Our State Representative doesn’t believe in the US Constitution

One hundred and sixty years ago, President Abraham Lincoln gave one of his most famous speeches, The Gettysburg Address.  Most will remember the first sentence, “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”  I believe the last sentence of this speech is equally as important as the first sentence, “…that government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”  This message should be in the forefront of every politician’s mind, yesterday, today, and forever.  Politicians are elected by the people, to represent all of the people!  No politician should be so vain as to think that they know better than their constituents and that these constituents should bend to the will of the politicians.

I’m not speaking of this in generalities; I’m speaking from personal experience. On October 16, myself and three other Constituents of the 8^th Essex District met with our State Representative, Jenny Armini, for one and one-half hours. This was an open meeting, but there had been previous communication between Rep Armini and myself and one of the other constituents regarding her support of HD4420/HD4607*; she is a Co-Sponsor of HD4420/HD4607*.  During the course of this meeting, Rep Armini refused to answer the most important question about this bill, which is, what if any part of the bill would do anything to reduce crime.  Rep Armini, I’ll say it for you, this bill does nothing to reduce crime.  Rep Armini used the argument for her support of HD4420/HD4607 that the 1^st and 2^nd Amendments are flawed and are therefore no longer relevant.  She claimed that the 2^nd Amendment was written when muskets were the latest firearm technology, which makes it irrelevant. Though she didn’t state why she felt the 1^st Amendment was no longer relevant, she stated it wasn’t.  Well Rep Armini, the Constitution and all of its Amendments are relevant; it is a living document and there is a process that allows it to grow by adding Amendments as voted for; it cannot be ignored. 

As the meeting was winding down, Rep Armini was asked if she had heard from her Constituents whether, or not, they supported HD4420/HD4607*. She asked her assistant, what the count was for and against, the bill. Her assistant responded that of those who had contacted her office, 38 were against it and 50 were for it. Rep Armini then said, she felt her Constituents overwhelming supported the bill and that regardless of how they felt, she was voting for the bill because she wanted it! It was readily apparent that Rep Armini feels she represents a constituency of one, herself, regardless of how many people actually voted for her, or are in her district. To you Rep Armini, and all Politicians, I say, you should remember the words of Abraham Lincoln, “that government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” 

*This bill was originally labelled HD4420 and before our meeting it was renamed HD4607

Philip Mancuso, Jr,

Mohawk Road