This item appears today in Roll Call [subscription only]:
Calling Miss Manners. Rep. Brian Baird (D-Wash.) must have been channeling Emily Post when he wrote a letter lecturing a college student — who had just been awarded a scholarship in Baird’s name — on how to write a proper thank-you note. And the student must have been channeling Karl Rove when he retaliated with a full-on political attack on Baird.The correspondence between student Kevin Nelson and Baird is here. The rest of the Roll Call article follows:
The letter exchanges have become “the” topic of Washington state political gossip. Compiled in a tidy little file (by state GOP operatives, perhaps?) the letters were sent en masse to Washington delegation members, Senators and their staff ... and to HOH.Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at January 25, 2006 09:00 AM | Email ThisThe student, Kevin Nelson, who attends Centralia College in Centralia, Wash., won the Congressman Brian Baird and Rachel Nugent Scholarship award this past fall to help send him to business or law school. His thank-you note to the Congressman and his wife wasn’t so swift: a bland, typed, one-paragraph note, addressed impersonally to the “Brian Baird Scholarship.”
Baird, again channeling Ms. Post, wrote to the student with what he said he hoped would be received as “a friendly and helpful suggestion.”“Your note, a copy of which is attached, was, quite frankly, not very impressive to say the least,” Baird wrote. “Perhaps you have not been given instruction in how to write formal letters, but let us suggest that you learn. If you truly wish to advance in business and law, you will need to know how to write a proper letter.”
Baird went on to tell the young man that he should learn how to write “a truly thoughtful and expressive letter of gratitude,” one that should be handwritten, preferably. “If your handwriting is as poor as mine, I certainly understand a typed alternative, but at the very least what you write should be in a format that shows you spent more than two minutes preparing it.”
It was the distinct tone of condescension that struck a raw nerve in Nelson, as well as the fact that Baird had CCed his letter on proper etiquette to the Centralia College Scholarship Office. Nelson, who is no stranger to politics — he’s a precinct committee officer in Lewis County, Wash. — whipped off letters to the state Republican Party and to both Senators in the Washington delegation, telling them how offended he was by Baird’s letter.
“In his letter he accused me of ignorance and a lack of courtesy — telling me that a proper thank you note should have been longer and on a more ppropriate letterhead,” Nelson wrote in a letter to his state GOP. “Because of his attack on my character, I felt compelled to respond.”
Baird said he wasn’t attacking the young man’s character, just giving the lad a little guidance from a former professor. Spokeswoman Meghan O’Shaughnessy said Baird “did not intend this to be blown out of proportion like this.” He was only providing a “friendly and helpful suggestion.”
Baird...stop wasting your time on a loser like Nelson.
GOP...stay away from this pos.
Posted by: Danny on January 25, 2006 09:06 AMKevin - we'll be watching for you.
Posted by: dan on January 25, 2006 09:26 AMHopefully, both the congressman and the student both learn something from this.
Clearly the congressman needs to polish his people skills as he attempts to "coach" this student. The student also needs to improve his writing, people skills and to learn how to take constructive criticism.
When I contributed $25 to this website I was thanked by an email quite promptly. It was more than I expected and was appreciated.
Posted by: Marmstro on January 25, 2006 10:00 AMNow we know he's just another jack-ass professor, who has a high seat to sit on and cast down those he finds insuperior. Had I gotten that letter from him, I would have done the same thing, except I would have copied PLU, so they can see just how mighty he has become!
I plan to follow up on this with PLU, and the Congressman's office. This is the trademark bitterness and holier than thou attitude that we need to stamp out from our elected representatives.
Posted by: Patrick E. Bell on January 25, 2006 10:11 AMSome things are just better left unsaid and unwritten.
From http://www.house.gov/baird/ :
"See Congressman Baird on MSNBC"
"Watch Congressman Baird ... on CNBC"
"Listen to Congressman Baird on the Majority Report"
I suggest that this self centered pompous PhD keep his lousy $500 and pruchase his own damn marble statue.
Posted by: pbj on January 25, 2006 10:27 AMAnd as for Baird--what's with the CC: to the scholarship office?! Was that a veiled threat of "if he doesn't give me a real letter, take away his money?" Sheesh...idiocy on both sides.
Posted by: pseudotsuga on January 25, 2006 10:34 AMThere is a reason that members of congress have about five staff members dedicated to constituent services as well as additional interns. They don't have time to respond to 500+ letters a day!
In fact, almost every single member of congress uses their interns to write responses. Also, almost all members of congress own an automatic signature machine, so he probably hasn't even read the letter.
If you want to attack him, then attack the fact that he hired a stupid intern or staff member. Every politician does it from time to time.
Gerald, LiberalWashington.com
Posted by: Gerald on January 25, 2006 10:39 AMI know, Gerald. And the fact that you're posting from a WA legislature IP address is further proof.
Posted by: Stefan Sharkansky on January 25, 2006 10:42 AMGerald, you might have a point... but the letterhead is not his congressional letterhead, it's the personal letterhead of him and his wife. Perhaps he has an intern take care of his personal correspondence, but that seems unlikely (and mildly weird and creepy)
Posted by: Mike H on January 25, 2006 10:44 AMAs I have said before, the buck stops at the highest R in the chain, if none, then it is pushed off as just a human error that anyone could make.
Posted by: fred on January 25, 2006 10:59 AMSome good old fashioned Ron Sims home training for the both of them would have prevented all of this!
Posted by: SnoCo Voter on January 25, 2006 11:58 AMConsidering the number of people I know that have made that accomplishment, I find myself far less than impressed with the vast majority them. Even the most brainblasted former drug addict can accomplish the feat of earning a Ph.D. if they so desire - I've seen it happen.
Posted by: H Moul on January 25, 2006 12:10 PMBaird (or his office/staff) should have just accepted the thank you note, however poorly written, and left it at that - no need to send off a complaint that Kevin wasn't being nice enough to praise and sing the congressman's graces, and CC the scholorship office to boot.
At the same time, Kevin was acting childish in making a stink over it and CC'ing everyone and their mother - if he was really that offended by it, he should simply have declined the money.
Posted by: Darth Dogbert on January 25, 2006 12:31 PMI'm glad (and it's appropriate) that the student sent some kind of acknowledgement of thanks to Baird, but after that--if Baird truly wanted to be thought of as genteel and polite, he should have kept his yap shut , or written the student to say how fun it was to hear from him directly.
Otherwise, this whole exercise is really embarrassing to Baird!
Posted by: Misty on January 25, 2006 12:33 PMThere are some communications (email included) that should be intended only for the recipient. It usually does not need to be spelled out for you when this is the case. It annoys me to no end when someone replies to an email and copies people who were never intended to see the original communication. You shouldn't have to mark "PRIVATE" on everything - have some common sense.
Posted by: Palouse on January 25, 2006 12:43 PMBaird is a self rightious a$$ in my opinion. If I were Nelson, I would have returned the funds.
Posted by: Jeffro on January 25, 2006 01:10 PMFor Kevin to send a thank you note is really something. I can't tell you how many times I've contributed to kids his age, more then $500.00, to their fundraisers etc. and never heard from them again let alone a thank you note.
Why can't my Congressman spend more time with working on real problems, then to spend his time picking on kid?
SHEESH!
Posted by: kim in vancouver on January 25, 2006 01:11 PMSo Gerald is posting from a Washington State Legislature IP Address?? Is that legal? Is Gerald being paid by taxpayers for this? Is Gerald using someone's government computer? I would hope someone will do a public record request on this IP Address and get all the correspndence launched & received from it. I imagine Gerald will be scrambling and posting from elsewhere in the future Stefan.
Posted by: dude on January 25, 2006 01:40 PMMr. Baird's response was definitely pompous and ill-considered for a politician. I got the impression that he was a little irked by the curt thank you, decided to let the student know that future thank you's should be improved on, and then got a bit carried away. He could have either let it go, quietly said a word to the scholarship committee to advise its recipients a little better on the niceties of thank you's, or written a more gracious note to the student.
Both sides blew this up out of proportion. I wonder if perhaps Mr. Nelson felt awkward thanking a Democratic politician given his strong Republican affiliation and thus didn't put much effort into it.
Posted by: Jill on January 25, 2006 01:41 PMI fail to see what religion has to do with this. I would assume by your post that somehow not kissing the behind of your chosen diety leaves them morally inferior to you and your likeminded worshippers.
That being the case, you might be interested to know that atheists are an under-represented social strata in prisons. In other words, atheists, as a group, have a better moral foundation than christians, muslims, etc. Or, perhaps, they are smart enough to not get caught. Either way, you snide comment on atheists is totally uncalled for.
You might also be unaware that most self-proclaimed liberals consider themselves christians - even the ones that went to college.
Posted by: H Moul on January 25, 2006 02:26 PMOn the response, I think there was definitely some immaturity shown in making a mountain out of this molehill. If Kevin was really as put out as he claims to be, a simple "thank you for your suggestion and I will try to keep it in mind the next occassion I have for a thank you letter. By the way, in the spirit of open and honest "helpful suggestions," your way of presenting this constructive criticism came across as more than a bit condescending and insulting. While I don't expect an apology as I understand the spirit your comments were in, please keep in mind that the tone you choose in writing can have an emotional affect on your reader, one that can be long-lasting and potentially detrimental to a person who seeks employment through the electoral process."
Or something like that. Both should grow up a bit, but only one actually should be expected of such immaturity.
Posted by: Marc on January 25, 2006 03:24 PM"Since those of faith are aware that their actions will be judged by their maker…"
Don't believe I mentioned christians, jews, muslims, etc.
Allow me to rephrase. Most philanthropic ventures are to be lauded. Most are not compelled to draw attention to their good works if they have a strong faith center, be it karma, heaven, nirvana… I know too many Phd's and MD's that are atheist or agnostic that I've helped to develop funds to benefit the local art community. Their overwhelming reason for these scholarships, according to them, was to leave a legacy.
I see nothing wrong with this until you start being a jacka$$ such as Baird, or at least his behavior. I also stated that Nelson should have returned the grant.
I hope this sounds less like a snide stab at atheism.
Posted by: Jeffro on January 25, 2006 04:02 PMI just wonder whether this incident will prompt Baird to quit funding the scholarship. That would be a real shame. In the final analysis, Nelson should have taken the high road and not jeopardized another student's chance at getting that money in the future. Those of you who call $500 "lousy" have either never lived the student life or are too far removed from it to realize how much a difference that much money can make.
Posted by: Jason on January 25, 2006 04:04 PMNo story here, move along.
Posted by: My Left Foot on January 25, 2006 04:57 PMIsn't that redundant?
Posted by: Danny on January 25, 2006 05:40 PMThe kid should have said "thank you for the advice, I'll try to do better next time" and left it at that.
Posted by: barchester on January 25, 2006 06:00 PMThe kid should have written a better thank-you note, I agree, but I think it would have been wise for Baird not to say anything, and if he did, to say it a lot more tactfully.
That said, the kid making a big issue out of this is the kind of pettiness that makes politics so intolerable to so many people.
They both need to grow the hell up.
Posted by: Cliff Smith on January 25, 2006 06:35 PMPuh-lease.
Posted by: seanod100 on January 25, 2006 10:47 PMBravo, Kevin.
Mr. Baird - next time, it would behoove you to be a little more gracious when communicating with the peons. You just never know when one of them is going to stand up to you.
Posted by: Renee on January 25, 2006 11:28 PMAs for typing the note, I have to spend a lot of time deciphering handwriting on various client correspondence and paperwork, so I have no problem with people who type notes as long as they sign it themselves. So few young people send thank you notes these days that Kevin should be commended, not roasted.
Posted by: Burdabee on January 26, 2006 01:06 AM"Hey bud, I did something for you, now kiss my hiney and show me you care"
I donate to various groups every year, and get nothing but form letter thangs that ask for even more money. I am not offended. by such as...
Generosity and thoughtful experssion come from the giver, and there should be no presumed thanks needed. The act in and on itself should be the reward.
"Hey bud, I did something for you, now kiss my hiney and show me you care"
I donate to various groups every year, and get nothing but form letter thanks that ask for even more money. I am not offended. by such as...
Generosity and thoughtful experssion come from the giver, and there should be no presumed thanks needed. The act in and on itself should be the reward.
Hah. Nelson 10, Baird 0.
Posted by: starboardhelm on January 26, 2006 06:53 PMAh, so that initial, short but polite enough thank you note was nothing more than bait - trying to provoke a nasty response from Baird so the right-wing agenda could be successfully played out.
I never would have thought of that.
Posted by: Renee on January 26, 2006 10:14 PM