An Open Letter To Rep. Scott Garrett

by: rmfretz

Sun Jan 09, 2011 at 05:35:13 PM EST

While I would never assign blame to you for the tragedy yesterday, you and every member of Congress have a responsibility in the tone with which our nation discusses its business.  The more I've read conservative commentators explaining away the connections between words and consequence, the more frustrated I've become.  

Not standing up and strongly denouncing content calling for violence, such as that hosted on popular Conservative websites, enables those sick individuals out there to legitimize their thoughts based on the fact they appear alongside articles written by Members of Congress.  

Back in the summer of 2007, when I was blogging regularly and your staff was reading, I took you to task for contributing to Townhall.com.  It wasn't necessarily for what you were writing, but it was the fact your contribution helped provide advertising revenue to pay for the hosting of a 21 part murder fantasy, called Juliet Smith's Diary, in which "Patriots" kill liberal Senators, Representatives, US Attorneys, talk show hosts, etc.  

After the shooting at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in 2008, where the gunman felt he should do good for the country by killing Democrats, I again mentioned that the Diary should be taken down.  At the time, this is what I wrote:

We're a better nation than this, and one sick individual doesn't change that. At the same time, we have to expect those making and shaping public policy not to legitimize this sort of illness by providing it a forum.

As of this writing, Juliet Smith's Diary is still there.

On behalf of your constituents, I ask you use your leadership position to put an end to this tacit approval of calls for violence within our political process.  And maybe, finally, get that blog series taken down.

Sincerely,

Matt