I have no illusions about where George Voinovich sits on the political spectrum. I'm not going to kid myself that his action yesterday has derailed or will derail the Bolton nomination. I'll be quite surprised if ultimately he does not vote to confirm him.
Nonetheless, what he did yesterday is something for which we should show our support. Especially since the Rabid Right is already attacking him. So, here's my gesture, for what it's worth:
Dear Senator Voinovich:
I want to thank you for the very simple, very sensible statements you made at yesterday's meeting of the Committee on Foreign Relations.
As a former resident of the state of Ohio, I'm hardly a constituent (although my mother and siblings are). As a liberal Democrat, I know you and I would disagree on any number of issues. But as an American, I want to believe that decisions that affect this country are being made not by Democrats, not by Republicans, not by conservatives, not by liberals - but by thoughtful and responsible men and women who will assess facts and weigh evidence with an open mind. I don't need to agree with their decisions - although I'd certainly like to - but I do need to be able to respect those decisions and trust the process by which they were made. Over the years, there have been Republicans I respect, just as there have been Democrats I wish would shut up.
Yesterday's statements show you to be a man who merits respect. It saddens me that our political climate has reached the point where such a basic thing is worthy of comment. It saddens me even more that such a simple thing warrants an attack. I fail to see how a desire to make a decision based on facts can be objectionable. And yet, clearly, some of our fellow citizens object to it rather strenuously.
Thank you again, Senator Voinovich. For both our sakes, and that of this country, I look forward to the day when speaking sensibly is par for the course.
Sincerely,
Update [2005-4-20 15:45:7 by Roddy McCorley]: It took a good dozen attempts, but the fax finally went through.