The famous silent majority

Dear Mr. President;

Unlike so many of the other letters, I will not presume to call you “George”. I learned through high school civics class that the correct salutation for the President of the United States is “Mr. President”. I don't know why so many in this country have forgotten that. I blame it on the poor condition of our public schools.

I don't have any illusions that my letter will actually be read on a stage anywhere in the US in October. I see this whole project as an obvious political stunt by the political left in this country. Sure they will read a few letters from Republicans to give the appearance of fairness. However they will no doubt read twice as many letters from the far left and the audience will be left with the impression that the majority of this country does not support you.

So I write this letter simply as an exercise to ad my name to the list of your supporters the famous silent majority. I do so in the hope that these letters will be read by the left in retrospect to try and understand the underlying cause of their defeat. So for the record let me spell it out.

I was in Europe on Sept. 11, 2001. I learned of the attacks on the WTC and the Pentagon from a gelato vendor in Florence Italy. My wife and I rushed to a bar to see the attacks on TV for ourselves. We could not believe what we were watching. I remember making the comment that those who were responsible would soon feel the wrath of the United States in the form of the Marine Corps, the Army, Navy, and Air Force. I also remember shaking with rage as I said those words. I know that I was not alone.

My wife and I remained in Europe for the next couple of weeks. While we were there we heard many Europeans express their sorrow over the loss of life in the US. We saw them visit their churches for prayer services to honor the fallen. Even then though there were some who praised the attackers. There were some who could even rationalize the attacks and sympathize with the terrorists.

Once we returned to the US we were shocked to see that little had changed. There were no special measures being taken at the airport. There was no extra security present. There was no extra scrutiny of passports, IDs, or visas. In fact the foreigners on our flight actually beat my wife and I through the lines. It was as if nothing had happened at all. Our country was very lucky that the terrorists did not know that we had no reaction for the first 30 days after the attacks.

I was even more shocked to hear the rumblings of political opposition in this country even before we responded in Afghanistan! The leadership in the Democratic party now hopes that we all have forgotten. I have not forgotten! I never will! I can remember the anti-war crowd telling us that we should not invade Afghanistan. I remember them telling us that the Afghans had done nothing to us at all. I remember the outcry in the media as we accidentally bombed a Red Cross food depot that just happened to be next to an Afghan army outpost. I remember the photos of that food depot and the broken bags of wheat and rice, each one bearing the unmistakable letters USA! I will never forget that.

I will never forget that from day one of our actions in Afghanistan that the media and the left tried to tell us that we were the bad guys. That the US was being “heavy handed” even after we gave the Afghans 6 weeks to surrender Osama bin Laden and after they refused.

Nor will I forget that the left tried to claim that there was “no proof” that Osama was behind the attacks, even after he admitted it on one of his famous video tapes. There are still those on the left who claim that the US government was responsible, or that it was the Jews, or that it was Israel, or .....just about anybody but Osama.

I also remember the calm and reasoned response of our President. I really have to hand it to you sir. I know that if I had been in your shoes, that portions of Afghanistan would be radioactive now. Yet, your response was measured, rational, and very well thought out. You really impressed me in your leadership there.

Now the Democrats want me to forget all this. They want me to consider their candidate who was nowhere to be found in Sept. 2001. In fact the Democrats as a whole were scarce in the aftermath of 9/11. One could say that they were AWOL. Senator Clinton found little time to attend funerals of the fallen. Contrast that with the actions of Rudy Giuliani, Dick Cheney, and yourself, who did attend to your duties. Rudy continued to attend memorials even after he was replaced as mayor.

Now it's October 2004 and we will vote in a matter of weeks. I need no more convincing, you convinced me in September, October, and November of 2001. You are and always will be my President of choice.

I think in this election more than in any other in the past we will decide the fate of this country. We will decide once and for all what it means to be an American. I personally think that you will win by a landslide. If not then heaven help us when the next attack comes.

Ed
Age 43
Atlanta, GA

Results do matter

Dear George:

I voted for you in 2000, have voted Republican all of my life, but will vote Democrat in November 2004.

Why? I am not sure I have enough time nor space to include it all, but here it goes.

1. You say “results matter”, and they do.. if someone doesn’t produce results on the job, they usually get fired. You have done two things you said you would do, reduce taxes and attack Iraq... in every other area, you have not delivered results... I will get to those later

2. From the Bush/Cheney 2000 website, you promised to reduce the number of uninsured... this has not happened, in fact, that number has increased by 10%. My healthcare premiums increased by 27% this year alone, with reduced coverage. During your 2000 campaign, you stated:

“George W. Bush will establish the 'Healthy Communities Innovation Fund' to provide $500 million in grants over five years to fund innovative projects addressing targeted health risks, such as childhood diabetes.”

This never happened.

3. You call Kerry a “flip flopper”, but you were the one who said “we will get Bin Laden, dead or alive”, only to say later “I don’t know where he is and it doesn’t really matter”.. you call yourself a war president, only to turn around and call yourself a peace president... there are WMD's, there are no WMD's... we didn’t attack because of WMD's.. we attacked to fight terror, but wait, there was no link between Iraq and the terrorists.. only to hear that our mission is to “FREE” certain countries... but didn’t you also say in 1999 that you didn’t believe the US should get into nation-building... I could write a book on your contradictions alone.. the bottom line is this.. you and Cheney can only resort to dirty politics, because you do not have a record to run on.

4. During your 2000 campaign you made promises in the areas of the environment, Pell Grants, and governmental spending.. NONE of the promises were kept, but the biggest promise not kept was that of being a “Uniter, not a divider”... I don’t know if this country has been more divided.

5. Jobs, or the lack of jobs.. you can say the economy has “turned the corner”, you can say that “people are finding work”, you can get excited when someone in California says that they are going to hire two people, but the reality is this. People are out of work, and woefully underemployed. During the past 3 years, I have watched families fall apart, I have watched people run through their savings, I have seen homes lost. You love to state that home ownership is rising.. but you fail to mention that personal bankruptcy is also at an all-time high. The numbers do not lie, your 2002 budget stated that the tax cuts would create 6 million jobs before the end of your term, on 15% of that number has been created. India, on the other hand, has companies like Wipro, Tata, and others who are growing topline revenue by tenfold numbers.. there is a boom in India because people are working. I didn’t think it was possible, but you are truly more out of touch with the mainstream that your Dad ever was.. but I voted for your Dad, twice, because he did try, and was man enough to admit there was a problem.

6. I offer you this challenge.. if you are the leader you say you are.. then take the podium, look us in the eye and tell me why I have relatives fighting in Iraq... tell me why I have friends with degrees in Engineering and MBA's who cannot find work.. tell me why oil prices are at record levels when you stated during your campaign that you could “jawbone” with the oil people... tell me why you have been more concerned with a “Free Iraq”, that you have the lives of the people in this country... tell me why we are safer in this country, only to have Tom Ridge come out every month or so and tell us how unsafe we are...

I am a Christian, but I am not simple minded.. just because you pray to the same God that I do does not make you qualified to hold the office of President. Many do not understand that, they are simple minded people who don’t understand the meaning of “separation of church and state”, I do.

Results do matter, and the results of this administration are shocking. You should be ashamed.

Tracy
Age 43
Atlanta, GA