No time for silence
A letter to Congress
I just emailed the following to my Congresscritters in the House and Senate.
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It’s a simple question, or at least it should be: Do you support the Constitution? The First Amendment? Free speech and peaceable assembly?
Unless the answer to all those questions is no, there is no excuse for silence in the face of the news* that Attorney General Bondi has ordered all US Attorneys to push prosecutions of the non-existent “terrorist organization” antifa (which is simply short for “anti-fascist” and is a political idea, not a group or organization).
Such prosecution is to be aimed at -
- opponents of the administration’s xenophobia and rejection of due process (presented as “opposition to law and immigration enforcement; extreme views in favor of mass migration and open borders”),
- supporters of transgender rights (”adherence to radical gender ideology”),
- opponents of Trump’s murders and war crimes in the Caribbean, abandonment of Europe, and embrace of Russian foreign policy views (”anti-Americanism”),
- people committed to economic and social justice (”anti-capitalism”),
- and all in favor of true religious freedom, including for Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, other minority religions, as well as agnostics and atheists (”anti-Christianity”).
“Silence is compliance,” the saying goes, but in fact at a moment like this it is more than compliance. It is complicity.
Do not be complicit in the undermining of what you have pledged to uphold.
I await what I’m sure will be your thoughtful response.
*https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/bondi-orders-law-enforcement-investigate-us-groups-over-accusations-domestic-2025-12-05/
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Based on experience to date, I predict:
One senator (Corey Booker) will respond with a boilerplate “Thanks for your input, I’m honored to represent our state” message.
The other (Andy Kim) will respond with a statement which while not directly addressing the mail will at least be on the same general topic.
The member of the House (Chris Smith) will not answer at all; indeed I’ve gotten no response to any mail since the time he mistakenly thought I agreed with him in supporting Israel’s slaughter in Gaza.
I’ll update this is if any on those predictions proves to be wrong.