<<I write senators and congressmen from time to time, but I have never received any hint that my letter has changed any minds.>>
Yeah, me too, but Canadians always reply with bland and meaningless answers on beautiful stationery with an embossed Parliamentary crest. Since the elections on both sides of the border are fixed, it's an exercise in stupidity for the letter-writer to bother. In the US, at least they keep tabs on the numbers pro and con, although as you can see in the bail-out, it didn't make a God-damn bit of difference.
