A Texas teacher sent a letter to President Obama about his opposition to Obamacare and got a hand-written letter in return.

Thomas J. Ritter wrote to the president ­expressing his dismay over the Affordable Health Care Act, and was surprised to get a response penned by Obama on official White House ­stationery. Ritter, a fifth-grade teacher at Sally B. Elliott ­Elementary in Irving, Texas, had written to the president: “This bill has caused such a ­divisive, derisive and toxic environment . . . The reality is that any citizen that disagrees with your ­administration is targeted and ridiculed.” Ritter continued: “I hesitated to write for fear of some kind of retribution . . . I watched you make fun of tea baggers and your press secretary make fun of Ms. [Sarah] Palin which was especially beneath the dignity of the White House . . . Do the right thing not the political thing. Suggest a bill that Americans can support.”

All right, so it’s important to note Ritter uses the term “tea-bagger” first, a common term used by the Left to ridicule Tea Partiers, but here’s Obama’s response:

‘I… appreciate your concern about the toxic political environment right now. I do have to challenge you, though, on the notion that any citizen that disagrees with me has been “targeted and ridiculed” or that I have “made fun” of tea-baggers.’

A couple options, here. Obama carelessly used “tea-baggers” after reading it in Ritter’s letter and meant to use Tea Partiers. Obama deliberately used the term “tea-bagger” to annoy Ritter, in which case it was quite a lot of effort to sit down and give a “tea-bagger” the honor of a letter from the President of the United States. Or, and this is my theory, Obama is so thoroughly surrounded by people who refer to Tea Partiers as “tea-baggers” nonchalantly that it slipped out without him even thinking about it. And, finally, no matter what the reason, the letter’s certainly emblematic of Obama’s utter inability to actually appeal to people who disagree with him despite fancying himself quite the bridge-builder.

The President of the United States, allegedly one of the smartest people to grace our country, sat down to write a hand-written letter to a political dissenter and used the most charged, rude, dirty term possible while claiming he’d never do anything but treat this “tea-bagger” with the utmost respect. His own lofty self-concept survives contact with all conflicting facts, even when they come from his own pen.

On the upside, “tea-bagger” has now been used by a president on presidential stationery. You’re welcome, George Washington. Love, 2013.

The New York Post uploaded the letter, which is now up for auction by Ritter, who was unconvinced by the president’s respectful appeal.

Ritter, 49, is putting the letter up for auction through the Web site momentsintime.com for a reserve price of $24,000. Ritter said, “I am selling the letter because I am just so disappointed, and this ObamaCare bill is wrong. The president told me what he thought I wanted to hear. The letter is just words on a paper. It doesn’t mean anything to me because Obama doesn’t mean any of it.”

President Obama's response