Dear John,

We’ve never met, so I can almost (almost!) forgive you for your statement to the Middletown Journal. You said you’re still looking for the first American who is in favor of the public option. Well, John, here I am. Rock you like a hurricane.

Ok, so there were other criteria, too. You said you were looking for an American who was not part of the administration or Congress. Done and done, John. I am not the President, or a member of his staff, nor am I an elected official of any variety.

I am, however, an American. I was born, raised, and now make my home in Michigan. We’re pretty close to you in Ohio. I mean, we’re neighbors! I can’t believe we’ve never met. Are you sure we’ve never met?

Since we haven’t met, I wanted to use this letter to introduce myself. My name is Angela. I’m a mother and a wife and a writer. I’m an American. I support a public option in the health care reform legislation sitting before you. And I personally know many many many Americans – some of whom live in Ohio – who also support a strong public option.

Now I know where you’re going to go next. You’re going to say I’m not a real American. I don’t know how to combat that, except to say that I’ve got three Iraq War vets in my family, I’ve never registered as a socialist and I’ve worked really hard to get to where I am. Other than that, I thought about PhotoShopping my face onto this guy’s body, but that seemed a little silly.

But while we’re on it, I think it’s worth noting: Hulk Hogan and the great Rick Derringer are onto something.

“I am a real American / fight for the rights of every man.” John, when are you going to be a real American and fight for our rights, too?