Do you really really feel this way, Pat Tiberi?

I came across a blog post which appears to be a publication from the Republican Policy Committee.

After I read it, I wrote to my Congressman. I've since decided to share:

Congressman Tiberi,


Your name is listed as a contributor to Flashpoints v.1,3; which has been attributed to the Republican Policy Committee. Although it appears on a GOP blog from the chairman's home state rather than on the committee's official website, it appears consistent with Nos. 1 and 2, which do appear there. I was hoping that you could clarify for me whether you personally endorse some of the ideas and statements attributed to you:

1) Do you believe that China poses a threat because it is "a rival model of governance" for the United States?

2) Do you believe that "a misled electorate counter-intuitively chose a liberal Congress to stem the Heralds of Disorder?"

3) Do you believe that Americans were able to be misled because they were upset about the period from 9/11/2001 through 11/06/2006, a period marked by "a dark foreboding of chaos spawned by escalating violence in Iraq; the doddering incompetence of FEMA after Hurricane Katrina; the bloating spending, bursting debt and expanding entitlements of the federal government; the spiking costs of health care, energy, and higher education; the surging influx of illegal immigration across the unsecured borders of our nation in a time of war; declining manufacturing jobs in the northeast and Midwest commonly attributed to the communist Chinese's predatory trading practices; and unfolding Congressional scandals involving criminal corruption and immorality?"

4) Do you believe that Democrats are properly characterized as "The Architects of Chaos, Decline and Defeat?"

5) Do you believe that the following analogy: "To prove the point, think of the body politic as any other living organism. When big government redistributes oxygen (i.e., liberty) amongst the body politic, one part of the body politic will have less oxygen and, like any appendage, will atrophy and die. " makes any sense? Proves something? Is meant to imply that CEOs would actually die if they only made 100 times as much money as their front line employees?

6) Do you actually claim to understand the statement that "liberty leads to order?"

Finally, if you could provide me with the name of one of the "totalitarian nations who claim absolute order must precede their people's paltry snippets of liberty," the name of one of the "leftist candidates (who) portrayed themselves as more conservative than has proven the case," and a general plan for how Republicans plan to vanquish the number one Herald of Disorder, "The social and economic upheavals of globalization," I'd appreciate it.

In all sincerity, I find this rhetoric disturbing on a number of levels. In the past, I would have simply mocked what I found to be poorly argued, factually suspect, deliberately misleading, and irrelevantly petty. I will undoubtedly do so again in the future. Given the level of vitriol and literal demonization of your colleagues that is attributed to a committee that states of itself:

"...Many issues that call for a clear statement of majority policy are not properly addressed (or cannot be timely addressed) by legislation. The Policy Committee--with a combined membership of 20 percent of the Conference, including leadership, key committee chairmen, and both class and regional representatives--is uniquely well suited to issue such statements after careful deliberation and opportunity for all Members to be heard."

I find this much more serious than a simple campaign screed or red-meat fundraising speech. As a constituent, I really want to know if this is how you think,

Jason Sullivan,

Bexley, OH

Re-reading that, I needed to exercise more restraint on #5. Oh well. What's sent is sent.