North Seattle resident Sheryl Passarge shares an e-mail that she sent to Maria Cantwell last night after the senator went to bat for the public option. The subject line: “You stood up today.”

Dear Senator Cantwell,

I heard you on the news tonight. For the first time in many, many years I felt something like “pride” for you as a Senator representing me and the state of Washington.

You stood up for the Public Option in the Senate Finance Commitee.

Hooray!

It was just a few months ago that I heard you on KUOW saying that you could not support a Public Option because there were not enough votes in the Senate to pass a Public Option.

(Strange computing to my ears.) But I wasn’t surprised. It was the same Maria Cantwell that I had come to know as the Senator that would vote “Yes” on going to war against Iraq (October 2002.) I remember watching you on TV, making your comments about why you were going to vote “yes” and I remember still wondering why you were going to vote “yes.” I figured it was for the same reason that your friend, Hillary Clinton, was voting “yes”—that other Senators would be voting “yes” and so you would vote “yes,” too.

(Still strange logistics to me. Seems so juvenile—like a kid who says “Everybody else is doing it, so so will I.”)

That was exactly Senator Max Baucus’ reasoning today. Booooo, Max Baucus.

But YOU stood up for the Public Option. In your committee!

Hooray!

Why the change, Senator?

Could it be that, over the past several months, you have been listening to your constituents?

I hope so.

If so, I applaud you. You did the right thing today. And I am so pleased. Thank you for supporting a Public Option in the Senate Finance Committee today.

Your constituent,
Sheryl Passarge

My story on Cantwell’s stand is HERE.

Eli Sanders was The Stranger's associate editor. His book, "While the City Slept," was a finalist for the Washington State Book Award and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. He once did this and once won...

9 replies on “Dear Senator Cantwell”

  2. What a quintessentially Northwest passive-aggressive email. “Wow, I’m so surprised that you did something I agree with for once because normally you’re worthless.” If there’s ever a time for a straight up “Thanks,” it’s now.

  3. Cantwell has earned the qualified praise. She did right this time, but she was a fucking weasel about this issue at the outset, which Slog covered well. And she should always, always have her feet held to the fire for her unforgivable vote on Iraq. Congress rolled over during the Bush administration and allowed them to run roughshod over the Constitution and our rights. We need to take every opportunity to remind them that we know the content of their characters.

  6. maria’s ass @4… I don’t understand your point (besides that you’re ‘better than’ Eli)

    Are you saying that Health Professionals are never ass lickers?

    Or that they never vote?

    Or Health Professionals who lick ass don’t vote.

  7. too little
    too late

    single payer is toast

    no one bleed for it when it counted

    too little
    too fucking late

    your ‘praise’ is misplaced

  8. It is now October 2, 2009 and Maria Cantwell has chosen to support the Seattle Group Health Co-op. This is not good and it amounts to a sell out in many ways. She first says “no single payer or public option”, then she says “yes there is public option” and a few days later is getting attention because she supports Seattle Group Health Co-op. Does any one know how good the group health experiment is in Seattle? Is it open to the public? I heard a long time ago that it is part of Kaiser Permanente but they would not let my son transfer from Kaiser in Portland Oregon to Seattle back in the late 1990’s.

  9. Regarding Cantwell’s voting “yea” for the War in Iraq. http://www.costofwr.com will show that she can not reverse what she did, and she should be held accountable forever. That one vote of evil cancels out her entire crediblity. The “weapons of mass destruction were never there, Chemical weapons not there, and no long range missles. Her vote gave Bush the ablity to kill 100,000 to 600,000 men, women, and children. She should never sleep a comfortable night again. My math factors Maria as a pollititian who did no research. she should have followed Colin Powell, and stepped down as a public servant

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