An Epistle to Tim Murphy

By Ellipses

This was sent to Congressman Tim Murphy's office this morning:

"Congressman Murphy,

I called your office last week regarding your appearance on a video that has been circulating a number of blogs as of late. The video was produced for Fire Dog Lake, and in it, Mike Stark asks a number of elected representatives if they believe that Barack Obama is an American citizen. In that video, you conspicuously avoid answering the question. In fact, it appears that you say nothing at all.

When I called your D.C. office, the intern that took my call did not have any information for me regarding your position on this issue. I understand that, completely, and do not begrudge an intern for not providing a concise answer to my questions.

At your Pittsburgh office, however, Tyler seemed to know the protocol for answering this question. His response to me was that he could not comment on your beliefs, but that he could only ask what the constituent’s belief was regarding the president’s citizenship and then ask how the constituent felt about how you handled the situation. For the record, my response was “Yes, the president is a citizen” and “I am disappointed with the way you handled the question because it is a simple yes or no query and it has an absolutely correct response.”

In the intervening days, however, I have come to the conclusion that your Pittsburgh Office’s response to my question was wholly inadequate. Who cares what my “belief” is on this issue? You, sir, are a United States Congressman. I expect a congressman to act within the bounds of reason and logic and abide by factual information and not to stoke the coals of a ridiculous and baseless conspiracy theory. I don’t care if 100% of your constituency believed that Barack Obama was a Kenyan born Muslim abortion doctor. I expect you to adhere to the facts, not their misplaced belief.

I am offering you the opportunity to set the record straight, in writing, for the public to view. This letter will be posted on my blog, The Elliptical Press, and I invite you to visit and record your response in the comments section. This affords you the opportunity to draft a concise and well-thought out comment on this issue. You aren’t being approached in the street, harassed with a video camera, or ambushed in an interview.

The question is:

“Tim Murphy, do you believe that Barack Obama is a natural-born citizen of the United States?”

I await your response: www.ellipticalpress.blogspot.com

Thank you,

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Washington, PA 15301"

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