I look forward to the day...

Dear George:

Being elected to the Office of the President is an honor and distinction. Only 42 men before you (in approximately 230 years since the birth of this country) have been chosen to hold this, the most important office in the world. This office gives the holder the privilege of leading this wonderful country, to be an example throughout the world of good and strong leadership, to honor the integrity of other nations, to support freedom for the entire planet. You are in an office that demands respect, that hopes to achieve lofty goals, that puts the needs of the people above your own personal needs, that engenders awe from all other nations. You hold an office that has held brave men of immense character and moral fiber, the saviors of our society, big thinkers and big doers, men of great dignity and stateliness. Every little boy and girl at sometime in their life is determined to be President of the United States. You have done it! Our presidents have always shown to be resourceful, imaginative, creative and capable. They have been for the most part fair, just, reasonable, and unbiased. They have provided great guidance and leadership when times have gotten tough. Most of all, they have been strong and yet compassionate to the people. How in the hell did YOU get there?

You, stole the last 2 elections. You, your family, and your very good friends arranged for the presidency to be handed to you. You couldn’t win it fairly…primarily because you are a loser. Hear me now!!! Mr. President…your secret will come out…it will not remain a secret forever. Someone is destined to spill the beans. Someone who falls out of grace with you and the family will begin to leak out the information. And when this happens, not only will you be disgraced, but you will take the entire Republican Party with you. They will have you to thank when the Democrats retake control of the Senate and the House. I look forward to the day.

Your smug expressions of piety and smirk of vindictiveness will soon be wiped away. As you walk around proudly touting your accomplishments, secure in the belief that you have finally bettered your father, be prepared…be very prepared. You have, thus far, conquered the 2 most notable failures of his administration. “Read my lips, no new taxes” was the first. Regardless of the deficit rising at break-neck speed, you hold onto tax cuts for the wealthy at the expense of the middle class. Ridding the world of Saddam was the 2nd. This has been a goal all along, regardless of any denials, as will soon be acknowledged by the sudden appearance of the minutes of a meeting in the U.K. You will end up disgracing your family again, just as you did all to regularly as a young man. You will return to your classic position of ‘black-sheep’ where you spent most of your life. Back to choking on pretzels and ‘banging your head on the coffee table’. Back to driving while intoxicated. Back to having your family bail you out of trouble and financial ruin again and again. You’ve not had a successful business venture your entire life. And you failed miserably at this one too. The family will need to come up with new excuses for you as you limp away in shame. That is, assuming you can feel any! That is, also assuming that they can conjure up some new ones. Maybe this time they’ll actually have to admit the truth (how unlikely), that you are just a failure, an embarrassment and humiliation. If you were my son, I would probably commit suicide to escape the mortification and disgrace I’d experience.

There are 2 methods of escape for you. The first is resignation…but do it quickly before the indictments come down. The second is to stage your own death, then slink out of the country and hide in Acapulco with your racist friend Fox. You’d make a lovely couple. You could always invite Gannon/Guckert to join you and make a threesome out of it!!

I apologize for the length and complexity of this letter, for I know how truly stupid you are. Who knows…maybe with “Stem Cell Research”, they can find a cure for that too. Oops, I forgot, you don’t agree with such things. Oh well, I guess you’ll just have to remain you!

Doc
Age 47
Long Island, NY

Drivel of the times

Dear Mr. President (as the holder of the highest office in the Nation ought to be addressed),

I voted for you in 2000 because I could not fathom, even at age 22, another four years of Clintonian rule. I voted for you in 2004 for a lot of reasons: believing in the cause for the War on Terror (wherever it takes us, it takes balls to fight it), believing that you had a decent plan to change Social Security for the better, and a great part of the vote was because I am from Massachusetts, and I know John Kerry's role in my state, and I couldn't fathom then, at age 26, how anyone could have an educated view of Kerry, and still appoint him to your office.

Mr. President, (you'll notice I'm still calling you that),
I believe you are a good man. I believe you have very good ideas on a variety of subjects, and I believe there are too many people in this country who will not give you a fair shake, still, because of your father, or because of your party, or because they are misinformed.

I don't like your immigration policy. I think it is soft, and weak. I can't figure out how we can fight a war against a silent enemy, if we allow people to come and go as they please across our sizeable border. Amnesty is no solution, and your plan, no matter how you slice it, amounts to amnesty.

Your Social Security plan, Mr President (yet again), started out strong. I watched you lay it out live on TV. But there was one matter that fouls the whole thing up: too much choice. I understand that dumping the seventy year old system that has helped so many, yet has gone sour, is a hard sell...especially in this political climate...but tough shit to those who cannot accept that the old method just doesn't work anymore. I understand that a new system, either yours, or anyone else's, must be phased in. But giving people a choice between something familiar to them, no matter the faults, and something new and frightening to some people, well, sir, it is irresponsible. It is ludicrous. I'll refer you to the amount of people who voted for John Kerry, and against you: you can't always count on the American public, as a whole, to do the right thing.

You'd have done better for yourself had you just said: “Here's the new Social Security Plan, where you can invest a portion of what the government takes out of your paycheck each week, instead of throwing it to the lions on capitol hill. Over the next ten years, the lions' share (get it) will gradually return to your hands, America, and you will have more control over your own future. Say goodbye to the old way, and welcome the brighter future.”

On the topic of stem cell research, please back off. I understand that you are a morally strong man, a Christian man, someone who understands the importance, and the “sanctity” of life. Please don't get in the way of finding a potential cure for genetic illnesses. There should be limitations, yes, but please find the line between vulgar destruction of true life, and scientific work with human cells. This is not vague, Mr. President.

I must let you know that there are many of us who still believe this war on terror is just that, and that you have sent the troops on a noble fight, no matter what the opposition says. Along with that, don't pay attention to the bullshit from the media about Guantanamo. We're talking about imprisoned people from whose belief structure lies with the same people who don't mind showing beheadings on television, but cannot handle even a falsehood about a book, and how it was handled. Fight on.

I hope that I have come off as “holier than thou” to most who have read this, because I believe I am. I haven't taken the side of the right, or the left, or the Republicans or the Democrats, or the conservatives or the liberals. Most of this country spends its time polarized. I choose to fall in the middle. I choose to believe in what is right.

Mr. President (there it is again, some respect),

It is easy for me, and anyone else who has written a letter for this, to be critical of the man in your position. You'll notice how critical I have been. But we are talking about a few matters, be they great or small in the context of history, and not looking at the whole. It may not be the appropriate time to reflect on your presidency so far, but appropriate or not, on the whole, you've done a hell of a job with the cards you were dealt.

I thank you, for myself, and all of those whose voices may not be heard amidst the drivel of the times.

Kevin P. Michaud
Age 27
Worcester, Massachusetts