My Letter to Senator Heinrich

 

Hello - I am writing to express my extreme disappointment in Senator Heinrich for his tweet from January 7 in which he expressed his priority was to seat President-Elect Biden at this time, implying that it is not a priority to remove President Trump from office.  This is an astounding dereliction of duty, especially considering that yesterday Trump incited a mob to attack the very building Senator Heinrich was in, for which I'm glad that he and any staff there at the time are safe.  It is clear the Trump presents an immediate threat to our country and needs to be removed immediately.  Even the Wall Street Journal editorial board feels this way.  Why doesn't Senator Heinrich?  I'm a proud Democrat and normally view the Senator as a great progressive voice for New Mexico, but his tweet was frankly something I would expect from a wishy-washy centrist who just wants to get along.  It is unacceptable.  Trump, the Republican Party, and his fascist goon squad need to be shown that actions have consequences, or they will be emboldened and try again - and likely the results next time will be worse.  I turn 40 this year, and unless Americans take a firm stand against these racist authoritarians now, I have serious doubts that I will be living in a democracy when I turn 50.  If the House should impeach Trump I firmly hope that the Senator will do everything in his power to see him convicted and removed from office.  It doesn't matter if it happens on January 19.  It needs to be done, for the sake of this country.  If anything it will prevent him from running again in 2024.  Americans have incredibly short memories and I have no doubts he would have a serious chance of winning.

 I work in the state government in Santa Fe.  I'm proud to work in government and serve the people of New Mexico, especially over the past year as I've done my small part to help the state through the coronavirus crisis.  But on Wednesday there were armed thugs at the Roundhouse and strutting around downtown Santa Fe.  My building, the Bataan Memorial Building, was evacuated (fortunately most of us were working from home).  These people see me as the enemy.  They are not going to bother with semantics like "oh, you're a classified civil servant."  To them I'm just a tool of their oppressive Governor.  This frightens me deeply and these people need to be shown that their actions will not be tolerated.  Moreover, my wife is also their enemy, as she is a Hispanic immigrant who does not share their views and thus can never be "one of the good ones."  We are your constituents, Senator Heinrich.  We need to know that you are looking out for us, and the tweet from Thursday night does not fill me with hope that you are.

 I hope that the Senator will consider issuing a statement clarifying his tweet and that he will more aggressively seek Trump's removal from office in the next 12 days.  President-Elect Biden will be sworn into office just fine, of that I am confident.  There will be plenty of opportunities to assist him in pursuing his agenda afterward.  For now, we need the Senator's voice and influence to remove Trump from power.

 Thank you for taking the time to read my letter.  Sincerely,

Dr. Andrew Miner, DPA