Letter to the Red States

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DMC
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Letter to the Red States

Post by DMC »

Letter to the Red States
By A Woman from NYC, Nov 8, 2004

Sorry, I try not to deluge people with my ramblings. But I had to write this and, having written it, had to send it. Even though I don't know anyone I can send it to (without alienating my Republican in-laws, who are the only "middle country" people I know.)

I am writing this letter to the people in the red states in the middle of the country - the people who voted for George W. Bush. I am writing this letter because I don't think we know each other. So I'll make an introduction. I am a New Yorker who voted for John Kerry. I used to live in California, and if I still lived there, I would vote for Kerry. I used to live in Washington, DC, and if I still lived there, I would vote for Kerry. Kerry won in all three of those regions.

Maybe you want to know more about me. Or maybe not; maybe you think you know me already. You think I am some anti-American anarchist because I dislike George W. Bush. You think that I am immoral and anti-family, because I support women's reproductive freedom and gay rights. You think that I am dangerous, and even evil, because I do not abide by your religious beliefs.

Maybe you are content to think that, to write me off as a "liberal" - the dreaded "L" word - and rejoice that your candidate has triumphed over evil, immoral, anti-American, anti-family people like me. But maybe you are still curious. So here goes: this is who I am.

I am a New Yorker. I was here, in my apartment downtown, on September 11th. I watched the Towers burn from the roof of my building. I went inside so that I couldn't see them when they fell. I had friends who were inside. I have a friend who still has nightmares about watching people jump and fall from the Towers. He will never be the same. How many people like him do you know? People that can't sit in a restaurant without plotting an escape route, in case it blows up?

I am a worker. I work across the street from the Citigroup Center, which the government told us is a "target" of terrorism. Later, we found out they were relaying very old information, but it was already too late. They had given me bad dreams again.

The subway stop near my office was crowded with bomb-sniffing dogs, policemen in heavy protective gear, soldiers. Now, every time I enter or exit my office, all of my possessions are X-rayed to make sure I don't have any weapons. How often are you stopped by a soldier with a bomb-sniffing dog outside your office?

I am a neighbor. I have a neighbor who is a 9/11 widow. She has two children. My husband does odd jobs for her now, like building bookshelves. Things her husband should do. He uses her husband's tools, and the two little girls tell him, "Those are our daddy's tools." How many 9/11 widows and orphans do you know? How often do you fill in for their dead loved ones?

I am a taxpayer. I worked my butt off to get where I did, and so did my parents. My parents saved and borrowed and sent me to college. I worked my way through graduate school. I won a full tuition scholarship to law school. All for the privilege of working 2,600 hours last year. That works out to a 50 hour week, every week, without any vacation days at all.

I get to work by 9 am and rarely leave before 9 pm. I eat dinner at my office much more often than I eat dinner at home. My husband and I paid over $70,000 in federal income tax last year. At some point in the future, we will have to pay much more - once this country faces its deficit and the impossible burden of Social Security. In fact, the areas of the country that supported Kerry - New York, California, Illinois, Massachusetts - they are the financial centers of the nation. They are the tax base of this country. How much did you pay, Kansas? How much did you contribute to this government you support, Alabama? How much of this war in Iraq did you pay for?

I am a liberal. The funny part is, liberals have this reputation for living in Never-Neverland, being idealists, not being sensible. But let me tell you how I see the world: I see America as one nation in a world of nations. Therefore, I think we should try to get along with other nations. I see that gay people exist. Therefore, I think they should be allowed to exist, and be treated the same as other people. I see ways in which women are not allowed to control their own bodies.

Therefore, I think we should give women more control over their bodies. I see that people have awful diseases. Therefore, I think we should enable scientists to try to cure them. I see that we have a Constitution. Therefore, I think it should be upheld. I see that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

Therefore, I think that Iraq was not an imminent danger to me. It seems so pragmatic to me. How do you see the world? Do you really think voting against gay marriage will keep people from being gay? Would you really prefer that people continue to die from Parkinson's disease? Do you really not care about the Constitutional rights of political detainees? Would you really have supported the war if you knew the truth, or would you have wanted to spend more of our money on health care, job training, terrorism preparedness?

I am an American. I have an American flag flying outside my home. I love my home more than anything. I love that I grew up right outside New York City. I first went to the Statue of Liberty with my 5th grade class, and my Mom and dad took me to the Empire State Building when I was 8. I love taking the subway to Yankee Stadium. I loved living in Washington DC and going on dates to the Lincoln Memorial. It is because I love this country so much that I argue with my political opponents as much I do.

I am not safe. I never feel safe. My in-laws live in a small town in Ohio, and that town has received more federal funding, per capita, for terrorism preparedness than New York City has. I take subways and buses every day. I work in a skyscraper across the street from a "target." I have emergency supplies and a spare pair of sneakers in my desk, in case something happens while I'm at work. Do you?

How many times a month do you worry that your subway is going to blow up? When you hear sirens on the street, do you run to the window to make sure everything is okay? When you hear an airplane, do you flinch? Do you dread beautiful, blue-skied September days? I don't know a single New Yorker who doesn't spend the month of September on tip-toes, superstitiously praying for r*in so we don't have to relive that beautiful, blue-skied day.

I am lonely. I feel that we, as a nation, have alienated all our friends and further provoked our enemies. I feel unprotected. Most of all I feel alienated from my fellow citizens, because I don't understand what you are thinking. You voted for a man who started a war in Iraq for no reason, against the wishes of the entire world. You voted for a man whose lack of foresight and inability to plan has led to massive insurgencies in Iraq, where weapons are disappearing into the hands of terrorists.

You voted for a man who let Osama Bin Laden escape into the hills of Afghanistan so that he could start that war in Iraq. You voted for a man who doesn't want to let people love who they want to love; doesn't want to let doctors cure their patients; doesn't want to let women rule their destinies. I don't understand why you voted for this man.

For me, it is not enough that he is personable; it is not enough that he seems like one of the guys. Why did you vote for him? Why did you elect a man that lied to us in order to convince us to go to war? (Ten years ago you were incensed when our president lied about his sex life; you thought it was an impeachable offense.) Why did you elect a leader who thinks that strength cannot include diplomacy or international cooperation? Why did you elect a man who did nothing except run away and hide on September 11?

Most of all, I am terrified. I mean daily, I am afraid that I will not survive this. I am afraid that I will lose my husband, that I will never have children, that I will never grow old and watch the sunset in a backyard of my own.

I am afraid that my career - which should end with a triumphant and good-natured roast at a retirement party in 2035 - will be cut short by an attack on me and my colleagues, as we sit sending emails and making phone calls one ordinary afternoon. Is your life at stake? Are you terrified? I don't think you are. I don't think you realize what you have done. And if anything happens to me or the people I love, I blame you. I wanted you to know that.


http://www.mikehersh.com
Cityskier
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Wow.

Post by Cityskier »

That hit close to home. And I must agre with her sentiments. I'm not sure that people really do understand what it's like to live here now.

Thanks for posting.
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Post by shortski »

The feelings expressed are thought stirring, but those feelings are the same as some people in the world that have been dealing with the ravages of terrorism for the past 20 years. Those are her feelings and she's entitled to them, but some of her views are the same things brought up during the election, didn't fly then not flying now, and some are just wrong. For the last time, Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, they were inventoried by the all powerful UN, the question is where are they now. No matter how many time this is thrown out it still will be crap, so stop, the majority isn't buying what your selling...you need a new set of goods to sell.
Cogito, ergo sum

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Cityskier
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You can spin it however you want dude...

Post by Cityskier »

But our reason for invading a sovereign nation was a load of crap. You can continue spewing this load of crap, but I'm not buying.

Why the need to tell us to stop talking about it? I'm certainly not telling you what to believe or speak about. I would never be that pompous. I would just appreciate the same in return.
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I guess

Post by Cityskier »

we need to agree to disagree. Maybe we can pick this up over a beer or nine sometime.

Thanks for all the work put into setting up this board so I have somewhere to go and get riled up.

J
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Post by shortski »

I was reffering to this:

Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, they were inventoried by the all powerful UN, the question is where are they now. No matter how many times this is thrown out it still will be crap, so stop, the majority isn't buying what your selling...you need a new set of goods to sell.
_________________


These are the facts and cannot be refuted, this is what needs to stop, not trying to stop you from expressing your views, just stop putting out statements that are easily proved as false, and I don't mean you specifically, I'm referring to those that oppose the war and point to this as one of the reasons.....carry on.
Cogito, ergo sum

Sometimes it is that simple.

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Re: I guess

Post by shortski »

Cityskier wrote:we need to agree to disagree. Maybe we can pick this up over a beer or nine sometime.

Something we agree on, and I like they way you count :lol:

Thanks for all the work put into setting up this board so I have somewhere to go and get riled up.

Your welcome, it's a lot more work than I though it would be going into it.
Cogito, ergo sum

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DMC
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Post by DMC »

shortski wrote:No matter how many time this is thrown out it still will be crap, so stop, the majority isn't buying what your selling...you need a new set of goods to sell.
My bad - sorry - your message board - I'll shut up...
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Post by yeti »

Well, I would retort that her anger should be directed at the animals that commit such acts not at someone who voted for Bush.

But what do I know?

While I commend her for her ideals I would remind her that they are ideals, not attainable in today's world. I would also remind her that President Clinton's administration had several great opportunities to smoke OBL but passed on all of them over legal concerns. The decision to allow Afghan troops to engage AQ at Tora Bora was made to appease local and international poltical considerations. And what did we get for our efforts? One six foot five bastard sneaking out past our so called allies wearing a burka.

They best we can do is keep the wars at arms reach. GWB was not even governor of Texas when the plan of September 11 was set in motion. Liberal, conservative, liberatarian, black, white... it doesn't matter. You are hated for being American and for no other reason. One thing is for sure: had Kerry been elected those that would fly a 767 into the side of an office building certainly aren't going to suddenly see the light and live happily ever after in a garden blooming with so called liberal ideals. What they would do is use our efforts of diplomacy, engagement, and appeasement against us to increase their operational scope and tempo.

That is what I would do if I were them.
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Post by BigKahuna13 »

yeti wrote:One thing is for sure: had Kerry been elected those that would fly a 767 into the side of an office building certainly aren't going to suddenly see the light and live happily ever after in a garden blooming with so called liberal ideals. What they would do is use our efforts of diplomacy, engagement, and appeasement against us to increase their operational scope and tempo.
Unfortunately that probably doesn't change under Bush, since he all but gave up trying to nail OBL in favor of attacking Iraq.

shortski wrote:For the last time, Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, they were inventoried by the all powerful UN, the question is where are they now.
Whil I'm not conceding this point, even if he did have WMD so what? He had the opportunity to use them against our troops during GW1 and didn't. He had the opportunity to arm the PLO with them and he didn't. Given the historical fact that he has not given away his WMD technology and has not used them against the us when he had the chance, why do you believe he would have in the future?

Even if he had them, and I still have grave doubts that he did, the historical record pretty plainly indicates that he would not have used them against
us.

Gassing defenseless Kurds is one thing. Provoking a superpower that could turn his country into a big field of molten glass without breaking a sweat is something completely different. The two are not comparable situations.
What is not possible is not to choose. ~Jean-Paul Sartre


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Post by Bubba »

Kahuna, your post is inherently self-contradictory.

On the one hand you say you're not convinced that Saddam had WMD. Then you acknowledge that he gassed defenseless Kurds.

The rest of your points about having had them, what would he do with them, are valid arguments...but you're contradicting yourself on the key question of his having had them.
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Post by CAPBOY »

Sounds like a lot of people still spending too much time at the Kerry Fountain of sh*t.
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Post by KingsFourMan »

That letter hits the nail head, i'm as completely dumbfounded as she is. with respect to Iraq, whether he had WMDs or not is irrelevant. The facts are that he rushed us into war without world support, without a successful occupation plan, and without a workable exit strategy. Americans are dieing over there every day, we are more hated than ever before, are not safer, have wasted billions of dollars and counting, and there's absolutely no end in sight. What the f*** am i missing here?!

I can also relate to this woman's 9/11 story. I was standing on the banks of the Hudson River in Jersey City just south of exchange place on 9/11 with a front row seat to that nightmare. i heard the explosion from the first plane, saw the second plane plow into the face of the south tower that i was staring at, and saw ironworkers on my jobsite cry like babies afterwards. I heard the jet engines screaming as the 2nd plane hit and the explosion was so load that my ribcage shook. About 6 months ago (almost 3 yrs after 9/11), a commercial airliner flew low over our house at night because of a low cloud bank (i presume) on it's way to Newark. i woke up out of deep sleep and flew out of bed in a panic with my heart pounding. And i'm one of those people that could sleep through a hurricane.
Last edited by KingsFourMan on Nov 19th, '04, 11:38, edited 2 times in total.
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Post by BigKahuna13 »

Bubba wrote:Kahuna, your post is inherently self-contradictory.

On the one hand you say you're not convinced that Saddam had WMD. Then you acknowledge that he gassed defenseless Kurds.

The rest of your points about having had them, what would he do with them, are valid arguments...but you're contradicting yourself on the key question of his having had them.
No, I'm not be self-contradictory, I'm just not writing as clearly as I should.
He did have gas at one point in time -- specifically during the war with Iran and when he used it against the Kurds. That's part of the historical record and not open to debate. What is open to debate, and what I should have been clearer about, is whether or not he had them during the time leading up to GW2. There is significant disagreement on that but, for the sake of argument, I'll concede that he had them just to point out that in my view whether he had them or not in 2002 doesn't matter anyway.
What is not possible is not to choose. ~Jean-Paul Sartre


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Post by CAPBOY »

KingsFourMan wrote:The facts are that he rushed us into war without world support, without a successful occupation plan, and without a workable exit strategy. Americans are dieing over there every day, we are more hated than ever before, are not safer, have wasted billions of dollars and counting, and there's absolutely no end in sight. What the f*** am i missing here?!

.
It only took 12 years to get the balls to enforce the UN resulutions! If that's rushing, then I would have had a better excuse to hold my wife off when she wanted to get married after 6 years of being together!

If we didn't enforce the resolution, then imagine Just how tough those inspections in IRAN would be, despite what that liberal hate source CNN says.
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