Dear Speaker Boehner,
Always remember, this year and next, that you are the Speaker of the House for a country that re-elected President Obama, that increased the Democratic majority in the Senate, and that cast over a million and a half more votes for Democratic congressmen than for Republican ones. You are the speaker, but not the majority leader; Nancy Pelosi leads the majority as chosen by the people. You sit in the Speaker’s chair because many Republican state legislators defied democracy and gerrymandered their states. They deprived their citizens of an effective franchise.
You did not do this, but you are charged with leading one of the two legislative chambers. How can you do that responsibly and with due regard for the true majority in the House? You have already begun in one regard, by ignoring the Hastert rule twice. Throw that anti-democratic rule out the window. It never had a policy basis. It was always and only a partisan, anti-democratic dodge to keep control.
Another thing you can and ought to do: consult with Nancy Pelosi. She represents the majority – let her voice be heard, let amendments be considered, let bills out of committee. In short, trust the American people and democracy.
No more road blocks. No more obstruction for the sake of obstruction. No more silly bills that will never pass the Senate, even when passed for the twentieth or thirtieth time. Just settle down and do the work of the people.
I invite all my readers to send this open letter to John Boehner in your own names. I particularly invite the Republicans who are reading this. As the daughter and granddaughter of Republicans, as a former Republican, I would love to see the party return to its principles. As a several-great granddaughter of a Republican Civil War soldier who fought for liberty, as the granddaughter of a Republican who told Branch Rickey to hire Jackie Robinson, as the daughter of a Republican who signed, with Eisenhower, the appointment papers for the first African-American post master in New York, as a former Republican who voted for Gerry Ford (he of the Earned Income Tax Credit and the executive order against assassinations), nothing would please me more than to see the Republican Party grand again.
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