There’s not an election or primary ’round these parts for months yet. So imagine my surprise last weekend upon checking the mail and seeing an envelope from one of my Senators here in the Empire State, Kirsten Gillibrand (D). I had grown unused to receiving political mail, least of all from someone other than Michael Bloomberg, who strafed my mailbox last fall with so many direct mail pieces that he became the #1 cause of deforestation in all five boroughs, despite PlaNYC.
I opened the letter from the Senator. I’ve scanned it in above. I think I was most enticed to write about this because I’ve always wanted to redact something. It was damned fun. Now I know why Dick Cheney loves it so much.
I began to read the letter. You’re welcome to do the same as I pick it apart. (I won’t go through every line.)
First of all, it’s dated late January and I received it in late February. Major lag time. Poor form, Gilly and staff. The post office isn’t as fast as email, but it’s also not as slow as a freighter shipping acrylic Banana Republic scarves from China.
Getting into the text, I was not entirely sure what the letter was in regards to. Clearly, it relates to U.S. foreign assistance, something I care about. Nonetheless it does not expressly state what prompted this response.
I deduced that it’s a response to a petition I “click-signed” in association with the ONE Campaign, Bono’s fan club. Oh, I meant to say a non-partisan organization committed to fighting extreme poverty and preventable disease like AIDS and malaria in Africa.
