To the Editor: Since our congressional delegation refuses to hold open-forum meetings with their constituents, I have chosen to ask my question in this public forum. Perhaps Sens. Enzi and Barrasso and Rep. Cheney will publicly address my question, rather than just respond with their usual GOP talking points.
Dear Mike, John, and Liz,
I’m sorry you’ve chosen not to attend town halls for actual dialog with your constituents. You claim to be listening to me, but I’m not convinced you actually grasp what I hear when you talk or send me your boilerplate form letter answers.
When you speak about abortion/reproductive health care I certainly don’t hear enthusiastic support for the right of the half of the population with vaginas to the full bodily autonomy and opportunity to shape their futures granted to those with penises. What I hear instead is the dogma of evangelical Christianity, which demands not only subservience of women to men, and the obligation to produce children, but also claims that men own women’s sexuality and can choose where we have our health care.
When you glibly deny a century of climate science, which emphatically and unquestionably shows that humans are responsible for the global climate crisis, I don’t hear the voices of people who respect the scientific method and its results, or concern for our future. Instead I hear paid shills of the fossil fuel industry willing to cheat Wyoming and the USA of a leading role in clean energy.
When you explained your votes to allow companies to sell our browser histories by claiming that it is in the interest of a level playing field, I didn’t hear full-throated support of the right to privacy guaranteed in the Constitution. No, I heard the voices of people deep in the pockets of the telecommunication industry.
When you voted to gut the Dodd-Frank Act, I didn’t hear support for citizens and their life savings. I heard, instead, eager attendance to the greed of Wall Street.
As you consider stripping health insurance from thousands of Wyomingites, I don’t hear your concern for our well-being. I hear people serving titans of industry wanting to maximize profits.
When you defer to the most strident and extreme voices in your party who wish to marginalize LGBTQ, people of color and Muslims rather than taking a stand for the people of this, the Equality State, I don’t hear the voices of public servants. I hear people willing to sell out the diverse citizens of our state for personal ambition.
So my question for each of you, Mike, John and Liz, is this:
As you have sold your integrity piece by piece to the Religious Right, Fossil Fuel, Telecommunications Companies, Wall Street, the extreme GOP and others, what have you personally netted, and what is the long-term cost to the people of Wyoming, the United States, and the World?
