Greetings. I am a voting constituent in rural west Texas.
While our House is in recess, after failing to govern in any meaningful way recently, we wake up to the headlines that the Russian dissident Alexei Navalny has died in prison. Died in a Russian penal colony somewhere above the Arctic Circle.
They finally extinguished his voice. Does anyone doubt that he was murdered? Murdered by the same regime that your party seems so currently in thrall to.
The world has read about his political and personal bravery for years. To the world, his is the face of true patriotism. Of true commitment to the concept of right and wrong. Of true love for the country he tried so hard to help.
So while a faction of the GOP wants us to be like Russia and aspires for our our leaders to emulate Putin, think about what real bravery looks like. Think about what true support for country looks like.
And always know that what happened to him can happen to anyone. All it takes is for people who know better to do nothing.
Maybe you might want to rethink helping the world avoid Navalny’s fate.
