October 2006
Letter from a Concerned Citizen - My Response
I remember the first time I received a letter from Speaker Hastert's office. I was really impressed with the official letterhead, and when I noticed that the signature was made with a blue felt-tip pen (as opposed to being a cheap computer-generated facsimile), I was thrilled!
And while I didn't know it at the time, I would later learn that the response I received was merely a form letter that had been carefully designed to make me feel as if it had been written just for me, and that the awe-inspiring signature was only a shaky reproduction made by some assistant...
I can certainly appreciate the fact that each and every day, the Speaker's office receives an absolutely enormous quantity of mail on a wide variety of issues. I can also understand that the Speaker cannot possibly read through all of this mail, and that he must rely upon his staff to help with this correspondence. Also, I'm well aware that mistakes do happen.
But I would hope that while these letters may not actually be read by the Speaker himself, they are read by a well-informed, trusted staff member instead of just some intern stuffing envelopes.
Unfortunately, that does not seem to be the case. Furthermore, I doubt this problem is specific to Hastert's office, and I am certainly not trying to single him out because of it.
But somewhere along the line, I can't help but feel that many members of Congress have become more interested in politics than people. And that's more than just a disappointing thought.