Keep us better

Mr. President,

I am a former member of the United States Army, a service I was proud to perform for America. I remember all the different times we had classes, both in Basic and in permanent units, on the Geneva Convention and proper treatment of prisoners. For all that I didn’t like classes that much, I felt a sense of pride when we conducted these classes because they told us we had not only one of the best equipment and training in the world, we had the best moral bedrock for our actions.

Now, Mr. President, I’m no longer certain of that. I tend to take most media with a large grain of salt but at a certain point it’s impossible to ignore what’s going on. I read the words of your staff and they’re tap-dancing around the truth. I read your directives and they say to ignore laws and principles that have set us apart as a nation for decades. The Patriot Act is being abused every day but no one speaks up. The CIA takes people into custody and whisks them away to foreign soil so they can take advantage of a loophole to use reprehensible means to get questionable data.

Mr. President, I am a loyal American. I love my country and know how fortunate I am to have been born here. I want to keep that feeling of pride, of almost divine favor in being American. Don’t let us descend to the level of those who attack us. Don’t make us like them. Rule of Law is better than absolutism. Keep us better.

Thank you, Sir, for your time and attention.

Dean
Age 47
Clovis, New Mexico