Letter to the Editor March 18, 2014 Go to the source!

Letters to the editor: Go to the source; don't guess
Mar. 18 livingstondaily.com
I would like to respond to Mary Erdman’s March 2 letter to the editor where she admits to “guessing” why U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers didn’t comment on the president’s State of the Union speech, and then proceededto speak for Rogers.Chuck and I went to meet with Rogers’ representative, Elizabeth Dean, in Hartland on Feb. 26, and spentmore than an hour-and-a-half talking about issues that we would like to know Rogers’ stance on and tohave Elizabeth give him our input regarding these same issues. This was a public meeting that wasadvertised in our local paper, and we were the only ones who showed up. Ms. Dean was an excellentlistener, took notes on her laptop and assured us she would get back with us. When asked about the “nocomment” on the State of the Union speech, she explained that Rep. Rogers has only one mediaspokesperson and she is located in Washington, D.C., and that it is possible that there was not a writtenresponse by Rogers to the speech. Kelsey Knight would not speak for him and would have released awritten statement if there was one. Ms. Knight probably referred the local paper to a local radio showbecause newspapers have deadlines and the reporter might be able to hear Rogers himself the next dayon this morning talk show. Ms. Dean still doesn’t know if Rep. Rogers wrote a press release for any paperon the State of the Union but she would check into it. Ms. Dean said there was a reason that Rep. Rogershas only one communications director because there have been problems in the past with conflictingresponses. Reading Mary Erdman’s “guessing” is an example of how it is important to go to the sourceand not leave the public to “guess.”Ms. Dean will get back with us on whether Rep. Rogers will cosponsor H.R. 2324 which would repeal the“2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force.” This authorization has been used to justify the wars inAfghanistan, Iraq, torture, deadly drone attacks, detention at Guantanamo Bay, warrantless wiretappingand military interventions around the world.Mares Hirchert