A Deep Sense of Patriotism
Dear George:
Mr. President, as I write to you I am overcome with a deep sense of patriotism, of what your predecessor once spoke of, of what I owe to this country, not to what it owes me. I write this as a preface to my letter in hopes of conveying my extreme pride in my country and of the greatness I believe still lies deep within its citizens.
Mr. President, I am troubled, I am frightened and I am saddened by the state of our union. I long for a time that I never knew, except for the brief moments after 9/11. A time when country was first, soldiers were heroes, politicians were respected and trust was a valued commodity.
This week as the country mourns the loss of a true American and remembers its heroes of a past generation, I have seen slivers of hope. In the barren landscape that was the past 3 years, these small things were enough to bring tears to my eyes. The 100,000 people in California that still recognized greatness and what is important. Those who paused their lives to pay homage to a man for what he did right, not what he did wrong.
It was a drop of nourishment after a hard, unforgiving journey.
Mr. President, I believe you love this country, but I believe that you have let others in your administration tarnish and damage not only your reputation, but ours as a country as well.
I will not criticize your policies, or your beliefs. I know that you too are an American and like us have had your freedoms paid for in precious lives.
All I will do is ask that you reach out to us. Remember what you loved about this country and maybe through you Mr. President we can learn to love ourselves and our country again.
I ask that you declare this Fourth of July, a national day of healing for America. A dedicated time for us to pause, reflect, and remember what we stand for. I urge you to gather your staff and have them pour out of their hearts everything that Americans need to bolster our spirits. And in turn I ask that you dedicate yourself and your soul to making us believe in greatness again. We are thirsty Mr. President. Can you offer us relief?
Galvanize us, do not divide us. Ignore those who will say it is for politcal purposes. Ignore those who say its futile. We long to serve, we long to uplift, we long to stand tall and to stand together with the flag of our beloved country draped across our shoulders. If you doubt, please only remember that some scoffed at Mr. Reagan as well.
The time is here for for someone, just one great man to truly sacrifice themselves in hopes of healing a country. Do it for us, not for yourself.
We will rise up and meet you. We will carry the burdens of this world with you and we will never back down in the face of crisis.
We are made of good stock Mr. President, but some of us need reminding.
Sincerely Yours,
Ginger
Age 24
Houston, Texas U.S.A.
P.S. If you decide to speak on July 4th, please remember to tell the networks beforehand this time. :)
1 Comments:
Please do not use comments for personal attacks. One of the goals of this project is to allow these open letters to foster civil (and civic) debate, so please keep personal attacks to yourselves, even if you disagree with the letter/comments here. Better yet, write a letter yourself.
At 11:07 PM, Anonymous said…
Ginger,
Your letter was heartfelt and well-thought out as well as being beautifully expressed. You not only expressed some opinions that are also the opinions of millions of other Americans, but you did it with the respect due to the office of the President of the United States. I applaud your efforts to make July 4th a National Day of Healing. This country needs to start healing....the sooner the better. I hope President Bush considers and agrees to do just that. Sometimes you have to look toward the common man or woman to make sense of what this country and its citizens really need. Your parents must be very proud of you.
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