Dear Madam Speaker,
You don’t know me and I don’t know you. Yet, from the tens of thousands of news sources out there in reference to your statements through the decades, I can safely make some very well-informed assumptions on your part.
I am a 50+ year old father of five (all 12 and under) who works as a freelance writer out of Alaska. One of the things you should know about Alaskans, it’s not easy to make a living here. That said, I think it’s also safe to assume that you can appreciate the fact that I live here willingly and do my best to provide for my wife, family and self, trying to get by the only way I know.
I don’t want to lecture you on your politics because you believe the way you believe and no one’s going to change that. I also don’t want to you to think that I'm asking you to be silent and not air your personal beliefs. By no means am I writing this to shut you down, cancel you or censor you in any way. I don't believe in that.
I want you to know, however, how very unhappy I am about your recent decisions regarding your leadership at the helm of one of the most powerful organizations in the United States.
First off, I want to say that I don’t want to take anything away from you.
I assume that you, like me, own a car or other gas-consuming vehicle that gets you from point A to point B in your everyday life. With a family of seven, it’s a necessity for us to own a mini-van in order to cart the family around when we make infrequent trips to town.
I also think it’s safe to assume that you, like me, have religion in your everyday life. I am a practicing Christian who believes devoutly. You have repeatedly referred the public to your deeply held Catholicism.
You are a homeowner, as am I. We live in a very small home in the Last Frontier State and are very happy as a close family.
There are many differences of opinion in the news cycles of the world and I, as I’m sure you do, listen to a variety of those opinions through the modern press (often times narrowly disguised as journalism).
Your children, I assume, have benefitted from an exceptional education. I believe in a valued academic experience for my children as well, although I have been homeschooling my children since their births.
I take the safety and security of my community very seriously as well, as I’m sure you do. I believe that the primary foundation of a society lies in the laws and order that was based on Judeo-Christian beliefs from the early days of our founding as a nation.
You believe in the health and welfare of your family, as do I. Although I don’t have the same Cadillac healthcare coverage that you enjoy as a civil servant for the federal government, I do my best to provide what I can for my family so that they remain healthy and happy.
You take your civic responsibilities very seriously…obviously…since you’ve been in office for many, many years, that’s a given. I am also very civically minded, although I’ve never served in office. I did serve in the military for more than a decade, both here and abroad. I also vote in every election.
Finally, I believe in the United States of America as the shining beacon of hope and liberty for the rest of humanity. Fully and completely. I was brought up primarily in a one-parent household by a superwoman who never gave up on herself or her family…or America, for that matter. She loves this country and has instilled in me, my brothers and my sister, the values that have made this country the unbelievable land of opportunity that it remains to this very day.
With all of that said, I now want to instruct you on a few things that have upset me from the outset of your leadership in the US House of Representatives.
I don’t know, and frankly, don’t even care how many vehicles, personal or otherwise, that you and your family own. I really don’t. I, myself, own a single one. And I certainly don’t want to take away your vehicles, no matter in what condition they currently happen to exist. Why, then, are you fully on board with taking away mine?
I don’t want to take away your choices in religion. For sure, I don’t want to lecture you on the ways you feel you want to profess your piety through whatever means you feel necessary in your personal life. Why, then, are you so willing to take away my religious beliefs on life through the forced coverage of infanticide in my taxes?
As in the case of your vehicles, I don’t know and don’t care how many homes and properties you own. I, myself, own one house and no property. I completely think it would be fine if you, too, owned one, but if you own more…or even a thousand…it wouldn’t bother me in the least bit. Why, then, are you trying to remove my ability to do so by wishing to raise my income taxes to a point where I cannot even maintain a single residence without working many jobs?
Your sources of news really don’t concern me. I don’t believe I have any right to tell you that you shouldn’t be listening to CNN, MSNBC, the New York Times, the Washington Post, or Vox. However, the fact that my hard-earned tax money is going toward the promotion of Leftwing ideology (again, vaguely disguised as modern journalism) in National Public Radio (NPR) programming is galling. I don’t demand that you fund Breitbart News or Fox News Channel. Why, then, do you insist on taxing me to fund NPR when they believe that I should not have a say in my own government through the Electoral College system of voting?
I give my children the very best options in their education by making sure that they see ALL sides of the subject matter, not merely the Progressive side of things. I will not set my kids up for failure and defeatism by giving them myriad excuses why they are not good enough to succeed when there is more than enough ample evidence in this nation that people can and do succeed, and even exceed, when the road is tough and well-fought. No one can guarantee success. But everyone has the opportunity to succeed. That’s what my kids know. That’s what they’re taught. I have homeschooled them in that way of thinking. Your children are probably very well-schooled. I don’t doubt that. And I don’t take that away from you. I believe your choices as a parent are just as valid as mine. Why, then, do you wish to take away my ability to teach my children the way I believe they should be taught…by our very own State constitutions?
When you get back home to San Francisco and you are welcomed by your friends and family, do you lock your doors at night? If you don’t, then I applaud your neighborhood watch, because that is, I assure you, NOT the norm around the country. However, if you do lock your doors, as I do, would you find it strange for me to ask you to stop doing so? If so, why then do you insist that we, as a nation, not have checks and balances at our borders to ensure that very bad people are not stealing into our communities like thieves in the shadows, hoping to commit multiple crimes and felonies against our citizenry and government? And why, while we’re on the subject of safety and security, would you disallow me the right to defend myself and my precious family from these very bad people through the legal and safe methodology of owning a firearm?
Your healthcare, let’s be frank, is the best of the best. You don’t work in the capacity of House Speaker in the United States government, at the behest of the American people, without being richly rewarded in so many different ways…from pay scale to benefits to ease of living standards. I would NEVER wish to take that away from you for all your service to this country. Why, then, do you wish to remove the precious little amount of healthcare that I have for my family in order to replace it with a very substandard mode of coverage when I don’t even want or need it?
Finally, Madam Speaker, I really need to ask you a very serious question about your ethics. You may state…and even vehemently believe…that you are bound by your constituency and the US Constitution to remove a duly elected president of the United States from the Oval Office for what you’ve deemed to be “high crimes and misdemeanors” against the country. However, I must say that your intentions are highly suspect. I know a few things that you appear to be completely oblivious to, at the very least, or are ignoring completely, at the very worst.
I know that Donald J. Trump is our president and is currently presiding over the most peaceful and prosperous period in US history than ever before…and this cannot be denied. Record unemployment for African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, women, and college students. Deny it all you wish, but the proof is there. The economy is the envy of the known civilized and industrial world. Again, the proof is there. The border caravans have diminished in large part due to the immigration policies of this president and, although there is still a ton of work to do, President Trump’s policies are working. Perhaps that is the catalyst for your frustration.
Donald Trump won the 2016 election, fair and square. I say to you, Madam Speaker, get over it. It’s done and your side lost. You need to end this farce of an impeachment inquiry, for which your name will forever be tied to, and go on with the duties you have been assigned by your constituency and those of the American people when they narrowly handed you the gavel of the Speaker. You need to honor your commitment, not to Adam Schiff and his crusade, but to us and yourself. Drop this before you are known for the rest of your life as the woman who impeached a president for defeating Liberalism.
Ineptitude on the part of your party is not an acceptable “high crime” or “misdemeanor.” What ineptitude will guarantee, however, is a swift and certain loss of the majority by your party in both the House and the Supreme Court for decades to come. Do yourself, your party, and the American people a huge favor and save us from the destruction of an extraordinary period of peace and prosperity, all for the sake of a massively bruised ego.
Barry A. A. Dillinger
Alaskan Veteran, Husband, Father and Christian