Susandoodles

A few months ago, I wrote a piece and decided I needed to share it with my Congressman for a fair opportunity to reply. Therefore, I wrote my Congressman a letter and included the piece for his review. What I received weeks later was a form letter, or at least it was not an answer to my concerns. And I sat on it for more weeks. What should I do?

Therefore, today, I am posting this journey in expressing my thoughts as the election begins nearing. It is not easy to express one’s political concerns in today’s culture, but it is our responsibility as voters to know our candidates and to let them know our opinions. The candidates owe us answers and are to respond to the opinions of the constituents in their districts. I am concerned that the responsibility is not to the people but to the party.

[What follows is the picture of the response I received layered on top of the original article published in our local newspaper. The second is the letter I wrote to my Congressman, and the third element is the immediate reaction I had to the newspaper’s article.]

The letter received from the Congressman:

The letter to my Congressman:

Congressman Mark Alford

1272 W. Foxwood Drive

Raymore, MO  64083

February 4, 2024

Dear Congressman Alford,

Enclosed please find an opinion/blog piece that I wrote this week in response to the news article that appeared in the Warrensburg Star Journal.  

Even though I wrote this a few days ago, I have not been able to post it on my blog and share as I typically do.  Neither have I sent it as a letter to the editor to the Star Journal nor the Kansas City Star.  

The reason I have not gone farther with this post is I decided I needed to share it directly with you first.  I am so alarmed at the mindset of the Republican Party since FORMER President Trump has joined the national political arena.  We have lost the historical Republican philosophy and have been brow beaten into the power-mongering rhetoric of this man.

Brought up in rural Missouri, I would have identified myself as a Republican following the basic premise that the national government is for maintaining a unified state with a strong military and positive presence in the global community.  The historical Republican platform was for unity within the states while the states managed the affairs of the populace within their state lines.  

I can no longer follow the Republican Party that fails to consider the sense of compromise necessary for the states to co-exist and to join together on national points of concern.  Neither can I support a party that caves under the dictatorial demands of one person.  I must now remain an independent voter.

When you entered the race for Congressman, I had hope because I felt as a trained journalist you would not be quick to follow but would follow the principles of journalism that pushes the reporter to learn the truth and to substantiate it by at least three different sources.  I wanted to believe you could operate independent of the party’s political power structure.  

Reading the article in the Star Journal, I was so disappointed.  I read it, slept on it, and then wrote the opinion piece I have included.  I cannot understand why anybody would want a President that has such a range of indictments, who believes he can rule as a dictator, who wants revenge on everybody who did not support the 2020 election results.  This does not reflect the American principles of government.

I pray that you reevaluate your decisions and be the trained journalist you are.  Go back and read the Canons of Journalism.  You are trained to be responsible and honest.  You share that you wanted to learn and offer your best to the people you represent, but are you?  Or are you being pulled into the damaging rhetoric of a party that will potentially destroy your personal and professional standards?

I know you may want to understand a bit about me, so let me share this:  I have a bachelors degree in journalism from MU ’76 in news ed.  Then I returned to college to earn a life time certificate to teach high school English and journalism in 1978-79.  I went on and earned a masters in curriculum and instruction from Avila University in 1995.  After years of teach, I also decided to answer the call to ministry and completed the Course of Study through St. Paul’s School of Theology and have served as a local licensed pastor.  I am now retired, but I continue to read, write, and blog.  Sharing this with you before posting publicly or sending it to local newspapers hopefully gives you an opportunity to review your own statements and your stand on issues.  

Sincerely,

Susan A. Smith, BJ, MSE, LLP

The original reflection:

January 31, 2024

Enough is enough!  

A recent article in our local paper interviewed the district’s current U.S. Representative Mark Alford.  The comments from this representative set off a familiar response:  Enough is enough!  We need an independent thinker as a candidate for the people.

What has happened to the understanding that serving as the peoples’ representative is public service.  The responsibility of the elected officials is not to their own ego, their own pocketbooks; it is to the people, to the nation, and to the global community of the 21^st century.

Why does it feel like this nation has reached a point that the elected officials no longer focus on the people of the nation and the nation in its role in the global community?

Sadly, one of the reasons spilled out in the local article from this district’s Representative, and I quote from the article, “Congressman Alford discusses government spending, 2024 election” (published in the Warrensburg Star Journal, January 30, 2024):

“I wasn’t necessarily thinking I was going to change the world, but I wanted to see how I could be effective,” he noted.  “And as a freshman, that’s challenging.”

He found he had to lobby to be on committees.  His preference was to be on the Agricultural and Armed Services Committees, but he was told by Leader Kevin McCarthy that wouldn’t happen; since he was a freshman, those committees were supposedly out of reach.

“So, I started an immediate campaign for the steering committee members. . . “ he noted with a smile.  “And I won them over with my reasoning and maybe a little bit of charm to get on the committees.” (emphasis added)

“Not just for me, but for our district,” he added.  “Now I’ve got my feet wet, and I know how things operate, good and bad; I’m going to use my knowledge and my year under my belt to do the best job I can for the district.”

Enough is enough!

Alford was an anchorman in the Kansas City metropolitan area for years.  He knew the area and was identifiable by his electorate.  And I admit that as a trained journalist myself (BJ 1976 from MU), I wanted to believe that he would be an individual who would follow the canons of journalism as he entered into public office.

Reading through this article, my alarms sounded.  He was elected and apparently slid into the drive for power over responsibility to the people that some elected officials demonstrate.  

The two committees he wanted to join are historically important to Missouri.  Our long-time Representative Ike Skelton served honorably on those committees and Missouri benefited from his work.  But he chose to step down after serving 34 years.  Those who have followed have chosen to follow the power brokers which is also referenced in this article when Alford was asked about endorsing Former President Trump:

            “I know that [former] President Trump is the only person with the experience, the stamina, the grit, the determination needed to sit behind the resolute desk and be the resolute leader that we need at this time in our world’s history,” he noted.  

            . . . “And I believe [former]President Trump is the strongest candidate to get back in office and take immediate action,” he added.  “And part of the effectiveness of Donald J. Trump is that no one knows what he’s going to do.”  (emphasis added)

            . . .”I don’t agree with everything [former] President Trump says, everything he does, but we’re not electing a pope,” he said.  “We’re electing the strongest leader who can lead us to make America great again.  I think with any leader of his aptitude, there’s going to be controversy because he doesn’t owe anyone anything.”

Enough is enough!

First, every trained journalist knows that when a president is no longer in office they are to be referred to as FORMER President.  Trump was not elected and is no longer president.

Second, if you do not agree with everything then how in the world can one endorse that individual.  Isn’t that even voting against one’s own standards; which, by the way, is supposedly how one gets elected.  

And certainly, we are not electing a pope, but we are electing someone who demonstrates and values the very principles outlined in the Declaration of Independence and then developed into the Constitution of the United States.  The pope is chosen to continue Christ’s work in this world by the denomination which he represents.

Finally, consider the descriptors Alford uses towards the FORMER president–experience, stamina, grit, determination, leader, aptitudeTrump did not have political experience before his election:

• His stamina may be evident, but Trump too is aging and the presidency is physically demanding.
• His grit may be an honest descriptor as he certainly drives forward in his own way to do his own thing.
• Leadership qualities usually include compromise, listening skills, communication skills, and finesse in making decisions that meet the overall good of the majority—not just what one person deems best.
• Aptitude.  Aptitude for what?  Nothing at this point indicates a strong aptitude for public service in government.  Maybe he has an aptitude for business, but with the number of indictments puts that into question.

Enough is enough!

As voters, we each have the responsibility to seek the most honest, most complete information available before casting a vote—whether in a primary election, a caucus, or the national election.

Voters must think independently, not dependently on one label or another.  

Voters need to identify a candidate that is not caught up in the court system due to a wide range of indictments.  

Voters need a candidate who knows the responsibility of the position and has the qualities to work with others to reach the best compromise so the country can keep moving forward.

Enough is enough!  

Let’s look for a candidate who puts others before self, who knows the Constitution and follows the law, who lives publicly without controversy, who knows our country has a positive role in a global community, and who lives by the Golden Rule:  love one another as you want to be loved.