Friday, March 16, 2012

An open letter

I have few illusions about the traction of letters written to my congress members, but I'd like to think that when some poor intern googles me to make sure I'm not a terrorist, seeing it here might make them think, "Hey, that sounds like that awesome letter I was reading."

Dear Senator Feinstein,

Tonight, I watched the Daily Show report on the defunding of UNESCO by the US, due to a 20 year old law that requires us to punish the UN for recognizing Palestine.

I know that you, and likely the staffer that screens this email for you, enjoy the Daily Show. You're a smart person, and I think that you realize this is ridiculous. The law's a bit of imperialist bullying from the United States, and makes us look like jerks. Taking away funding for critical infrastructure and cultural programs due to the results of a democratic international process makes us look like spoiled children and only panders to an aging demographic that's likely to vote Democratic anyway.

You know what's right. Repeal the bill. Or even modify it to allow a vote on each international agency. That way, should it be too important to keep from funding some other organization, we can deal with that when it comes up. That allows us to pursue justice while still respecting the voices of those who might disagree with funding any individual agency.

Let's end this idiocy, Senator. Please do that for me.


Love,

Josh

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