{"id":496,"date":"2009-04-19T05:55:43","date_gmt":"2009-04-19T09:55:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/?p=496"},"modified":"2009-04-19T05:55:43","modified_gmt":"2009-04-19T09:55:43","slug":"a-letter-the-end-of-an-era","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/?p=496","title":{"rendered":"A Letter: The End of an Era?"},"content":{"rendered":"

As you may recall, back in July of 2008 I sent a letter to a bunch of politicians, including a then Senator Barack Obama, about the situation in Zimbabwe. After receiving no response from any of them, I sent a new letter to President Barack Obama in January 2009, I also included the original letter. For those of you who missed some of this, visit here<\/a> and here<\/a> if you want to get caught up. Also, in January 2009 I sent a letter to Hillary Clinton in the State Department about Zimbabwe. I didn\u2019t publish the letter on the website because I didn\u2019t want to bore you all to tears with my Zimbabwe letter drama.<\/p>\n

However, I did promise that I would share with you any responses I receive. Well, at the beginning of April I received what you might call a \u201creply\u201d. I was sent a post card from F. Michael Kelleher, Director of Presidential Correspondence. It reads as follows:<\/p>\n

Thank you for taking the time to share your views.<\/p>\n

Americans across the country are eager for information about the state of the economy, national security, and a host of other issues. President Obama is committed to making his Administration the most open and transparent in history, and the Internet will play a major role in delivering on that promise.<\/p>\n

We hope you will join us at WhiteHouse.gov to learn more about President Obama\u2019s views on a range of topics, as well as his efforts to provide a window for all Americans into their government. Your voice is shaping our country\u2019s future, and we encourage you to join us online, share your thoughts, and build a community of connected citizens that will help address the pressing issues of our time.<\/em><\/p>\n

So while some Americans are getting personal responses (Really! Here\u2019s the link<\/a>!), I got perhaps the lamest form letter imaginable. I bet this kind of thing never happens to Perez Hilton<\/a>! Of course, I doubt Perez Hilton knows anything about the political and economic situation in Zimbabwe. Perhaps that\u2019s not the best example.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t expect a personal response, but I had hoped for something a little better than my post card. I took the time to put pen to paper because that\u2019s how strongly I feel about this issue. I just thought that in a time where most people express their outrages in 140 characters or less on Twitter, that a well thought out letter would merit a little more respect.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s next for me? I don\u2019t know. More importantly, what now for the people in Zimbabwe? If only there was some way to contact an elected official to express my concerns, oh wait\u2026\u2026 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"