A letter to Barack Obama

SkyHog

SkyHog

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Everything Offends Me
I am mailing this letter soon. I wanted to see what y'all thought before I did. MC, this does not belong in Spin Zone, as it is 100% aviation related, depending on how people reply to the thread.

Nick said:
Mr. President:

My name is Nick Brennan, and while I am not a democrat, I feel that you and I (and most of the rest of the citizens of the United States) share the same opinion on security in the United States. We are all committed to ensuring that we provide security as necessary, while not limiting the personal freedoms that we enjoy because we are a free society.

I am writing to you because you may not completely understand the dangers of the Transportation Security Administration and their recent attempts to secure powers over small airplanes. The TSA's presence at major airports, while irritating, is not something I care to debate because airliners were used as a weapon on September 11th, and any argument to the contrary would likely fall on deaf ears.

Small airplanes, however, have never successfully been used as a terrorist weapon in the United States. There have been a few attempts, and the sheer uselessness of a small airplane as a weapon has become so clear that it boggles my mind to see the United States Government allowing the TSA to control them. For reference, see the accident involving Frank Eugene Corder, who attempted to fly his small airplane into the White House in 1992. It was a failure, doing less damage than a small car would have done in a direct impact.

I urge you to read the United States Department of Homeland Security's Transportation Security Administration Document number SD 1542-04-08F, as it describes some of the draconian and downright unconstitutional actions that are currently being taken by the TSA. I know that you, as a Democrat, hate to see scare tactics being used to generate compliance, as that is what led to many of the mistakes the United States has made in the last 8 years. The TSA is overstepping its bounds, and I sincerely hope that you can put a leash on their power grab.

I understand that the likelihood of you reading this letter is very slim, but I have to try. Much like you, I feel very strongly for this country, and it is small power grabs like this that will eventually lead to a society without freedom, and I believe you agree and understand what I mean.

Thank you for your time.

Nick Brennan

Private Pilot and Active Voter
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He reads 10 letters every morning. Here's fingers crossed.
 
I think that's a great letter, Nick - if he reads 10 letters a day, why don't we ALL send a copy of that one, just to up the odds in our favor a bit? :)

(though I would change it to let him know I DID vote for him! :))
 
Good letter. This issue (failure to rollback or even slow DHS security initiatives, not just those of TSA) are one of my big disappintments so far.
 
IMO, lose the political side references since this involves all citizens, not just democrats or non democrats.

Other than that, toss it in the mailbox about a million times to hope it arrives on his desk at least once.
 
Sorry Nick, but this is a total waste of time and effort, however, I applaud your effort. The sooner you realize no one in government listens to it's people the less disappointment you'll have.
 
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Geico266 said:
Sorry Nick, but this is a total waste of time and effort, however, I applaud your effort. The sooner you realize no one in government listens to it's people the less disappointment you'll have.
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Seems like you've managed to cut to the chase and gone ahead and quit... and oddly enough managed to INSURE that, for you at least, it's true. :(
 
etsisk said:
I think that's a great letter, Nick - if he reads 10 letters a day, why don't we ALL send a copy of that one, just to up the odds in our favor a bit? :)

(though I would change it to let him know I DID vote for him! :))
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It's 10 letters a day out of what? 10,000? I trust the staff filters out the ones that go "YOU MUST RELEASE THE ALIENS FROM AREA 51!!!!!" :rolleyes:
 
etsisk said:
Seems like you've managed to cut to the chase and gone ahead and quit... and oddly enough managed to INSURE that, for you at least, it's true. :(
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Considering the form letters I get back from the 3 yahoos that "represent" me in Washington, they don't listen. They don't even send the "correct" form letter back. I would say his statement is quite accurate.
 
Nick,

Looks pretty good to me, though I agree that you could lose the "not a democrat" part as it really is irrelevant.

I'll be writing one or five of my own in short order here. For several reasons, I'm very disappointed in my government tonight. :frown2:
 
Nick-

I'll send a version out too- if he gets several letters on the same subject within a few days, it generally alerts the senior deputy assistant mail reader that something's annoyed the public and push it up the line.
 
I agree that the reference to not being Democrat is not relevant, but it is a good letter. I certainly think that you should send it. While the president himself probably won't read it, I'll bet that someone does. When my wife and I were getting married, I sent an invitation to Ronald Reagan. A couple of weeks later, I got a letter with his regrets. I'm sure the signature was stamped, but someone read the invitation. For that reason, I think someone will read your letter.
 
Nick, send your letter. I hope others do as well. I once worked for a lower level politician who said that every letter represents the feelings of at least 100 people. She knew about those of the world who give up before they try to speak out.

It is a good letter. It speaks your mind and puts a little of yourself into it. Even the partisanship speaks of who you are.
 
NIck, It is a great letter. I concur about removing the party references.

I would recommend writing a few similar letters for your Representatives and Senators as well.

I currently have 5 similar letters on my desk ready to send.

As noted they probably will have no effect, but doing nothing is guaranteed to have no positive effect.

Brian
 
Try sending letters to Rahm to get the discussion on the agenda.

I wonder if Sec. Trans. Ray LaHood woudl step up. I think the Dept. of Trans. kowtows to the mysterious, magical, all-knowing infallible, third rail, DHS.
 
Nick I think is a very good letter. I do agree with Frank that deleting the references to Democrat would make the letter more powerful. Its not an issue for R or D or I for that matter. Good on you for writing the letter. Anyone who reads this can clearly tell it was well thought out by a rational person. Non threatening and clearly gets the message across. You may also want to copy several folks ie your senators, congress person etc. Good Job!
 
EdFred said:
Considering the form letters I get back from the 3 yahoos that "represent" me in Washington, they don't listen. They don't even send the "correct" form letter back. I would say his statement is quite accurate.
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I gotta agree with this. I'm convinced that no living entity reads the letters - everything is an automated word scanner. Pick out critical words, grabs appropriate campaign promises and generate response letter.

Also note - do NOT send US Mail - due to the anthrax issue a number of years ago, all US Mail to Congress and many other DC addresses go thru a multi-week decontamination process. Send a fax or send an email. Don't send snailmail.
 
murphey said:
I gotta agree with this. I'm convinced that no living entity reads the letters - everything is an automated word scanner. Pick out critical words, grabs appropriate campaign promises and generate response letter.
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I can't speak for the White House but in Congress interns open and read letters as a "level 1" review. An office manager or deputy something or another then reads them, jots down some notes then either a secretary or an intern type replies. Issue summaries - or if it is particularly noteworthy a letter itself - makes its way to the Congressman or Senator for his perusal.
 
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Thanks for fighting the good fight. The letter comes across as very genuine, and I think that's bound to be appreciated by whoever reads it.
 
Geico266 said:
Sorry Nick, but this is a total waste of time and effort, however, I applaud your effort. The sooner you realize no one in government listens to it's people the less disappointment you'll have.
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Government happens for those that show up. Do not participate in it and do expect them to respond to your issue. It is that simple. Letter writing, helping a campaign, or even running yourself for an office is how to effect change. Nick has done all of those things. While I am sure he has not gotten all of his issues addressed he has affected the agenda and I applaud him for that.
 
Good letter, Nick.

One small suggestion: "...boggles my mind to see the United States Government allowing the TSA to control them." should be something like "it boggles my mind that the United States Government is allowing the TSA to waste precious government resources in what barely even constitutes a witch hunt."
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Nick,

Looks pretty good to me, though I agree that you could lose the "not a democrat" part as it really is irrelevant.

I'll be writing one or five of my own in short order here. For several reasons, I'm very disappointed in my government tonight. :frown2:
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Concur on the "not a democrat" part. He's President of the United States, not President of the Democrat Party. As soon as he swore the oath, he began representing all of the people, not just his party.
 
JeffDG said:
Concur on the "not a democrat" part. He's President of the United States, not President of the Democrat Party. As soon as he swore the oath, he began representing all of the people, not just his party.
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Too bad the Democrats didn't feel that way 8 years ago. Remember all the "He's not MY president" bumper stickers? I sure do.
 
Careful, guys or this'll get kicked into the SZ!

I'm not talking politics, and I'm not talking about his actions. He is President of the United States, and he's sworn to represent all of the people...

Look at it this way...if he's the ideal "put party affiliation on the shelf" kind of guy, then putting "not a democrat" does absolutely nothing, as he would ignore it.

If he's a hyper-partisan person, then it only damages your case...

So, at best, the line is neutral. In the real world with real people, it's most likely to be a negative. Leave it out, and proceed with the rest of the letter.
 
This thread has been borderline since it started, and the self-control of the posters is noted with thanks. Special thanks to Anthony for recognizing that he'd made an inappropriate post and deleting it himself before we even knew about it. If you want to talk about letters you can send to the President about the SFRA, TFR's, etc., fine; if you want to talk about non-aviation-related politics, take it to the SZ.
 
Ron Levy said:
Special thanks to Anthony for recognizing that he'd made an inappropriate post and deleting it himself before we even knew about it.
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Yeah, my bad. I don't browse by forums, I browse by "New Posts", so I wrongly assumed this was a SZ thread. Thanks Ron.
 
alaskaflyer said:
I can't speak for the White House but in Congress interns open and read letters as a "level 1" review. An office manager or deputy something or another then reads them, jots down some notes then either a secretary or an intern type replies. Issue summaries - or if it is particularly noteworthy a letter itself - makes its way to the Congressman or Senator for his perusal.
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Just as an FYI sending a letter to a Congresscritter in Washington DC is not as effective as sending one to the local office of said critter.

All Congressional mail is screened for bio-hazards and other threats. It is then scanned and then finally reviewed by a jr. level intern who has been told to look for certain topics.

If you send a letter to the critter's local office it is opened and read by the office manager or an intern upon receipt. It can mean having your letter read weeks sooner and possibly by more than a 'work for free' employee.

Sending faxes to DC is a more effective way to reach an office. Even then, I recommend going to the office and speaking with a staffer. Going to the local office and getting 5 minutes is a good way to get your voice heard, especially if you have your talking points well organized.

I do this a couple times a year. Just last month I traveled to our state capital and personally saw each of my elected officials in their office on hit them up with my talking points on a couple of issues that I wanted them to hear about. I even got into the gov's office too. It was a good day!!
 
jmaynard said:
That's why I haven't said anything else in this thread...because my opinions would get it sent to the SZ, even though the cheerleading on the other side hasn't.
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tinfoilhat.jpg


:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
 
I agree about losing the "not a Democrat" part. Even if you were, writing something like, "I've been a lifelong Democrat" wouldn't really be appropriate since this is not a partisan issue. Good letter, though.
 
My thought on using the "not a democrat" line was that it would show that while he and I probably disagree on a lot of things, this is a truly aisle crossing issue, one in which both sides will likely agree.

I can lose it though.

BTW - I intentionally made sure that this was not spin zone stuff, and I thank everyone for not pushing it that way.
 
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smigaldi said:
Examples please.
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Here you go. I considered posting the reasons I find these to be cheerleading for hopey changiness, but that would definitely be SZ material.

mikea said:
He reads 10 letters every morning.
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smigaldi said:
Government happens for those that show up.
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JeffDG said:
He's President of the United States, not President of the Democrat Party. As soon as he swore the oath, he began representing all of the people, not just his party.
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