Beto Asks to be Heard

by Pa Rock
Citizen

Last night I received a long and thoughtful email from Congressman Beto O'Rourke of Texas, the man who almost sent Ted Cruz, the most odious member of the United States Senate, to the political showers last month.  Beto was writing to share some thoughts on the partial government shutdown and to offer his insights on government under the Trump administration.  His letter was unique as political communications go in that it did not request my signature on a petition, nor did it ask for money.

Beto O'Rourke just had some things on his mind that he wanted to share - thoughts about the damage that Trump's policies are doing to America, as well as his own personal insights on the way forward.

First he suggested that the partial government shutdown over the Christmas holidays was perhaps an intentional maneuver by Donald Trump to distract Americans away from the constant drumbeat of news about resignations, investigations, and indictments involving members of his administration - as well as stories about the collapsing stock market.

"From a President who promised action, we got distraction."

The congressman then went on to lament the government's growing inability to even function in a marginal sense.  He stated a fear that if people begin to openly acknowledge that government is incapable of functioning, they will begin to gravitate to other options for getting things done, and will

"choose certainty, strength and predictability over the constant dysfunction, even if it comes at the price of our democracy (the press; the ballot box; the courts; congress and representative government)."

Or, in other words, welcome fascism if it makes the trains run on time.

O'Rourke regards Donald Trump as an exploiter, one who takes advantage of our fears and prejudices for his own purposes. particularly with regard to immigrants along the southern border. He talked about Trump's sending troops to the border during the midterm elections - and holding Border Patrol "crowd control" exercises in El Paso on Election Day.  He discussed the Trump administration's defiance of the courts by taking immigrant children from their parents and keeping kids in tent camps, as well as his turning back refugees as they tried to gain asylum in the United States.  And he made note of the Trump administration's penchant for referring to people seeking asylum as rapists, criminals and animals - while describing Klansmen and Neo-Nazis as "very fine people."

Congressman O'Rourke also focused on Trump's belittlement of the press by referring to the media as the "enemy of the people."  He discussed voter disenfranchisement as a result of fake stories about voter fraud, and he noted that our country now seems to be abandoning old international alliances in favor of new ties to authoritarian regimes.  He saw all of those trends as movements away from democracy.

However, the real meat of Beto O'Rourke's letter was not his litany of all the many ways that the Trump administration has brought harm to the United States, but rather on shining a light on a path forward.  With reference to the immediate issue, the partial government shutdown, the congressman said that Congress should again pass the funding bill that it sent to Trump a couple of days ago - the one that passed the Senate on a vote of 100-0.   He said that Congress should

"Send it to the President with the confidence that we represent the people of this country and that we are willing to override his veto if he cannot respect their will.  Show that government can work, that we can see past our immediate differences to serve the greater good.  To put country over party.  To put country over one man.  To do what we were sent here to do."

And for the longer term Beto suggested that "we must strengthen all of our institutions at the very moment they are called into question."   He called on Congress to reject PAC money and corporate and special interest influence.  He also encouraged citizens to demand that their congressmen hold town halls in their communities, and listen to and respond to their constituents.  He envisioned a Congress where members work for their constituents and no one else.

Beto also encouraged action on several key national issues including:  climate change, healthcare, endless war, income inequality, immigration, the vibrancy of rural communities and inner cities, education, and criminal justice reform.  His plan of attack was to

"Define the goal in each area, build the coalition to achieve it, find the common ground (between parties, between branches of government), and move forward."

He summed up by referring back to his premise that th United States is currently hamstrung over a case of action versus distraction, and he predicted that one will save our democracy, and the other will lead to its end.

Beto's letter was brief, less than a thousand words, yet it was a clear and concise look at the United States at a critical point in its history, a clanging alarm, and a call to action.  The young congressman wasn't begging for money - he just wanted to be heard.