Last fall when I sent letters about health insurance to my 3 government executives—Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Governor Beverly Perdue—the responses I got were revealing. The president’s letter came the most quickly and was the most comprehensive. It was a bit too long but I appreciated his thoughtfulness, until 3 days later when a second letter arrived thanking me for my comments on immigration reform. Oops.
Chalk it up to a new administration working out its kinks.
Governor Perdue’s letter was the least satisfactory. In fact, it wasn’t from her. It was from one of her aides—and while we all know that aides write the letters, I still felt slighted being shuffled to an underling. As an added insult, I was told to direct my concerns to Washington, rather than to Raleigh.
Never mind that my letter focused specifically on the problems with the North Carolina State Employees health plan, a situation that needs the governor's attention.
Joe Biden’s letter arrived just the other day, over 5 months since my letter to him. It was worth the wait. His signature looks real, and the letter looks like he typed it himself—it prints out high on the page, not centered and balanced as an executive secretary would do. And his response indicates that he, or someone, actually read my letter. He thanks me for sending him my op-ed, which I had enclosed, and then delivers a message.
“While this Administration will continue to work tirelessly to address these issues,” he writes, “we all must become more accountable in shaping our collective future. I encourage you to remain active in your government.”
A call to duty, a summons to a collective future. This is the language we’ve missed for so long. Told to go shopping, or told not to worry, or told rather to worry about color codes at airports, we’re used to government telling us what to do and working hard to keep us out.
The vice president thinks otherwise. I’m glad he’s on the job.
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