Editor, The Beacon:

In response to Nick Ducharme, “Advocacy at the Capitol: Finding purpose when hope is elusive”

As I started to read Nick Ducharme’s commentary, I was initially drawn to his opening line: “Conflict is an inevitable part of life.”

True enough, I thought! I began to hope that Nick was going to share some insight on how to find purpose and hope in life by somehow defusing and settling such conflict.

It became obvious that due to the rareness of resolving things amicably, that Nick’s purpose was to “utterly defeat the opposition.” Sheesh, that doesn’t sound very hopeful to me!

Sadly, his letter devolved from there. First he calls his political opposition “cruel-hearted” and the “enemy.”

What? Are we now stooping to call fellow Americans the enemy? I thought that term was reserved for people who are trying to kill you, or totally destroy our possessions, steal our freedoms of speech, freedom to assemble and protest. These are the people who our servicemen and servicewomen fought and died to protect us from.

Yet, this “enemy” allowed Nick and his fellow protesters to attend a pep-rally-like press conference and even become the majority in the audience of a legislative session. I could only imagine how that would have gone down if he had tried that in the halls of the Kremlin or Beijing or in Iran.

Nick complains that he could only meet with the aides and interns of lawmakers who wouldn’t “bother to give us the time of day.” Note to Nick: If you want to meet with someone, you might want to refrain from calling them names. My mom taught me that at a very young age.

And I was fortunate enough to have a series of good elementary-school teachers who reinforced the concept.

Interestingly enough though, Nick did get to meet with one legislator directly. In fact, not just any legislator, or one representing Nick’s district, but one of the main authors of the legislation that Nick opposes!

I thought, “Wow, what a privilege! What an opportunity to have a civil exchange of ideas and point out where and how the law could be changed or improved so as to benefit the many!”

But, because this legislator did not agree to what someone in the meeting stood for, then the legislator must be a “monster” who “clearly did not approach the conversation in good faith.”

Hmmm … the ongoing name-calling aside, how can Nick deduce a man’s faith just because he disagrees with him?

And then, because Nick did not achieve his goal of stopping the legislative process, with the bill he opposes passing through committee, and because the legislator he met with did not agree with him, Nick was shocked! How dare they, him, not conform to Nick’s desires?

Nick then declares, “My shock turned to rage. My rage, to hatred.”

Sad, very sad. I doubt if hatred is going to change anyone’s mind or lead to the outcome Nick desires. But then there is a glimmer of hope that was alluded to in the title of Nick’s commentary: He realizes he needs help. And as a result, he has been seeing a therapist. That is a start!

I would only ask Nick if he would go one step further, and consult with the Therapist. One who could get to the heart of his issues and take on his anger and rage directly, one who is willing to meet with him one-on-one anytime, day or night. No appointment or fees are necessary. The Therapist is also an acclaimed surgeon. Which is good, as what Nick needs will require major heart surgery and will be very painful. But in the end, he will realize it will have been well worth it.

Because, if Nick willingly submits to the surgery, he will no longer look at his opposition as the “enemy” but strive to treat others as the Therapist treats him. The rage will be replaced by peace and the name-calling replaced by words of encouragement. And what he achieves will be far greater than what he is achieving now.

Those around him will be amazed, as the transformation in Nick will be nothing short of a miracle. I can’t wait.

Steven Mesibov

DeLand