Cowboys

Dear George:

"Bring me men to match my mountains, Bring me men to match my plains, Men with empires in their purpose, And new eras in their brains" from the Coming American..Sam Walter Foss 1858-1911

In the days when there was such a thing as right and wrong, sometimes blurred in our modern world and denied by many, Cowboys, in white hats, were my heroes. There was Tex Ritter, Tom Mix, Buck Jones, Hopalong Cassidy, the Lone Ranger, Red Ryder, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Marshall Matt Dillon, Hoss and Li'l Joe Cartwright, Paladin, Maverick, the Six Shooter, Rawhide's Rowdy Yates and many others. they represented something good, something pure that America has been missing.

Common attributes of these legendary cowboys: They were never looking for trouble, but, when trouble came, they faced it with courage; they were always on the side of right; they defended good people against bad people; they had high morals; they had good manners; they were honest; they spoke their minds and they spoke the truth regardless of what people thought or "political correctness", which no one had heard of back then; They were a beacon of integrity in the wild, wild west; they were respected, when they walked into a salon (where they usually only drank sarsaparilla), the place between quite and the bad guys kept their distance; if in a gunfight, they could outdraw anyone; if in a fist fight, they could beat up anyone; they always won; they always got their man; in victory, they rode off into the sunset.

In the old West might made right, right made might, Cowboys, in white hats, were always on the side of right, that was their might.

Ronald Reagan was a such a Cowboy. He was brave, positive, he gave us hope, he had the courage to call the former Soviet Union what it was-this evil empire.

You, our setting President, distinguishes between good and evil, and after 9-11 called evil "evil" without mincing any words; that's what Cowboys do you know; you told the French to "put their cards on the table" (old West talk), which they did, exposing their cowardice and greed.

Your Administration is slowly whittling away at the radical Muslim terrorists thanks to the aid from our brave men and women in uniform; you are getting the men you are after. Cowboys do you know. (Original writer unknown-I penned to my liking).

Margie
Age 69
Exeter, CA

I Pray

I awoke this morning and bleary eyed turned on the television first thing. It has become my habit for the last 18 months, since the invasion of Iraq, to see what is happening in the world. I was greeted by a clip of the absolutely devastated, hopeless and helpless family of Mr. Bigley the British hostage. I am more and more angry each day that GWB,( I refuse to refer to him as President) and his ilk have set in motion the most self promoting, ill conceived, stupid, dangerous stance on foreign policy that I could ever imagine.

American citizens, our soldiers have paid dearly with life and limb, Iraqi men, woman and children have paid with blood, humiliation, grotesque abuses and death. GWB has said that he answers to a higher power, he’s right, Jack Daniels is top shelf in most bars.

This man, this swaggering, snickering, simple son of privilege has decided along with his posse that he and he alone has the answer to the war on terror. Yep, invade an entire country that has nothing to do with the issue at hand and somehow this will protect the United States from further terrorist attacks. What you do is embark on a proxy war for Israel,(compliments of Paul Wolfiwicz, wonk in chief) disguise it as an altruistic voyage to promote democracy, alienate our allies, run up the deficit, lose jobs, give tax cuts to the rich, push people (mostly woman and children into poverty) ignore the needs of our own citizens and then say really helpful things like “we’ll get the thugs”, we’ll cram democracy down your throat after we lay bare your country, your lives, your collective soul.

We’ll blame Saddam Hussein not for being evil but for hiding invisible WMD’s, promoting terrorism in yet another invisible program for training invisible terrorists. Like Saddam would have ever let anyone into Iraq that would in any way be able to challenge his absolute control/authority.

I want to get back to Jack Daniels though. GWB is an alcoholic, that has power, abundant power and that makes him dangerous, very dangerous. Although he is not currently imbibing he is nevertheless on a bender of massive proportions. All is black and white, no gray. My way or you pay and I have the means at my disposal to make you pay. No humility, no ability to be truly accountable, little insight. And in the end, taking from the serenity prayer. No serenity, no courage, no wisdom.

I pray for this person, after I pray that my anger be cooled, that the lives of Iraqi citizens be made safe, after I pray for the souls of the soldiers and citizens who have lost their lives, been injured or maimed, after I pray for collective forgiveness for the horrific abuses in Abu Graib in the name of GWB’s war on terror, after I pray for Americans who have lost their jobs, after I pray for the elderly who cannot afford their medications, after I pray for the poor and disenfranchised in my own country, after I pray for the children who are not receiving an adequate education, after I pray for the removal of GWB from the office of the presidency. Please make sure you vote.

Joan
Age 54
Syracuse, NY