Dear President Bush
Because I cannot believe that the world is completely evil, because I cannot give up hope despite my anger, and because I can't not, here is my letter to the White House:
Dear President Bush,
Though I did not want you to win the election, and do not believe that you necessarily won the election without some help from the folks at Diebold, I will attempt to stand behind you as our president. Which, by the way, is crazy. I marched against you. I signed petitions against you. I have given money and time to dozens of different organizations determined to get you out of office. I think that your administration is a major reason why I struggle (as a college graduate and a motivated worker who three years ago was making more money than my father, a tenured college professor, ever made in his life) at a $10/hour job where I had to fight my ass off for benefits that I can still barely afford. The non-profit that I work for has had their funding cut so drastically that we're sacrificing parts of our mission statement to cover costs. We're losing our essence to remain a part of the community at all.
But I will try to stand behind you. All that I ask in return is to remember that nearly half of the people who voted in this election didn't agree with you, and to remember that every decision you make affects someone, often millions of people, in our country and around the world.
Each and every soldier, American. Iraqi or otherwise, that dies in this war is leaving behind loved ones. My dad died in a fishing accident. It still hurts, even nine years later. It broke my heart in two. Because of your decisions, thousands of families are experiencing the same pain. Is it worth it? If it is, and you can say so with full knowledge of both sides, of the full understanding of why we're at war and who is benefiting and will we change lives and why we aren't in Rwanda instead and if you can say, with total conviction, that there was not a better way, and that every man woman and child who dies will be worth the sacrifice, yes, all that pain will be worth it, then I will try to stand behind you.
If you really believe that the "sanctity of marriage" isn't a joke brought on by the steely, scary side of the religious right, and does not come from fear, from hatred, and from bigotry, and if you really, honestly believe that two women or two men who love each other with all their might, who live as a family just like everyone does, who have children and are active in the community and go to the movies and maybe even attend church together is more blasphemous than two wasted 21 year-old one night stands gettin' hitched in Vegas or marriages that are verbally or physically abusive or friends that get married just for the tax breaks, well then, I'll try to stand behind you. I'll be wicked pissed, and surprised if in 40 years we're not comparing this time to the the racist ideals of 40 years ago, but I'll try to stand behind you.
And if you believe, again, from all angles and with all your heart, that you won this election fairly, and that you were elected because the majority of American voters believed that you were the better candidate, and that their decision was not based on the vicious smears your campaign brought up throughout the campaign months, or the technological advances that HAVA made popular (but your buddies at the voting machine companies profited from), but on the fact that you had the better policy for what Americans want out of an administration, and that you are proud of winning this election because you think that you will do everything in your power to act as the voice of the people, the protector of the people, and the conscience of the people, then I will try to stand behind you.
I could go on. And on. But I just have to try to trust you. It's all I have -- the trust that you care about me and my fellow citizens, and that you will do everything in your power to make the right decisions with all the information needed to do so. Because if not, if that's not what you're doing, then all of us, every American, has blood on their hands today.
- Ester
Dear President Bush,
Though I did not want you to win the election, and do not believe that you necessarily won the election without some help from the folks at Diebold, I will attempt to stand behind you as our president. Which, by the way, is crazy. I marched against you. I signed petitions against you. I have given money and time to dozens of different organizations determined to get you out of office. I think that your administration is a major reason why I struggle (as a college graduate and a motivated worker who three years ago was making more money than my father, a tenured college professor, ever made in his life) at a $10/hour job where I had to fight my ass off for benefits that I can still barely afford. The non-profit that I work for has had their funding cut so drastically that we're sacrificing parts of our mission statement to cover costs. We're losing our essence to remain a part of the community at all.
But I will try to stand behind you. All that I ask in return is to remember that nearly half of the people who voted in this election didn't agree with you, and to remember that every decision you make affects someone, often millions of people, in our country and around the world.
Each and every soldier, American. Iraqi or otherwise, that dies in this war is leaving behind loved ones. My dad died in a fishing accident. It still hurts, even nine years later. It broke my heart in two. Because of your decisions, thousands of families are experiencing the same pain. Is it worth it? If it is, and you can say so with full knowledge of both sides, of the full understanding of why we're at war and who is benefiting and will we change lives and why we aren't in Rwanda instead and if you can say, with total conviction, that there was not a better way, and that every man woman and child who dies will be worth the sacrifice, yes, all that pain will be worth it, then I will try to stand behind you.
If you really believe that the "sanctity of marriage" isn't a joke brought on by the steely, scary side of the religious right, and does not come from fear, from hatred, and from bigotry, and if you really, honestly believe that two women or two men who love each other with all their might, who live as a family just like everyone does, who have children and are active in the community and go to the movies and maybe even attend church together is more blasphemous than two wasted 21 year-old one night stands gettin' hitched in Vegas or marriages that are verbally or physically abusive or friends that get married just for the tax breaks, well then, I'll try to stand behind you. I'll be wicked pissed, and surprised if in 40 years we're not comparing this time to the the racist ideals of 40 years ago, but I'll try to stand behind you.
And if you believe, again, from all angles and with all your heart, that you won this election fairly, and that you were elected because the majority of American voters believed that you were the better candidate, and that their decision was not based on the vicious smears your campaign brought up throughout the campaign months, or the technological advances that HAVA made popular (but your buddies at the voting machine companies profited from), but on the fact that you had the better policy for what Americans want out of an administration, and that you are proud of winning this election because you think that you will do everything in your power to act as the voice of the people, the protector of the people, and the conscience of the people, then I will try to stand behind you.
I could go on. And on. But I just have to try to trust you. It's all I have -- the trust that you care about me and my fellow citizens, and that you will do everything in your power to make the right decisions with all the information needed to do so. Because if not, if that's not what you're doing, then all of us, every American, has blood on their hands today.
- Ester
posted by Ester at 1:30 PM
1 Comments:
Oh, I know. I'm not gonna, either. It was inspired by sadness, not hope -- and a dull mixture of irony and sarcasm. I have NO belief that he is acting with a clear consicence. Thanks for the comment -- it's my second one EVER! Woo-hoo.
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