Letter to the Editor

With the revelation of a forged letter this week and this article found on Firedoglake I have decided to publish my letter to the Editor of the Des Moines Register here. It is about my friend Matt McCoy and since the Register does not seem to be going to publish it I share it with you here: Addendum: The did publish it but as always they edited it. I will colorize what they left out.

I read with interest your editorial “Politicization at Justice demands follow-up.”
As I read it I thought about my friend Matt McCoy. You see I sat through a day of his hearing and listened to testimony and it was so obvious to me that they were not describing the Matt that I know. I know him to be a good friend, a loving father to his son, Jack and an all around fine person. I did not then, nor do I now, believe the lies that were told about him.

As I have watched and read about the testimony of Monica Gooding in the past week my judgment has been vindicated. Matt was targeted because he was a democrat and because he is gay and it is all right to put targets on the backs of some folks for political purposes.

Matt described to me his feelings when they came to his home very early in the morning to serve him, how his son was told at school by classmates “Your daddy is going to jail.” and how all of that made him feel. He told me about the amount of money it cost him to fight this slander and restore his good name. I still have on my computer the little movie that was on the news when he was acquitted and the joy on his families faces is very moving.

Yes follow up is demanded. What has been done to our system of government is unconscionable. I was always taught that the three branches of government were there to place checks and balances on each other. It is vital that they do so. An independent and impartial judiciary is necessary for that system to work. When the courts are broken the whole system is broken. This sort of thing should not have happened in the America I love.

Unfortunately I do not have much confidence that there will be anything done. It seems that not enough people are willing to stand up for each other and show that they care about what happens.

One of the reasons I started this blog was to be able to put up my thoughts. I think Matt got a raw deal. Hell, I think our country has gotten a raw deal. Thanks for stopping by. jcs