Best letter on the election of man not all that far from Tifton
Thanks to my Cordele friend Lori Mcbrayer Jobe and her Facebook friends for alerting me of the letter writer in the Tifton Gazette from a few days before the election. Their less than impressive website does not let one copy the entire letter in one fell swoop so I pasted them together for maximum impact. This is a fairly lengthy read by most posts on this blog but please give it a chance. One of Lori's friends said this should have been a full page ad in every newspaper in Georgia from the Democratic Party with this letter and their might have been a different outcome. The letter writer's name is Dick Marti, and the pagination of the original leaves a little to be desired:
The Georgia Senate runoff between incumbent Saxby Chambliss (R) and
challenger Jim Martin (D) is well under way, with the vote scheduled for
Dec. 2. A lot has been made of the magic number of 60 Democratic seats in
the new Senate. Preventing the Democrats from reaching that number gives
Republicans some leverage as spoilers. They failed as constructive
legislators but now relish a role as spoilers. To this end, the re-election
of Chambliss is seen as desirable. It doesn’t matter to Republicans whether
Chambliss deserves re-election. But to re-elect him merely to be a tool to
thwart Democratic programs is not a good reason, particularly in the present
economic crisis.
The people of this state need competent and fair representation in the
Senate. Saxby Chambliss has provided neither. He has not done his job. He’s
worked for fat cats and large business and special interests. Unless you are
one of these, you don’t have a good reason to vote for him. But you might
have a bad reason. Let’s review them, starting from the worst.
One. From his own mouth, Chambliss has said that “the other folks” are
voting. He said that there was a “rush to the polls by African-Americans.”
But who does Chambliss think that he is the senator of? Just “us” but not
“the other folks”? He is supposed to represent everybody, but clearly does
not. There are words that describe his attitude and there are people who
still answer that call. But those times are past. Surely the reason YOU vote
for Chambliss is not the worst of all possible reasons. There must be some
less worse reason.
Two. Perhaps you agree with Chambliss‚ dirty 2002 campaign tactics against
former Senator Max Cleland. The Washington Post (7/3/2003) reported John
McCain as saying “I’ve never seen anything like that ad. Putting pictures
of Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden next to a picture of a man who left
three limbs on the battlefield — it’s worse than disgraceful, it’s
reprehensible.” Even so, McCain campaigned for Chambliss last week. They
hugged on stage. So maybe things are OK now. This kind of campaigning wonChambliss his Senate seat in 2002. One would have to be stupid to fall for
campaigning like that, but many evidently do. But we know that YOU are not
stupid. You must have a less worse reason to vote for Chambliss.
Three. Chambliss won five student deferments, claiming a bum knee, to get
out of serving in Vietnam. He is one of many chickenhawks among Republicans
in the Bush administration and the current Congress. You might think that he
would try to make up by supporting the troops and veterans with legislation.
But no, the list of his votes against the troops and against veterans is a
long one. Here are only a few of many: He not only voted against a personal
tax cut for the troops, but voted that their taxes be increased, yet he
approved giveaways to big oil companies. He voted against increased funding
for veteran health more than 20 times. He voted against body armor and
against funding for Humvee production. He voted to exclude combat pay in
determining the eligibility of troops for a tax credit. He voted against
funding traumatic brain injury research. The list goes on and on. But YOU
support the troops and surely would not vote for Chambliss based on this
record. There must be a less worse reason why you support him.
Four. Perhaps you think he is a member of the working class, much like
yourself. After all, he has a salaried job. If your net worth is $181,000 to
$415,000, then Chambliss may be your man because his assets are somewhere in
that range. He is one of the poorer senators, ranking near the bottom in
assets, yet he hobnobs with big oil and big business. He is their senator,
not yours. He is in their pocket, not yours. He works for them, not you. YOU
are not rich, so your support for such a fellow must be for a less worse
reason.
Five. Maybe once upon a time he did something for you or, by extension,
something for this state. But if you did not have the money to buy his vote
or otherwise get his attention, you may have been mistaken in thinking that
he did something for you when he was really helping somebody else, somebody
with real clout. You don’t have clout do you? You probably don’t own an oil
company or raise a lot of tomatoes. So YOU must have a less worse reason to
vote for him.
Six. Maybe he’s your neighbor, or perhaps you live down the street from him.
Maybe you see him at Wal-Mart and exchange pleasantries. Maybe he invites
you over for BBQ. But probably not. He’s too busy being one of the worst
senators this state has had. He doesn’t have time for you except to beg for
your vote. YOU are just too small, except on election day once every six
years.
Seven. There are no good reasons to re-elect Saxby Chambliss to the U.S.
Senate. Just a lot of bad ones and several very bad ones. Do yourself a
favor. Don’t vote for somebody who has no intention of representing YOU. Why
would you work against your own best interest and that of this state?
Dick Marti
Tifton
The Georgia Senate runoff between incumbent Saxby Chambliss (R) and
challenger Jim Martin (D) is well under way, with the vote scheduled for
Dec. 2. A lot has been made of the magic number of 60 Democratic seats in
the new Senate. Preventing the Democrats from reaching that number gives
Republicans some leverage as spoilers. They failed as constructive
legislators but now relish a role as spoilers. To this end, the re-election
of Chambliss is seen as desirable. It doesn’t matter to Republicans whether
Chambliss deserves re-election. But to re-elect him merely to be a tool to
thwart Democratic programs is not a good reason, particularly in the present
economic crisis.
The people of this state need competent and fair representation in the
Senate. Saxby Chambliss has provided neither. He has not done his job. He’s
worked for fat cats and large business and special interests. Unless you are
one of these, you don’t have a good reason to vote for him. But you might
have a bad reason. Let’s review them, starting from the worst.
One. From his own mouth, Chambliss has said that “the other folks” are
voting. He said that there was a “rush to the polls by African-Americans.”
But who does Chambliss think that he is the senator of? Just “us” but not
“the other folks”? He is supposed to represent everybody, but clearly does
not. There are words that describe his attitude and there are people who
still answer that call. But those times are past. Surely the reason YOU vote
for Chambliss is not the worst of all possible reasons. There must be some
less worse reason.
Two. Perhaps you agree with Chambliss‚ dirty 2002 campaign tactics against
former Senator Max Cleland. The Washington Post (7/3/2003) reported John
McCain as saying “I’ve never seen anything like that ad. Putting pictures
of Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden next to a picture of a man who left
three limbs on the battlefield — it’s worse than disgraceful, it’s
reprehensible.” Even so, McCain campaigned for Chambliss last week. They
hugged on stage. So maybe things are OK now. This kind of campaigning wonChambliss his Senate seat in 2002. One would have to be stupid to fall for
campaigning like that, but many evidently do. But we know that YOU are not
stupid. You must have a less worse reason to vote for Chambliss.
Three. Chambliss won five student deferments, claiming a bum knee, to get
out of serving in Vietnam. He is one of many chickenhawks among Republicans
in the Bush administration and the current Congress. You might think that he
would try to make up by supporting the troops and veterans with legislation.
But no, the list of his votes against the troops and against veterans is a
long one. Here are only a few of many: He not only voted against a personal
tax cut for the troops, but voted that their taxes be increased, yet he
approved giveaways to big oil companies. He voted against increased funding
for veteran health more than 20 times. He voted against body armor and
against funding for Humvee production. He voted to exclude combat pay in
determining the eligibility of troops for a tax credit. He voted against
funding traumatic brain injury research. The list goes on and on. But YOU
support the troops and surely would not vote for Chambliss based on this
record. There must be a less worse reason why you support him.
Four. Perhaps you think he is a member of the working class, much like
yourself. After all, he has a salaried job. If your net worth is $181,000 to
$415,000, then Chambliss may be your man because his assets are somewhere in
that range. He is one of the poorer senators, ranking near the bottom in
assets, yet he hobnobs with big oil and big business. He is their senator,
not yours. He is in their pocket, not yours. He works for them, not you. YOU
are not rich, so your support for such a fellow must be for a less worse
reason.
Five. Maybe once upon a time he did something for you or, by extension,
something for this state. But if you did not have the money to buy his vote
or otherwise get his attention, you may have been mistaken in thinking that
he did something for you when he was really helping somebody else, somebody
with real clout. You don’t have clout do you? You probably don’t own an oil
company or raise a lot of tomatoes. So YOU must have a less worse reason to
vote for him.
Six. Maybe he’s your neighbor, or perhaps you live down the street from him.
Maybe you see him at Wal-Mart and exchange pleasantries. Maybe he invites
you over for BBQ. But probably not. He’s too busy being one of the worst
senators this state has had. He doesn’t have time for you except to beg for
your vote. YOU are just too small, except on election day once every six
years.
Seven. There are no good reasons to re-elect Saxby Chambliss to the U.S.
Senate. Just a lot of bad ones and several very bad ones. Do yourself a
favor. Don’t vote for somebody who has no intention of representing YOU. Why
would you work against your own best interest and that of this state?
Dick Marti
Tifton
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