Life Patriotism Part 2: My Dad and Rep. Jay Inslee
posted by on September 12 at 11:38 AM
Last July, when local Congressman Jay Inslee (D-1) called for impeachment investigations into then-US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, I slogged this:
Dear Rep. Jay Inslee, Re: Yesterday’s news that you’re calling for an impeachment investigation into wayward AG Alberto Gonzales…My dad thanks you.
The line about my old dad, who turns 78 in March, was a link to this post I had done last March:
PatriotismThe Alberto Gonzales scandal is shocking, and it gets people like me in a fevered partisan pitch about Bush’s fascism and his Stalinist purges and the end of Constitutional rule.
But you don’t have to be Dennis Kucinich to feel outraged or … hurt.
My dad is long retired. I called him on Monday to wish him a happy birthday. What he wanted to talk about though, was the Attorney General.
You see: My dad worked at the DOJ for over 30 years. Sometimes I forget he worked there because he finished up his career at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. But his heyday was definitely at the DOJ in the Solicitor General’s Office. (I’m proud of my old dad. He argued in the U.S. Supreme Court 13 times, representing the feds, getting a government salary while arguing against some corporate gun who was probably making equivelant pay just for that day’s big gig. I got to see my dad argue in the Supreme Court twice.)
“What do you think of this Gonzales stuff?” dad asked me.
Spacing out on the significance of the question coming from my dad, I leapt off into some riff from dailykos probably about contempt of Congress.“I worked there,” my dad said, interrupting me quietly.
“Yeah,” I said. “Yeah, I know that.”
“I worked at the DOJ,” he said. “Isn’t this a disgrace?”
I stopped with the rave, and said, “Yeah. It’s a disgrace.”
We started talking about something else.Thanks for ruining my dad’s birthday, Alberto Gonzales. For that alone—you should resign.
Yesterday, I got this postcard—dated August 4 and postmarked September 7—from Rep. Inslee:
It says: “Ruining a dad’s birthday—I will add it to the list of offenses in the articles of impeachment. Please thank your dad for his service. I will think of him as we try and restore the DOJ to its rightful place of honor.”
Gonzales resigned in late August.
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Josh, great post. Very human.
That is so awesome!
Woah, that first image is 2034x1794 and almost 2MB! Shrink that thing down a bit. It took almost 40 seconds for that to finish loading on my system.
That postcard is strangely endearing.
This touches me in special places. However, here on the Internets, we don't need all 300dpi of your scanned image.
Inslee is a classy guy, makes me wish the rest of the washington delegation had his aplumb
Wow. I didn't know Congressmen were still capable of having/displaying an actual personal connection to people in their districts. That's impressive.
I tend to think of them as walking platforms (where do they stand on the issues). Or as "that guy I see in parades sometimes or get flyers from during election years".
That postcard warms my cold little heart.
That's fantastic. Gotta love Inslee. I can't help myself, though - He has some awful, awful penmanship. That looks like it should be written in crayon.
But the words are perfect.
I like his handwriting. It's not hard to understand, and it has some rhythm and style.
If only my doctor had written that prescription as clearly, I wouldn't have to be strapped to this thing for the rest of my life.
Meanwhile, our nation breathlessly awaits the announcement of which shit-for-brains crony will be America's Next Top Criminal.
Inslee's a nice guy with a great sense of humor, and probably the single most approachable member of Washington's Congressional delegation. So long as you're not intimidated by someone who's like 8 feet tall. That dude is HUGE!
The Law, Torah and those who work to bring it's justice to the goyium should be proud. Your father has nothing to be ashamed of. Goyium like Gonzales have dark souls.
It is men like your father who are sparks of divine light for our world. You can be proud. Mazel Tov!
One month to get across the country? Is Republican mail equally slow?
Wait a second, I just saw the postmark. One month to get from Everett to Seattle?
love it, josh. thanks for sharing. it just reaffirms my feelings of awesomeness for inslee. i wish that he could run for something that would give him a broader platform, but i guess WA-Gov isn't that office, and murray and cantwell seem like they're going to hang on to their seats as long as they can. congressman isn't a great jumping off point for a presidential run either ...
I am pleasantly surprised and impressed. Could you write him back and let him know that GWB and Dick are ruining my life and nearly got me killed on 9/11? Not to mention the almost 3,800 US soldiers killed and 78,000+ Iraqis.
Seriously, someone needs to explain why the Democrats are letting Bush do anything. It is way past the 2006 election, and precious little has been done to slam on the brakes. They should be cutting his funding and rhetoric. The surge is working but we're cutting the troops, are you kidding me? If they let Bush drag this thing out to the next election, they could actually find a way to lose. No more working with Bush and being agreeable, you have control of Congress let's see some leadership today, now, right now. CUT THE FUNDING!!!
I dated one of his staffers long ago, and she went completely bonkers. Not sure if he had anything to do with it, but every time I see or hear his name I remember her.
I'm still doin' the Dance of Death, Mr. Feit. You have yet to join moi.
All mail has to go through a rediculous amount of screening now, I believe. Fax, email and phone are the best and most timely ways of contacting your congresscritter.
Josh, frame it and send it to your father.
--- Jensen
@22,
Yep.
Jay is a very funny, thoughtful guy and scrawls great personal notes to people on the long plane rides back and forth to DC. There is then a somewhat complicated process of getting the correspondence out of his bag and into the mail that can be a little time consuming...though his staff tries! He's a very good guy.
@21, unfortunately, most elected reps still are more responsive to written (non-email) communication than other forms.
I wish our Reps here in KS were as cool. :P
Inslee's a great guy. But jeez, more than a month to get the thing in the mail? Dude's gotta get more staff or something.
I have a major crush on Jay Inslee now, especially after that statement about the war from the other day... *swoon* So kind! So handsome! So considerate!
This made my day, Josh - thanks for sharing.
I love you, Jay Inslee. Now more than ever.
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