From the First Amendment: and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Have to write your congressman/senator/whoever for that, right? They're obligated to give you an answer.
I don’t understand what on earth you’re arguing with.
I was talking about the free speech issue, not about writing to your congressman.
Why do you want to argue with a point I never made?
Sure, you can write to your congressman and he may write you back, probably with a form letter on some other issue in a franked envelope that you paid for.
But so what?
My column is about free speech - making your point to the public in hopes of getting public support for your cause. You have a write to speak and write, but not a right to inconvenience other citizens or force them to listen.
Have to write your congressman/senator/whoever for that, right? They’re obligated to give you an answer.
I do not believe they are required to answer.
They might be foolish *not* to answer, but they are not required by the Constitution to do so.
The right to petition means that the government cannot block us from communicating with Congressmen and other government officials.
Even in the Military, the chain of command cannot block service men and women from writing their congresscritters.