Monday, April 22, 2013

A note to Nate Bell and the people of Arkansas

this weekend I’ve had some time to reflect on the the horror of the events from this past week. While I know that it will be remembered for many of the bad things, the violent attack at the heart of Boston, the lives lost, an intense manhunt that had most of the the Greater Boston area on lockdown, our sense of safety shaken to it’s core, I’d much rather have it be remembered for the truly amazing things that have been shown in response to the events, the emergency workers, police and ordinary citizens risking their safety to help those in harms way. The media doing everything that they can to get the right information out to the public. Everyone online on Twitter, Reddit, Facebook and every other medium imaginable tirelessly tracking down information and providing the tips and information needed for law enforcement to bring the whole thing to a conclusion.
Unfortunately despite outpouring of kindness from around the world while we’ve dealt with this tragedy a few people have done and said things that frankly make no sense and I want to address one of them in particular.
On Thursday in response to the manhunt for the suspects in the marathon bombings Arkansas State Representative Nate Bell sent a Tweet saying “I wonder how many Boston liberals spent the night cowering in their homes wishing they had an AR-15 with a hi-capacity magazine?”. Then he posted this on his Facebook page "I would like to apologize to the people of Boston & Massachusetts for the poor timing of my tweet earlier this morning. As a staunch and unwavering supporter of the individual right to self defense, I expressed my point of view without thinking of its effect on those still in time of crisis. In hindsight, given the ongoing tragedy that is still unfolding, I regret the poor choice of timing. Please know that my thoughts and prayers were with the people of Boston overnight and will continue as they recover from this tragedy.".
Not only did Rep Bell express a rather offensive opinion while all of us in the Boston area were trying to stay safe and allow the proper authorities to do their jobs but he followed it up, not by apologizing, but by saying that it was just poorly timed. This isn’t about timing, this is about the sentiment, and it isn’t a kind or appropriate one to express, not on Friday, not today, not two weeks from now.
All this brings me to a larger point, Nate Bell has the great honor of representing his district of Arkansas. His votes, actions and comments are a reflection of the district that he represents. I have all faith that the residents of his district are wonderful people that have no ill will or bad thoughts for the people of Boston and this has all been a misrepresentation. With this in mind, this is a great time for Nate to reach out to the people and see how they want to be represented, how do they feel about your comments, how do they want to to be voting, what can you do to better serve the trust that they have placed in you. Don’t let some personal thought cloud the duty you have to your people.
If you live in Nate Bell’s district, don’t hesitate to reach out to him and let him know how you feel. He is there for you as a representation of what you stand for, take a moment to call, email, or write to his office, utilize whatever resources you have to make sure that he is doing his duty to you no matter what you feel. If the way that he acts, behaves or votes is in line with what you feel and believe then everything is working properly, but if it isn’t you must let him know. If he isn’t representing you properly he needs to know that he needs to change.
Truly all the best to you and yours