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Today’s letter to Tim Burchett

Whenever my “representative” Tim Burchett posts something on social media, I resist the urge to respond in social media and instead email his office. This is today’s email:

As a constituent of Tim Burchett’s, I am writing to request he raise his level of professionalism. I write to remind Mr. Burchett that he represents all citizens and not just those of a single political party.

On October 29, 2023 at 11:13am, Mr. Burchett Tweeted, “As the radical left continues its wringing of hands and bed wetting over @SpeakerJohnson I am convinced we made the right choice.”

This antagonistic rhetoric is unprofessional and more on par with something I would expect of a middle school teenager rather than a Congress person.

Allow me to rewrite your Tweet in a non-confrontational way that does not leave your constituents feeling attacked or underrepresented. You would have kept my respect, what little I have left of you, to simply write: “I am convinced we made the right choice with @SpeakerJohnson.” Read your original then read that line and see how you could convey your meaning without stooping to childish bullying tactics. Plus you even get to keep a sneaky double entendre with your poor English “right choice”.

Learn your job. Grow up.

Burchett’s response:

Dear Mr. McCaughan,

Thank you for contacting me about my recent tweet. It is an honor to serve in Washington on behalf of the Second District, and I appreciate you taking the time to write in to voice your concerns.

The tweet you referenced was posted by me to my personal, unofficial Twitter account. Like many Americans, I use social media to express my views and opinions. While I never intend to offend, I will continue to use social media as a way to communicate, both in my official capacity on TwitterInstagram and Facebook as well as on my personal Twitter account, where you saw the tweet you referenced.

I hope you will continue to keep me informed of your views and opinions when you feel compelled to do so. Your messages enable me to better understand the priorities of East Tennesseans, and I will keep your thoughts in mind as I work with my colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives to produce legislation that addresses the needs of the American people.

Please let me know if you have additional questions about this legislative issue or if I may assist you with any issues in the future. If you would like to receive updates from my office, I invite you to visit burchett.house.gov to sign up for my newsletter.

Sincerely,

Rep. Tim Burchett
Member of Congress

My reply:

Thank you for your response. I appreciate the desire to have a professional and a personal representation of yourself. As a sitting member of Congress, you do not get the luxury of such a division. As an employee of a large company, I do not get the luxury of saying whatever I want on the Internet without risking repercussions from my employer and possibly making myself unhirable. The People do not see the distinction between your personal and official accounts.. You represent us whether you are publishing from an official account or a personal account. As a public figure, you are held to a higher standard than the rest of us. You gain nothing by belittling the democrats or Joe Biden in an antagonist message. You serve yourself as well as your constituents better by keeping your messaging more neutral and to the facts. We sent you to congress to represent us. Your behavior reflects directly on the people of East Tennessee.

If Al Franken can be held accountable for something he did decades prior in his youth, then you can be held accountable for what you publish regardless of it being an official account or a personal account. Regardless of where you place your messaging, you are still messaging as a Representative and we the people expect a level of decorum and professionalism from you. Rise up. Be better.

Thank you,

William D. McCaughan

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Today’s Letter to Tim Burchett

I am a constituent of Mr. Burchett. On May 24, 2023 at 11:53am, Mr. Burchett tweeted:

“The Biden administration thinks that Americans don’t care about what happened on the ground during the Afghanistan withdrawal and have obstructed our efforts to conduct oversight. Someone needs to be held accountable and these families need vindication and closure.”

I now email Mr. Burchett instead of replying to his tweets. I encourage everyone to email their representatives. Stop giving elected officials dopamine by replying to the social media prompts. Put them to work by sending emails which they must give a reply.

My letter to Mr. Burchett:

I expect more professionalism from my elected officials. Mr. Burchett is attempting to stir up people instead of doing his job which is in part to inform his constituents. Being intentionally ambiguous is just an attempt to get people riled. Instead of saying “someone needs to be held accountable” list their names. If Mr. Burchett does not know, then find out before sending the message.

In this case, I can answer Mr. Burchett’s ambiguity. “Someone needs to be held accountable.” That someone is Mr. Trump and Mr. Pompeo.

Drop the sensationalism and provide us the information and represent us as you were elected to do. You are a representative not a Hollywood personality.

Thank you,
Doug McCaughan

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Today’s email to Tim Burchett

At 1:43pm on Tuesday, May 16, 2023, Mr. Burchett Tweeted:
“Steve Bannon asked me if I thought East Tennesseans would support cutting funding for some of these alphabet agencies that aren’t doing their jobs. I told him absolutely, because they’ve told me so.”

1) Nobody cares one iota about Steve Bannon. Why do you surround yourself with criminals?

2) Please be professional and speak with less ambiguity. Part of your job is to inform your constituents. I am a constituent. I do not want dog whistles and sensationalism from you. I want details and clear explanations. Do your job.

3) Please tell me which agencies you propose cutting funding.

4) You say they are not doing their job (funny coming from someone who does not do his job). Please cite specific examples for each of the agencies you mentioned in #3. I will be posting this email and your reply to several social media cites so please fact check and be thorough.

5) I am a constituent and kindly ask that Mr. Burchett stop misrepresenting me. You claim we have told you to cut funding (to what?) I have suggested we build one less aircraft carrier and fewer bombs to fund education and health care. Our country drastically overspends on defense while neglecting important services such as education and the health of its citizens. For example, give the Department of Education more funding and watch this country become great again. Support a universal single payer health system and watch our GDP rise as healthy people will be more productive members of society longer.

I look forward to your well thought out reply.

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Today’s Letter to Tim Burchett

People in the United States, I encourage you to stop replying to people of power in social media. Instead, every time a congress person or elected official puts out a statement in social media, contact them via phone or email. They can ignore your social media replies but should not ignore your emails and phone calls.

I am a constituent of Mr. Burchett. At 5:14pm on 4/18/2023, Mr. Burchett Tweeted “I went to the Treasury with some of my @GOPoversight colleagues to go through documents related to the Biden family’s shady business dealings.

I can’t get into specifics just yet, but I suspect a lot of people are very nervous at the thought of these things coming to light…”

I want Mr. Burchett to stop embarrassing Tennessee and to focus on issues that matter. If Mr. Burchett wasn’t willing to prosecute or hold account the criminal Trump, then he needs to quit with the same on Biden. Tweeting with ambiguity like “I suspect a lot of people are very nervous at the thought of these things coming to light” is sensationalism and designed to rile people up. This is childish and not to the level of propriety expected of a congress person. Put out a statement when you have facts to share not gossip.

That brings us to your job. Instead of making up issues for political purposes, please focus on issues that concern Tennesseans. Do your job as if you are not going to be reelected and you want to leave a wonderful legacy. Tennessee wants you to address gun safety. We are tired of children dying and wasting money on LEOs in school is not the solution, arming teachers will only get more people killed faster, turning schools into prisons is a horrible idea as it scares children instead of making them feel secure and a scared child is a child that will act out. Permitless carry is crazy. We need background checks, training, regulation, and no one needs something that spits lead at 45 rounds per minute. We need public education fortified in Tennessee instead of privatized. Dick DeVos on Dec 3, 2002 described to the Heritage Foundation that charter schools and vouchers can be used to destroy public education. Moving tax dollars to privatized schools is nothing short of theft. Tennesseans want gerrymandering ended and voter rights prioritized rather than suppressed. Tennesseans want the attack on drag shows ended. Drag shows are not harming children but every week we see another news article about priests and Republicans abusing children. Tennesseans want mass transit not toll roads.

I personally want you to look at the actions of Governor Bill Lee and objectively ask why he is turning Tennessee into a fascist state. Do something to save our democratic republic. Do your job! You are a congress person not a FoxNews host. You have plenty of meaningful work to do. Stop wasting your time and my tax dollars on political theater!

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Today’s letter to Tim Burchett

People in the United States, I encourage you to stop replying to people of power in social media. Instead, every time a congress person or elected official puts out a statement in social media, contact them via phone or email. They can ignore your social media replies but should not ignore your emails and phone calls.

Today I contacted Tim Burchett:

I am a constituent. On April 21, 2023 at 6:37am, Mr. Burchett tweeted, “We are broke yet ?@POTUS? keeps funding Foreign countries. Why?”

I request that Mr. Burchett refrain from such rhetoric without substantiating it. As your constituent, I’m asking that you show in documentation or reputable publications that “we are broke.” I want to see the numbers and Mr. Burchett’s sources.

As for why are we sending funds to other nations, well, if Mr. Burchett cannot answer that question then clearly he is not qualified for this job. For that matter, it is his job to tell us, his constituents, why. So I demand that Mr. Burchett answer his own question. Why are we funding foreign nations?

Thank you.

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Today’s Letter to Tim Burchett

Every time Tim Burchett sends a tweet, I email him a response. Ok, not every time, but as frequently as time permits.

I am a constituent of Tim Burchett and want him to stop embarrassing Tennessee. On March 31, 2023 at 12:12pm Mr. Burchett tweeted “Americans of any political party should be scared. The rule of law doesn’t exist when a former President is indicted like this. Bragg made his intentions clear before he was in the DA’s office- and this will take a toll on our country.”

Mr. Burchett is wrong! The rule of law exists because no one person stands above the law and a criminal like Donald Trump must be held accountable for his illegal activities. The reason we should be scared is that people such as Mr. Burchett work in positions of power within our government while clearly not understanding his own responsibilities. What is scary is that Mr. Burchett lacks the moral integrity to see to it that the criminals of the previous administration are prosecuted including the January insurrectionists which includes Mr. Burchett.

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Drag Time Story Hours are about acceptance which is why Republicans hate it

Saw this comment on Reddit and thought it may help people who may be wondering why drag time story hours exist. Once you understand this you may question why the GOP wants to attack such a thing.

“[Drag time story hours] are times when local drag queens will read stories to children while in costume. As one would guess, these stories tend to be focused on accepting people who are different and promoting positive self-image for people who don’t fit the standard mold. They started for just this reason – to help children see that there is nothing to be ashamed of if you are different than other kids.

Keep in mind that drag is not inherently sexual – it is just men dressing in flamboyant female costumes. There is nothing sexual going on at these story hours.”

Also
“That last bit is important to remember. They’re performers and they do a different act for a different audience. Bob Saget, for example was super wholesome on Full House, but his standup act was absolutely filthy. Drag queens are the same way: they’re entertainers who can do a different act for different audiences.”
Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/OutOfTheLoop/comments/11wkjtw/what_is_the_deal_with_drag_time_story_hours/

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Do your civic duty

When I look at the Trump administration, I feel like the Russian government instilled a dictator the way the US government for so many years interfered with governments around the world and we’ve blindly let it happen.

The GOP all but admitted they’ve been ignoring the pandemic for blue states. Yesterday they rolled back auto pollution rules because the moron in chief doesn’t believe in climate change and our health doesn’t line his pocket and nobody noticed or cared.

Last week the EPA said fuck it, destroy what you want.

Do you think Roe v Wade will survive to November? Equal rights? Civil rights? Will we have an election?

And the gun advocates who claimed they need the second amendment to reel in an out of control administration aren’t doing a damned thing while the GOP throws the balance of powers out the window. If we the people allow this administration to continue unchecked, the free America you claim to love is ancient history.

Get mad! Get organized! Get in the fight!

We are all tired. That’s part of their strategy. Keep us distracted, poor and hustling, keep us broke and under resourced, and exhausted so we don’t have time to fight or care. But you cannot relent. You cannot give into apathy. Visit congress.gov. Call a politician every day. Make it something you do like breathing and brushing your teeth. See who is on the committees and let them hear your voice. A government of the people, by the people, for the people requires The People. Do not abdicate your power. We are Americans! We are one people, one tribe. You are not alone. United we stand! I implore you. Stand up now! Our nation needs you.

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It is 2020. Leave your gun at home.

When I see someone walking the streets of the United States with a gun on their hip or slinging an AK while wearing a bulletproof vest, I do not think of freedom or patriotism. I think sad thoughts for the coward who is so fearful that they cannot function in our society without a weapon and I wish them the freedom I feel from day to day knowing I do not need a gun. I do not view these citizens as protectors as their display distracts our law enforcement from their duties. Instead, I see adult children playing a dangerous game of soldiers. Your arrogance does not make me more confident. It makes me apprehensive as I have to watch for your temper, your clumsiness, your accidental discharge as you are not a good guy with a gun but a wild card and hazard to our free society. Leave your gun at home.

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Syria

"What the nightmare is, which many of my republican colleagues appear to want, is to not have learned the lesson of Iraq. To get young men and women involved in perpetual warfare in the quagmire of Syria and the Middle East would be an unmitigated disaster that as President I will do everything in my power to avoid." -Bernie Sanders, Jan 17, 2016

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Why are we in this media mess?

Dear People, the popularization of the words “fake news” should be incredibly disturbing as discrediting the media is how dictators are born but that is an entirely different discussion.

I want to help everyone realize that the state of the media we are in dates back to 1928 but has its key moment in 1987 under Ronald Reagan.

Have you heard of the Fairness Doctrine? It is why those of my generation remember the news of our childhood so differently.

Let me allow Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to explain:

“The devolution of the American press began in 1986 when Ronald Reagan abolished the Fairness Doctrine.

We had a law in this country that we passed in 1928 that said that the air waves belong to the public. The broadcasters can be licensed to use them, but only if they use them to promote the public interest, to inform the public and advance democracy. That’s why we have the 6 o’clock news. They didn’t want it. The broadcasters didn’t want that because the news departments were chronic money losers.

But they were forced to put on the news at 6:00 and even today you hear news on the music radio stations and that’s an artifact of the Fairness Doctrine. They said, if you’re using the broadcast air waves, you have to do that…

They no longer have an obligation to serve the public interest. Their only obligation is to their shareholders. They serve that obligation not by informing us, telling us the things we need to understand to make rational decisions in a democracy, but rather by entertaining us…

We know we’re the best entertained, the least informed, people on the face of the world. They got rid of their investigative reporters. 85 percent of them lost their jobs in the last 15 years.

They got rid of their foreign news bureaus so the Bush and Cheney administration can say to the American people, ‘Oh, we’re gonna go into this 800-year-old fist fight in Mesopotamia and they’re gonna meet us with rose petals in the streets’ and the Americans believe them.
The Canadians didn’t believe them because the Canadians still have a Fairness Doctrine…

England has the same kind of rules and in Europe, but in our country, we lost those rules and, as a result, we know a lot about Britney Spears’ gradual emotional decline and we know a lot about Charlie Sheen, but we don’t know much about global warming or the fact that the Appalachian Mountains essentially no longer exist.”

The elimination of the Fairness Doctrine in 1987 set the stage for today’s fake news dilemma and is attributed with contributing to the polarized politic party situation we have with Congress and the American people.

“The Fairness Doctrine had two basic elements: It required broadcasters to devote some of their airtime to discussing controversial matters of public interest, and to air contrasting views regarding those matters. Stations were given wide latitude as to how to provide contrasting views: It could be done through news segments, public affairs shows, or editorials. The doctrine did not require equal time for opposing views but required that contrasting viewpoints be presented. The demise of this FCC rule has been considered by some to be a contributing factor for the rising level of party polarization in the United States.”

We are in this mess as a failing of the media because President Reagan removed the obligation of the press to serve the American people to focus on serving their corporations.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairness_Doctrine