Dear politicians,

I should have mailed this letter long ago because one of you may have done something helpful. But I’m sending it along now just so you know that we here in TV Land have noticed the irony you’ve committed.

Please note that my complaint refers to the conversion from analog to digital television. It’s happening Feb. 17, 2009. Yes, 2009 sounds like a futuristic star-date but, really, it’s about a week away. The sad reality is that soon my antenna television won’t work because I don’t subscribe to cable.

The irony I was referring to earlier has to do with the economy. It’s ironic that you take away my free TV just as my 401K and IRA plummet. It’s ironic that though I can’t seem to get a loan to buy anything because all the banks are afraid to lend, you think I’m rich enough to pay for cable or buy a new digital television. What’s even more ironic is that you take free TV away from the taxpayer while at the same time giving a free lunch to automakers, paid for with taxpayer dollars.

And, I know it’s clicha to complain about high taxes, but it seems appropriate. It’s ironic that you take half our earnings in state and federal income tax, sales tax, vehicle taxes, property tax and even tolls, which for us here in southern Maine are soon rising significantly, and then you expect me to come up with the several hundred dollars a year it costs to get cable TV. As Alanis Morissette sang so well, “a little too ironic, yeah I really do think.”

Tell me, politicians, why – when the economy is so bad and everyone is hurting and worried about their future – are you taking away the one thing that can keep us informed about current events? Why take away our access to weather reports, storm cancellations, traffic reports, election coverage, and local and world news right when we need it the most?

Now, don’t get me wrong. I don’t sit around all day watching TV, although that does sound nice. I work just about all the time, but I do like to come home and enjoy a show or two before bed. I especially like watching the The Today Show in the morning and evening news at night. But since there’s more to TV (and life) than news, I enjoy watching entertaining shows as well. Really, who doesn’t enjoy quizzing themselves with Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy at 7 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. They’re such American institutions. All these shows have been free for those with a cheap TV and rabbit ears. It seems unreal that the government, which takes and takes and takes, is going to take TV away from us as well.

But for me, and the thousands like me who can’t or won’t spend our money on cable, this easy access to the larger world is ending Feb. 17. And the converter box – for which I enthusiastically signed up to receive a coupon – doesn’t work. See, I live in the woods and I tried for several hours to get that dang-blasted box to work, and it just showed me static. Nice try, though. I give you an A for effort. But despite your commercials and incessant warnings about Feb. 17, 2009, there will be many people who can’t get the conversion box to work. Isn’t THAT ironic? Yeah, I really do think.

I understand you need the bandwidth for Homeland Security reasons. Firefighters, cops, dispatchers all need to be able to communicate better with a wider range of channels. But I think your timing stinks. We are in the worst financial meltdown since Hoover and you are moving forward with this plan to take away our access to free information and entertainment. It’s ironic – and idiotic – and that’s all I wanted to point out.

John Balentine, of Windham, is a former editor of the Lakes Region Weekly.