Politics: Dead Letter Society

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Politics Dead Letter Society Why do senators still send letters to attack their political enemies? By David Weigel Posted Thursday, Feb 21, 2013, at 05:09 PM ET On Wednesday afternoon, the office of Sen. Lindsey Graham released a letter that had just been sent to secretary of defense nominee Chuck Hagel. "I want to call your attention to and request a response to a story in the Washington Free Beacon on February 19th," wrote Graham. He cut and pasted two paragraphs from the story, about an attendee at a 2010 Hagel speech, and his accusation that the future nominee "basically said that Israel has violated every UN resolution since 1967." Nobody had found a recording to back up the accusation, but Graham took to his keyboard and pounced. "Senator Hagel, did you say this?" wrote Graham. "Have you said anything similar?" It had been only five days since the last letter from Graham to Hagel, asking about another Free Beacon story regarding another speech. Hagel had sent Graham his own letter, denying the accusation. Graham described the letter on TV, before a diligent Fox News reporter snagged a copy. This raises two questions. One: Will Hagel respond to the final few days of "What about your gaffes"-style accusations by being more transparent? Two: Why do senators send formal letters whenever they need to ask a question? Couldn't they could just pick up the phone or send emails or thumb-type Twitter DMs? Why don't they? You might assume some formal reason from the Senate rulebook, but you'd be wrong. Nothing in the House's or the Senate's rules specifies any situation where ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate Steven Brill's Opus on Health Care Sheryl Sandberg's "Lean In" Circles Completely Miss the Point on Workplace Maternity Six Ways To Tell If You're Staying in a Murder Hotel	Advertisement
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