An Open Letter to Senator Mitch McConnell

Dear Senator McConnell,

I am an Independent, writing to you in your role as Senate Majority Leader. Let me start by wishing you a belated Happy 77th Birthday! That is an important milestone and a good time for reflection. I too am in my 70’s and thinking about the legacy I am leaving behind. I think about my children, my young grandchildren, the work I have done, the relationships I have made, and what I have done to help the world. These are all important to me, and I’m sure to you as well.

Please allow me the liberty to write a bit about your legacy since you are in a much better position to have a very big impact on the world than I am. You were the victim of polio at a young age as was my beloved Aunt Ruth, and you overcame that to have a remarkable political career. You too have three children, and grandchildren who like to scribble on things. And you have been a major force in the Republican Party for many years. All of this is part of the legacy you will leave.

However, my concern for your legacy, is that history may not be kind in how you are remembered. When I look at what is being written about you there is much that may not be perceived as positive. Blocking the Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland from being considered in the Senate was unprecedented. Congress and the country have become much more divided along partisan lines and you have appeared to encourage that. But more than anything else I worry about your connections to a President that is clearly the most corrupt and unqualified man to be President we have seen in our lifetimes. And I know that you know this is true. On occasion you have stood up to him and I applaud that, but often you have enabled him instead.

You still have a chance to change the legacy you leave behind. You can be the man of strength who stood up to the President and helped save this country. You can bring us together by helping to pass legislation that is based in our country’s deeply held values, that will be good for all Americans, that will help us retain our democracy rather than slip into authoritarianism. What would you like your legacy to be? The man of strength or the enabler of a man likely to be seen as the worst President in our history. The choice is yours.

Sincerely,

Fred Van Deusen