Dear Tom | Sierra Star

The following is an open letter to our fourth Congressional District Representative Tom McClintock. Congressman McClintock has two area appearances scheduled Aug. 18 - a restricted private meeting at 2:30 p.m. in Oakhurst for Chamber of Commerce members only and a Town Hall meeting at 5 p.m. in North Fork to which the general public is invited.

☆ Aug. 18, 2016

Dear Tom,

Welcome back.

I haven’t written much about you lately. We are clearly polar opposites on virtually every national issue, although I remain pleased with your decision three years ago to support President Obama’s determination not to launch air strikes against Syria.

I also congratulated you for resigning from the House Freedom Caucus last September and refusing to go along with its plans to shut down the federal government over Planned Parenthood funding, even though you remain steadfast in your opposition to abortion. That was a bold, courageous, principled move.

I am asking that you use your visit today to make another one.

You are regarded by most professional observers of such things as being the most conservative member of the United States House of Representatives. Here in the fourth district you are assured of safe re-election to a fifth term as our voice in Congress.

He is a clear and present danger. He is neither believed nor admired by republican icons across the land. He is a babbling buffoon and a narcissistic fool. Please use your visit with us today to disavow Donald Trump.

I’m certainly not asking you to support Hillary, but I suggest there are two promising candidates who would each seem to offer an attractive option for your consideration.

Gary Johnson served two successful terms as Governor of New Mexico and is the Libertarian Party’s 2016 nominee for president. His running mate, Bill Weld, enjoyed the unique distinction of being elected governor of Massachusetts, one of the nation’s strongest democratic strongholds, then being re-elected in 1994 by the largest winning margin in state history. Mr. Johnson has recently been moving up in polling, currently averaging eight percentage points nationally and climbing into double digits in several states. As you know, this is of critical importance, Tom, since reaching 15 points will allow Gary to take part in the coming presidential debates and place him in front of an audience in the tens of millions. Your valuable support might mean all the difference.

Although less well known and a more unlikely choice, Evan McMullin of Utah has seriously entered the race. McMullin is a graduate of Brigham Young University, later earning a masters degree in business administration from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Serving with distinction in the Central Intelligence Agency for 10 years in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia, McMullin joined the Investment Banking Division of Goldman Sachs in 2011 where he gained substantial experience in the areas of technology, energy, consumer goods and biotech research.

Announcing his candidacy only last week in the face of Trump’s disastrous decline in popularity and severe threat to republican candidates across the board, McMullin states, “In a year where Americans have lost faith in the candidates of both major parties, it’s time for a generation of new leadership to step up. It’s never too late to do the right thing.”

Congressman McClintock, having heard you speak over a half dozen times and following your congressional career with keen focus through the years, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Donald Trump must be providing you at this point with both agonizing professional disappointment and deep personal disgust.

Given your widely acknowledged stature among fellow republican conservatives and esteemed national reputation, you can make a move this very day here in Eastern Madera County that will ring around the world - presenting a new “Profile in Courage” in the finest traditions of both Ronald Reagan and John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

Save us from the beast.

Denounce “The Donald.”

It’s never too late to do the right thing.