Make facts fashionable

Facts - let’s make them fashionable again.

I’m writing, as a local community member and scientist, to urge your consideration of Elissa Slotkin for Congress (MI - 8th District).

I admire her courage, her dedication to civil service, and her focus on evidence-based public policy. I am disappointed with my current Representative’s voting record, and my calls and emails over the past four years have returned only canned (and irritating) responses from Mike Bishop, thanking me for my support.

I was disturbed by Mr. Bishop’s recent TV ad, which concludes that Elissa Slotkin’s plan is to take Medicare away from current senior recipients. This is simply and verifiably false, and Politifact states that, “We found no evidence to suggest that any of Slotkin’s positions on health care would result in taking away coverage for current seniors.”

I was therefore doubly disturbed to see Mr. Bishop’s signature on Governor Snyder’s public call to “commit to civility in public discourse” (Detroit Free Press, July 20, 2108). This is not acceptable for many reasons, but perhaps the most troubling is that it teaches our young people that leadership requires dishonesty.

It is obvious to me that facts are essential for progress and improved quality-of-life. Endless denial does not change reality; it simply creates chaos in which unprincipled people thrive.

I believe that Ms. Slotkin’s integrity can help turn back the tide of falsehoods and polarized politics that have disabled our democracy, and help create a better future for all.

Andrew Goldberg

Rochester Hills