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From: myers@uwvax.UUCP (Jeff Myers)
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Re: The Emergency Response Network [reposting]
Message-ID: <43@uwvax.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 9-Nov-84 14:18:20 EST
Article-I.D.: uwvax.43
Posted: Fri Nov  9 14:18:20 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 10-Nov-84 04:51:03 EST
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Organization: U of Wisconsin CS Dept
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> What ever happened to writing your congressperson? If enough people
> really are against it, (not say, 1000 people who manage to get their
> picture in the press for violating the law simultaneously) and they
> tell their representitives, then the government will not increase
> its central american activities.

Most congresspersons have their minds either made up already or are only
influenced by events.  I have the choice of writing Congressman Bob
Kastenmeier, one of the few members of Congress who has had a consistent
non-militaristic bent since Vietnam or Senator Redneck Kasten.  I've written
to Kasten twice -- once to register my disapproval of the shoot-first-ask-
questions-later invasion of Grenada, and once to encourage him to support
the defeated Civil Rights Act of 1984 (which he didn't, being a SF).
In both cases, I got replies indicating that he, too, was concerned about
the issue, and that I could be sure that he would consider the matter
carefully.  You can only beat your head against the wall so many times before
you see the stars!

I've gotten more reasonable replies when I've written or called Kastenmeier,
but he needs little convincing to be on the correct side of most issues.

The major problem with writing to a politician is that it does absolutely
nothing to educate those who are not professional politicians.  That's
what grassroots movements are all about.  If you prefer to sit on your butt
and write letters, I encourage you to do so, because it can be especially
important in regard to those issues which have received little attention
(maltreatment of Eddie Carthan, Leonard Peltier, problems with a local
branch of govt, etc.).  But don't sit on your duff and tell others to close
their traps and write their reps when they realize how little good it usually
does.

-- 
Jeff Myers				The views above may or may not
University of Wisconsin-Madison		reflect the views of my employers.
ARPA: myers@wisc-rsch.arpa
uucp: ..!{allegra,heurikon,ihnp4,seismo,uwm-evax}!uwvax!myers