cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/17363474

“This is very obviously a letter to voters, not to Congress,” said one reporter. “It reads like a campaign speech.”

  • dhork@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    There is nothing that screams “Old Man” more than expressing your views in a sternly worded letter to your Congressman.

    • Optional@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      I was asked recently why I didn’t want to participate in polls - didn’t i want my representatives to know my opinions about the issues?

      Sure, but I don’t go to polls for that. Contacting your representatives is the appropriate way to do that. And always has been. 🧑‍🚀🔫

      • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        Contacting your representatives is the appropriate way to do that. And always has been. 🧑‍🚀🔫

        Dunno’bout you, but my reps generally don’t answer phones, auto-reply to emails and otherwise ignore me unless it comes with a campaign donation or purchase of shitty books or at least lunch.

        • Optional@lemmy.world
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          4 months ago

          If your reps are unhinged cretins, you may have a side quest to complete before you contact them with your concerns.

          For most, normal, human, representatives - They have staffers answer the phones and tally the calls they get pro-and-anti whatever-the-thing-is and enough calls can get them to act. Again, this presumes your representative isn’t a Qanon-huffing, freedumb cockus member who’s out firing guns at fleeing strippers.

          Emails aren’t very effective, some still have faxes, but phone is the heaviest hammer available. Failing any response at all the local office for your rep/sen is the place to show up and politely inquire as to whiskey tango actual foxtrot.

          It’s not the bureaucracy from the movie Brazil , they’re often regular people dealing with batshit nazis, wild-eyed tankies and everything in between as best they can. If you haven’t seen it in person, it’s pretty interesting.

          • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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            4 months ago

            It’s not the bureaucracy from the movie Brazil , they’re often regular people dealing with batshit nazis, wild-eyed tankies and everything in between as best they can. If you haven’t seen it in person, it’s pretty interesting.

            I have and I do. For the record, they’re corporate democrats and they more or less ignore that tally.

            The official justification from the horse’s mouth, the last time, was that “the broad public can’t possibly understand that [insert corpo propaganda here]”

            I believe specifically it was about privacy, and the bullshit was privacy laws would break the internet. (They didn’t mention how much she received from Google.)

            Another (state) rep who was also a democrat, once told me to my face that water rights were too complicated for normal people. Not really. It’s not hard to say the climate is changing and we should protect and restrict access to our water use; instead of letting companies ship it elsewhere.

            The only people opposed were the companies shipping it elsewhere.