Reality is the best teacher in life

Dear George:

Sir, I first wish to wish you well, your parents and descendants well. Especially your father who I count as my hero. I hope your kin are in fine spirit and health.

I write you this letter because I feel that your understanding of the Muslim world is built on wishful thinking of neo-conservative ideology. You are my Commander-in-Chief at a time of rabid mutant Islamic ideology that wishes us destroyed. Yet to fight this ideology you choose to use ideology that basically nurtures reaffirming their ideology.

Sir, reality is the best teacher in life, the Iraqis did not give us flowers and offer kisses as liberators as your ideology believed but instead got Palestinianized and we occupationalist with everyday an American, Iraqi or foreigner pays in life. Reality teaches us that ideology is flake compared to it. Your goals sir, are noble and as American as apple pie but your methodology sucks.

Sir, you wish to spread democracy in the middle east where one person one vote is your mantra, but your reality is you got nominated avoiding counting votes in Florida. Our own capitol city DC is taxed without representation within our democracy. Reality sir, beats ideology any day. I trust reality. Ideology is but cheap and expensive thoughts and actions.

Sir, the sooner you stop calling kings and presidents for life in the middle east our friends the better reality will change on Muslim streets and democracy take hold. The sooner you resolve the Israel-Palestine issue the earlier you defang terrorism from Muslims. The faster you bring back our sons and daughters off foreign soils if possible or put them in garrisons the better we are at exporting our values that will surely take root.

Sir, please do not let ideology overwhelm reality. Re-affirm the reality of true peace, sovereignty and democracy and you would have done humanity a splendid favor. Stick to ideology and watch us end up in the dog chasing our tail format with little to show.

Otherwise you are a good commander, love your tax cuts, abhor your cultural issues about stem cells and gay marriage. Ground yourself in reality, escape ideology however addictive their special interest are and you shall do fine.

Mohamed
Age 28
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Take a gander at the forest

Dear George:

I’ll admit that I blame you for a great many things, but only inasmuch as I blame everyone, myself included. As bizarre as it may sound, I believe that the human race hasn’t really evolved at all since it split from the chimps. Almost all of our underlying assumptions – our core of beliefs – the givens that make up our shared world view – are not only fundamentally flawed, but, from an evolutionary perspective, are fast becoming maladaptive. What does it mean, for example, to be the president of a nation?

It means that nations exist. Why do nations exist?

Nations exist because of territorialism. What is territorialism?

Territorialism is a vestigial instinct left over from our pre-human ancestry. Territorialism is nothing more than the imperative of the alpha male primate as filtered through a freakishly enormous brain.

It is, in short, arguable whether intelligent life has actually arisen on our planet.

Human evolution is on a strictly voluntary basis. Either we’re lazy or we’re stubborn. Maybe both. Or perhaps we’re simply too proud to handle a deeper level of self-reflection. Regardless, we need to come to terms with the fact that nationalism is maladaptive. We live in a global age; if we don’t learn to pull together as a single human race, surely we’ll fall as one.

We need to stop thinking small. We need to question our most fundamental concepts, categories, and definitions. The human race has spent millions of years now staring at a single tree. Maybe we should take a gander at the forest.

Our world view is founded upon competitive metaphors, but we need cooperative metaphors to replace them. Goodness knows, cooperation is challenging enough without turning every imaginable human endeavor into a competition.

George, you identify yourself as a Christian. I’m an agnostic. I have read the New Testament, however. Many times. There’s some great stuff in there, true genius, true wisdom. Even an agnostic can recognize the loving, sincere philanthropy of the words attributed to Christ. The problem is that we tend to embrace Christ’s idealism with one hand while dismissing it with a wave of the other. Noble principles are all well and good, but we do, after all, have to live in the real world. (Never mind that the real world is a construction of our own design.)

Christ comes off as genuinely concerned about humanity, not just someone paying lip-service. I think one of Christ’s primary messages, if I might be bold enough to paraphrase, was: “Pride is always arrogance. Hatred is always self-loathing. Violence is always self-mutilation. Killing is always suicide.”

In other words, pride, hatred, violence, and killing are flat-out stupid ideas. Not just some of the time, but all of the time. Not just in some situations, in all situations. Not just with regard to some people, but with regard to all people.

We’re so busy investing imaginary value into material items that we quickly lose sight of the only truly valuable thing we have: our infinite human potential. I, for one, refuse to believe that an imaginary line drawn on a map is worth the price of even one human life, ever. You can call me crazy for believing that. You can call me misguided, naïve, moronic, hopelessly idealistic. But don’t call me evil. Anyone can cast that stone.

Besides, I’m a lover, not a fighter.

In conclusion, perhaps the best advice I can pass along to you personally, George, is that there are three kinds of people in the world: those who are full of it; those who are full of it and know it; and those who are full of it, know it, and are willing to admit it.

Peace be with us all.


John
Age 38
Silver Spring, MD

I have to vote the way God would want

Dear George:

I am a 65-year old grandmother with a long-line democratic family. I have always said I was democrat if I had to make a choice; however, that was then and this is now. I have never voted a straight ticket--just for the “right” candidate.

I guess the reason for being a “democrat” would be they were for the working man.

The Democratic Party as it is now goes against my morals and beliefs. I have to vote the way God would want me to vote. There are too many important moral issues at stake in this country and I just have to depend on God to meet my earthly needs.

Therefore, I can only support you Mr. President in hopes you will be able to keep and recover the values this great country of ours was based on.

Something has to be done with the ACLU. They certainly are in the wrong country to manhandle us. They are trying to destroy our nation by eliminating any and all mentioning of God and promoting all that are against God. We turn our backs to God and evil will prevail as with 911. God won't intervene where He is not wanted.

Please keep up the good fight. We pray for you and our country daily.

Mr. President, I know that Mr. Cheney has and is doing a wonderful job and is a great asset to our country and while I truly respect and admire him, I feel the campaign is at stake and it would seem to me a running mate (like a Giuliani or McCain) with voter's appeal would give a boost and maybe victory to the Republican party.

Your democratic supporter. (Ha!)


Carolyn
Age 65 (In November)
Scott City, MO