Open letter to (some of) the Conyers panelists:

[eek]

Dear Esteemed Panelists,

Thank you for what you are doing today.
Thank you for all your courage and hard work.
We are in your debt.

However, and with all due respect I ask you:
Please look in the mirror.
You are being given that all-too-rare chance to be seen and heard at a National level.
You are on TV. With luck footage will be shown on news broadcasts, there will be photos in the papers and over the wire services.

Unfortunately, by ignoring the importance of telegenics you undermine yourselves and our cause.

Gentlemen:
-Please cut the ponytails. You are not Ron Kuby.It looks dreadful on him anyway and makes you look grubby and out of touch.

-Please sir, you with the mullet. Please go to a salon and have your hair groomed in a simple, tidy, neutral style.
Also, get rid of the black hair dye. Get highlights if you must but have it done professionally and keep it subtle..
You are not working in a Comics store, you are representing your country.
You are a rebel by being part of this historical hearing. You needent exhibit your rebellion via long, dyed hair.

-Ladies: get a brush or comb and employ it at once.
If you are prone to frizzies please use a bit of grooming product to tame the splits while on TV. Consider pulling it back if you have not had a recent haircut, and again: smooth down the frizzy stuff.
You won't be less of a feminist by gussying up a bit. Rather, you will be more of one because you will better command attention with taking care of your public appearance.

-College kids: love the 'cool young person" outfits. Nevertheless, the cute bearcub hat and the tshirts ought to stay in your backpack. An ironed shirt and washed, trimmed hair is a sign of respect.


To all of you, again I thank you. I'm sure you are one and all way too busy and too smart to be aware of how you look to others. That's cool. Ask a friend or relative to help you. It would be an honor to help and a way to thank you.

[displacedtexan]

1. So everyone should look like an entry-level Enron Repuke?

I agree that grooming for TV is important, but raw democracy is not necessarily telegenic, nor should it be.

These are real people voicing real issues.

I know you mean well, eek, and our emotions are decidedly frayed, but I fear you might be feeding the trolls.

What is your opinion of what is being said?

[NVMojo]

17. oh, you are killing me, displacedtexan!!! I am laughing my arse off!

I knew some entry-level Enron repukes once ...I know exactly the image. ROFLMAO!!!! Good choice of words!!

[itzamirakul]

2. A little "Republican-type" grooming needed?

Many liberals are creatives...they are artists...they are thinkers. Many represent the youth of this country. If what they have to SAY is valuable to you, then their appearance should should take a back seat, to my way of thinking.

To make a statement as you have made is, IMO, just as bad as trying to determine what religion one should follow. That is the problem with the democratic party today. The moderates don't want to make any room for individualism any more than the Republicans do which is why they are called "Republican-lites."

We need to try cutting a little slack for each other if we hope to get along as a powerful party...otherwise we will just split up into factions.

[molly]

18. They don't need to look like they just crawled out of a dumpster

or are HIGHER than a kite - OMG was I embarrassed on that one!

[babylonsister]

3. Who CARES what they look like?

That is so not the point! And I don't give a crap what Ann Coulter or anyone of her ilk says about anyone.

[DARE to HOPE]

4. I have not seen anything but the shining eyes and the passionate voices!!

"This is what democracy looks like!" Deal with it!

[frankly_fedup2]

5. Was your post supposed to be humorous? . . .

If it was, you have very dry humor. Nothing personal, but I do not see the humor in your statement. I don't care if those people are standing up there buck naked. I say FINALLY, finally, regular people that work, pay their taxes, have their children fighting this unjust war, are getting to speak out on the AIRWAYS.

What you brought up has NOTHING to do with what is going on here (in my opinion. I am not trying to start a flame on you or your comments, I just do not find your comments funny).

I am OUTRAGED at the way these people are being treated by these Representatives. These are regular people, these people are not lawyers like the Representatives, and just because they do not know every single little law and/or every word of the Constitution (which I doubt these Representatives know as well. I feel that Rep. Conyers and other Representatives are talking DOWN to these people.

They will talk to us, "The People" when they are running for office; however, when someone wants to make a small point, they are cut off.

Rep. John Conyers CONSTANT interruptions are taking up the time that each person has to finally make a statement. Now they are going to stop anymore questions except for those standing, but they will not give them more than a minute. I know there are a lot of people wanting to make statements, ask questions, etc. But this is free air time. If these representatives are going to stay after the meeting to talk to these people, then why are they rushing them? God knows the least they can do is listen to everyone.

I hope CSPAN continues to show the "discussions" that the Representative Conyers just stated would continue with any of the representatives present are suppose to continue after he closes this meeting.

WHY CAN'T THE PEOPLE TALK? Somebody please let someone finish their statement.

Does anyone have the fax number to where they are holding this meeting. ANYONE?????

Well, since it is over, I'm getting Rep. Conyer's fax number. I have read many places that when anyone is inundated with emails, they pretty much get deleted. However, you fax them, especially a lot of questions and/or comments, you get their attention.

When I find out some of the Representatives fax numbers, I'll post them for anyone interested.

[notadmblnd]

6. Isn't it sad...

that people are judged upon their appearance and not on their deeds?

[unpossibles]

8. I agree wholeheartedly that it is sad

however, the original post seems not a bad idea. If you want to reach Jane and Joe Heartland and not get ridiculed by the general populace as a conspiracy nutjob, it can't hurt to tone it down a bit. No, you don't need to do the IBM look or anything, but the best way to get your message actually heard by people is to not have them shut you out because you "look funny."

That said, I look funny too, and have no problem with it, but I speak from personal experiecne too.

[Kurovski]

16. That's The TeeVee for ya

It's cruel.

Writers and voice talent don't have to worry about how they look.

And it's true that being groomed and properly dressed is a sign of respect, artist or not.

And I'm an artist.

One of the out-dated theories from the sixties is that dressing like a slob makes you sincere and honest. It was a political statement. That's over.

Taking the time to pull yourself together sends the visual message that you understand the importance of where you are.

An artist, of all people, should understand the messages visuals send.

A related problem with most of the questioners was that they also did not properly pull their thoughts together in a concise, expediant manner that would have conveyed their respect for the time our representatives have devoted to us.

[molly]

19. If most of the questioners looked like that on a job

interview, they wouldn't get the job. They knew they would be on national TV ----

"Taking the time to pull yourself together sends the visual message that you understand the importance of where you are."

[ohio_liberal]

7. Ha Ha!

You should see what I look like today! :D

[frankly_fedup2]

9. You couldn't look any worse or any better than any of the . . .

others that were there. You should've gone. What is being said up your way? I live in VA. All I know is what is on Air America (which is down, AGAIN), and what I read.

I do not know what to believe. I'd like to hear it from a real Buckeye????

[ohio_liberal]

10. This is going to be disappointing....

I'm in the "Walmart Dem" area of eastern Ohio, and except for a few brave souls people aren't saying a damn thing. No TV coverage, no newspaper coverage, nothing. I've got a flag flying upside down and a Kerry/Edwards sign on a giant blow-up snowman in my front yard and people think I'm straight retarded.

[frankly_fedup2]

12. Well, I for one have never worried about what other's think of me . . .

because they are the ignorant ones and I look at it as their loss, not mine.

The local media in Ohio must be like the National Media . . . they are stenographers and transcriptionists now. They take their ideas and opinions to the front, get knocked down, and are told what their owner (one of the five major corporations) wants printed and to get their stories to favor who pads their pockets.

They are being intimidated just like we are. Another intimidation for them is using the lady that reported (God help me I cannot remember); however, she would not reveal her sources. Doesn't she now have to go in front of a judge, and if she does not reveal her source, she will go to jail? What about Bob Novak and the "OUTING" of a CIA operative? Anyone heard anything about that? I haven't.

Thanks for sharing the bad news. Have you tried calling some of the local media in Columbus and asking them if they were going to print or report anything about the meeting? If not, let us know if they show anything about it on the news tonight.

Good luck and don't let anyone try to intimidate you. The neocons are good at intimidation . . . look at their three bully spokes people (Limbaugh, O'Reilly, and Hannity). Oh yeah, lets not forget Coulter. What an embarrassment for them.

[ohio_liberal]

13. Nope, I won't be intimidated

I kind of like being the "crazy neighbor".

I haven't called any news organizations in Columbus but I have written LTTE's, called local newspapers, and emailed TV news stations. We don't have investigative, hard-hitting journalists here. We're talking about newspapers all owned by the same corportation (Ogden News in WV), all less than 30 pages daily. The only articles written locally are puff pieces for the Sunday newspaper and stuff right off police blotters. Oh, and sports. Lots of sports. The TV news is even more terrible. One station doesn't even have local news on weekends (they beam it here from Morgantown WV) and the other is not much better. I will give them credit though for some coverage of voter challenges in Jefferson County. But they never followed up.

[jean]

11. Bob Fitrakis, the man whose passionate words bring tears to my eyes is the

guy with the mullet eek is referring to.

If you'd like to advise Bob on updating his hair or anything else,
contact him here:

Freepress.org - Bob Fitrakis, editor
http://www.freepress.org/columns/display/3

Email: [e-mail]

Phone/FAX: [phone] (you can leave a message)

Mail: 1240 Bryden Road | Columbus, Ohio 43205

[ohio_liberal]

15. Well....

It wasn't like a "Joe Dirt" mullet. I didn't even notice it.

[AmyCrat]

14. if you were joking - ha ha.

if not, your letter is very patronizing.

I AGREE that anyone who is going to speak at a hearing (on TV or not) should be dressed their best and look as professional as possible (and you can do that WITHOUT sacrificing creative originality, or self expression)...

but the way you phrase your letter is more distasteful than the way anyone there was dressed... unless it was meant in humor.

In that case -- ha ha.