskilled reporter and an enraged liberal pounced into the limelight showing their utter lack of Civic Understanding and even Human Civility.
These times we find ourselves in, with the rancid, acrid tone of excessive one-sided, on both sides, partisanship and do-it-our-way-or-else-ness, usually just makes me roll my eyes with a frowning smirk. That ain’t how America works, folks.
But the letter from MW crossed a line, leaving me smirk-free. Instead of letters to strangers, we need more Citizens engaging in the appropriate forums; we must reduce the attacks on individuals and segments. Instead, we need an informed and freedom loving people engaging each other and their elcted representatives for the best in all areas. Less social media, more face to face discussions.
Momentary diversion: I secretly enjoy the “man on the street” interview videos where an uninformed (ok, I’ll say it) ignorant protester tries to sound profound yet only confirms their ignorance on camera. Said ignorance nearly always stems from a complete misunderstanding of the Constitution.
They make demands that can’t be met by a politician’s finger snap.
They self-righteously condemn anyone who disagrees with them.
They vaporously pontificate on what’s wrong with the world but offer no solution that THEY themselves would agree to live under.
And their comments always smack of US vs THEM; it is never WE.
And THAT is the problem today, highlighted by Margaret's letter to me, a complete stranger.
Disagreements on policies and positions are actually good and healthy. The way we get to the best decisions is by pulling and pushing on each other’s ideas. Absolute refusal to move and instead take a do-it-my-way-or-else-I’ll-get-you approach will not help anyone. You can throw the temper tantrum and even write a total stranger a letter, but that won’t move the needle nationwide. Instead, the Margarets of America would be better to get a history book and study Adams vs Jefferson. They didn’t walk in lock step, but they made America amazing; they started the making of what it is today. The incredible wonder of America is the vastness and diversity while remaining One Nation Under God Indivisible with LIBERTY and Justice for ALL (including me and you and Margaret and NPR boy).
Sadly, I have the feeling that the NPR reporter isn’t going to change. I doubt Margaret W will either; she seems a little set in her ways. I can only hope the rest of the American "WE" will change. Bring back Civility in our discourse. Bring in ideas that align with the very documents that brought us here...”We hold these truths to be self-evident that ALL men are created equal (including me and you and Margaret and NPR boy). You should constantly write to, speak to and engage with those who are elected and positioned to bring the change. That’s how we make a more perfect Union.
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