Reason and Radical

My Latest Letter to the Editor

I'm not going to waste bandwidth reprinting the letter that prompted this but here's my latest letter to my local rag:

Jeff Davidson’s call to Kerry voters to support President Bush is nothing short of magnanimous. And wholly undemocratic.

Bush may have won by 3.5 million votes. But, Bill Clinton won by 8 million votes. Did that give Republicans a reason to “unite” behind the president? As I remember those years, the answer is no. While Clinton gave America eight years of relative peace and prosperity, the Republicans fought him with every thing they and Richard Mellon Scaife could dream up.

Keep in mind that 55 million people or 49% of the electorate did not vote for Bush. Their views and opinions must be heard or our country will cease to be a democracy. The fact that one party controls all three branches of government, the president has surrounded himself with “yes men,” and both party and president seem uninterested in opposing views is deeply troubling.

Davidson encourages us not to engage in “petty squabbles” over this bill or that. I think that’s called democracy. It’s the way our system works. Two parties (or more) debate, reason, argue, and eventually reach a compromise that reflects the true multi-political, multi-cultural nature of America. But when leading Republican strategists say it’s a conservative goal to wipe out liberals, I fear for our nation’s future.

When Davidson says we must unite behind Bush in “our common objectives and goals,” I can only remind him of the president’s own words: “I will reach out to every one who shares our goals.” Not exactly a uniting, embracing statement for nearly half the nation who don’t share Bush’s goals.

Bush campaigned as if the last four years had simply not happened, as if he had not lied us into a horrible and unnecessary war, as if he had not fattened the rich at the expense of everyone else, as if he had not made the world a more dangerous place. Clearly, this election was not about competence, or Bush would be back in Crawford. The only good thing to come of this is that now it’s all on Bush. He can no longer blame Clinton or Democrats. The war, the economy, our world standing – it’s all Bush’s legacy, for better or, I suspect, for much worse.

Insincere calls for unity aside, I, along with 55 million plus other Americans, intend to continue to be a proud member of the reality-based community and fight for my American right to dissent.

posted by Leimodnu @ 1:10 PM