Stupidity is killing the Republican Party

ABC News released a poll tonight that said only 20% of Americans considered themselves to be Republicans. Before I opened my mail today I would have argued that result but now I think it may be true. Here are some personal facts that made me change my mind.

Like many concerned Americans I read all the news I can find and since most of it isn't published by the mainstream media I find a lot of it on the Internet. Also, like many concerned Americans when I read something about government that concerns me, I write a letter to my Congressman. Maybe someone may find the following as shocking as I did.

On July 31st the Gateway Pundit ran a blog story about an invitation only townhall meeting Obama attended in Bristol, Virginia and eyewitness accounts of the Secret Service. Here is the link to that story: Tea Party: Bristol Style!  Friday, July 31, 2009, 9:17 PM http://gatewaypundit.firstthings.com/2009/07/

The story described some first hand accounts who witnessed several carloads of Secret Service people in the presidential motorcade pointing automatic weapons at citizens holding signs protesting Obamacare who were standing along the street while the motorcade drove by.

Like any concerned citizen I wrote to my Congressman in the 4th CD in Kentucky, Geoff Davis, who happens to be a conservative Republican, and asked him for his opinion since I was just as alarmed as the eyewitnesses.

Today I received a written reply from Congressman Davis' National Security Advisor Dan Adelstein, typed on a blank piece of paper with no letterhead. That response has shocked me for the careless way it was handled. Dan Adelstein had taken my email to Mr. Davis and sent it to the Dept. of Homeland Security - Secret Service along with my name and told them I was concerned about the way they did their job in Bristol, Virginia. 

Now, l am well aware that I have an Arab name since I got it from my father 70 years ago when I was born in New York. My father was a Caucasian of Austrian decent who happened to be a Muslim born in Morocco over 100 years ago and came to America when he was a young boy. The point of contention is I am neither an Arab nor a Muslim (read my profile) and am well aware that Homeland Security spends a lot of time investigating these people of interest. I would have thought that when a Congressman's constituent, especially one who has contributed to his campaigns, writes a letter of concern that it would be kept anonymous when his staff made any inquiries about it. I was so alarmed about the way this was mishandled that I sent another email today to Congressman Geoff Davis today which I reprint below.

I am not sure how the National Republican Congressional Committee sets the office procedures for Congressman but the way this was handled is the height of stupidity. If the National Republican Party is unaware of the public concern over how Homeland Security is doing its job then they need to get a better grip on reality.

Since the attacks on America by 19 radical Muslim terrorists on Sept. 11, 2001 the government has created an air of paranoia across America. With the new administration in Washington that feeling of paranoia has grown to hysterical proportions.  Today anyone who has a bumper sticker on his car that says he is Pro-Life or for the 2nd Amendment is characterized by Homeland Security as a possible domestic terrorist. To think that a conservative Republican would not be aware of these things is almost incomprehensible.

For the record, here is a copy of the letter giving the Secret Service version of what took place in Bristol, Virginia. Note the second paragraph that says it is against policy to point weapons at any individual unless there is an imminent threat. Doesn't this sound like they considered carrying a protest sign to be threatening?

My response to Congressman Davis:

Dear Congressman Davis,
I recently sent your office an email after reading a first person account from a woman in Bristol, Virginia who was alarmed that during a presidential motorcade she noticed Secret Service agents pointing their automatic weapons at some people lining a street holding protest signs. I was also alarmed because I have never heard of such a thing before.

Today, I just got a letter from your National Security Assistant, Dan Adelstein, typed on a blank piece of paper with no letterhead informing me that "We have contacted the Secret Service on your behalf..." and he enclosed a fax from the Dept. of Homeland Security/ Secret Service in which it says "Thank you for the recent correspondence from your constituent, Mr. Nelson Abdullah...."

Just as a matter of formality, can you tell me why I was identified by name to Homeland Security when they have recently issued warnings to local police agencies about suspected domestic terrorists and have included almost every conservative group in America in their list? Since I am a lifelong Republican and a contributor to your first three congressional campaigns I would think someone in your office would be a little more discrete in bringing one of your supporters who happens to have an Arab name to the attention of the government agency who is investigating such people. Did Mr. Adelstein take it upon himself to consider me to be someone in particular whom he thought needed to be identified to Homeland Security? 

Mr. Davis, this is a serious breach of trust and bad judgment.

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Geoff Davis is a retired Army Ranger and for the first two terms in office he always referred to President Bush as his Commander-in-Chief as if he were still in the Army. I don't know if Mr. Davis considers himself to be a representative of the people who live in his district or a representative of the federal government but he ought to know that he no longer takes orders from the President of the United States. He is supposed to protect the interests of his constituents.