IceDevil9
BattleForums Senior Member
This is a forwarded e-mail I received from my aunt which she received frmo one of her friends. In case you did not know I, and my entire family, are democratsm, and I found this e-mail quite interesting. Well, here it is:
Sorry, I try not to deluge people with my ramblings. But I had to write
this and, having written it, had to send it. Even though I don't know
anyone I can send it to (without alienating my Republican in-laws, who
are the only "middle country" people I know.)
I am writing this letter to the people in the red states in the middle
of the country -- the people who voted for George W. Bush. I am writing
this letter because I don't think we know each other.
So I'll make an introduction. I am a New Yorker who voted for John
Kerry. I used to live in California, and if I still lived there, I would
vote for Kerry. I used to live in Washington, DC, and if I still lived
there, I would vote for Kerry. Kerry won in all three of those regions.
Maybe you want to know more about me. Or maybe not; maybe you think you
know me already. You think I am some anti-American anarchist because I
dislike George W. Bush. You think that I am immoral and anti-family,
because I support women's reproductive freedom and gay rights. You think
that I am dangerous, and even evil, because I do not abide by your
religious beliefs.
Maybe you are content to think that, to write me off as a "liberal" --
the dreaded "L" word -- and rejoice that your candidate has triumphed
over evil, immoral, anti-American, anti-family people like me. But maybe
you are still curious. So here goes: this is who I am.
I am a New Yorker. I was here, in my apartment downtown, on September
11th.
I watched the Towers burn from the roof of my building. I went inside so
that I couldn't see them when they fell. I had friends who were inside.
I have a friend who still has nightmares about watching people jump and
fall from the Towers. He will never be the same. How many people like
him do you know? People that can't sit in a restaurant without plotting
an escape route, in case it blows up?
I am a worker. I work across the street from the Citigroup Center, which
the government told us is a "target" of terrorism. Later, we found out
they were relaying very old information, but it was already too late.
They had given me bad dreams again. The subway stop near my office was
crowded with bomb-sniffing dogs, policemen in heavy protective gear,
soldiers. Now, every time I enter or exit my office, all of my
possessions are X-rayed to make sure I don't have any weapons. How often
are you stopped by a soldier with a bomb-sniffing dog outside your
office?
I am a neighbor. I have a neighbor who is a 9/11 widow. She has two
children. My husband does odd jobs for her now, like building
bookshelves.
Things her husband should do. He uses her husband's tools, and the two
little girls tell him, "Those are our daddy's tools." How many 9/11
widows and orphans do you know? How often do you fill in for their dead
loved ones?
I am a taxpayer. I worked my butt off to get where I did, and so did my
parents. My parents saved and borrowed and sent me to college. I worked
my way through graduate school. I won a full tuition scholarship to law
school.
All for the privilege of working 2,600 hours last year. That works out
to a 50 hour week, every week, without any vacation days at all. I get
to work by
9 am and rarely leave before 9 pm. I eat dinner at my office much more
often than I eat dinner at home. My husband and I paid over $70,000 in
federal income tax last year. At some point in the future, we will have
to pay much more -- once this country faces its deficit and the
impossible burden of Social Security. In fact, the areas of the country
that supported Kerry -- New York, California, Illinois, Massachusetts --
they are the financial centers of the nation. They are the tax base of
this country. How much did you pay, Kansas? How much did you contribute
to this government you support, Alabama? How much of this war in Iraq
did you pay for?
I am a liberal. The funny part is, liberals have this reputation for
living in Never-Neverland, being idealists, not being sensible. But let
me tell you how I see the world: I see America as one nation in a world
of nations.
Therefore, I think we should try to get along with other nations. I see
that gay people exist. Therefore, I think they should be allowed to
exist, and be treated the same as other people. I see ways in which
women are not allowed to control their own bodies. Therefore, I think we
should give women more control over their bodies. I see that people have
awful diseases. Therefore, I think we should enable scientists to try to
cure them. I see that we have a Constitution. Therefore, I think it
should be upheld. I see that there were no weapons of mass destruction
in Iraq. Therefore, I think that Iraq was not an imminent danger to me.
It seems so pragmatic to me. How do you see the world? Do you really
think voting against gay marriage will keep people from being gay? Would
you really prefer that people continue to die from Parkinson's disease?
Do you really not care about the Constitutional rights of political
detainees? Would you really have supported the war if you knew the
truth, or would you have wanted to spend more of our money on health
care, job training, terrorism preparedness?
I am an American. I have an American flag flying outside my home. I love
my home more than anything. I love that I grew up right outside New York
City.
I first went to the Statue of Liberty with my 5th grade class, and my
mom and dad took me to the Empire State Building when I was 8. I love
taking the subway to Yankee Stadium. I loved living in Washington DC and
going on dates to the Lincoln Memorial. It is because I love this
country so much that I argue with my political opponents as much I do.
I am not safe. I never feel safe. My in-laws live in a small town in
Ohio, and that town has received more federal funding, per capita, for
terrorism preparedness than New York City has. I take subways and buses
every day. I work in a skyscraper across the street from a "target." I
have emergency supplies and a spare pair of sneakers in my desk, in case
somethng happens while I'm at work. Do you? How many times a month do
you worry that your subway is going to blow up? When you hear sirens on
the street, do you run to the window to make sure everything is okay?
When you hear an airplane, do you flinch? Do you dread beautiful,
blue-skied September days? I don't know a single New Yorker who doesn't
spend the month of September on tip-toes, superstitiously praying for
rain so we don't have to relive that beautiful, blue-skied day.
I am lonely. I feel that we, as a nation, have alienated all our friends
and further provoked our enemies. I feel unprotected.
Most of all I feel alienated from my fellow citizens, because I don't
understand what you are thinking. You voted for a man who started a war
in Iraq for no reason, against the wishes of the entire world. You voted
for a man whose lack of foresight and inability to plan has led to
massive insurgencies in Iraq, where weapons are disappearing into the
hands of terrorists. You voted for a man who let Osama Bin Laden escape
into the hills of Afghanistan so that he could start that war in Iraq.
You voted for a man who doesn't want to let people love who they want to
love; doesn't want to let doctors cure their patients; doesn't want to
let women rule their destinies. I don't understand why you voted for
this man. For me, it is not enough that he is personable; it is not
enough that he seems like one of the guys. Why did you vote for him? Why
did you elect a man that lied to us in order to convince us to go to
war? (Ten years ago you were incensed when our president lied about his
sex life; you thought it was an impeachable offense.) Why did you elect
a leader who thinks that strength cannot include diplomacy or
international cooperaton? Why did you elect a man who did nothing except
run away and hide on September 11?
Most of all, I am terrified. I mean daily, I am afraid that I will not
survive this. I am afraid that I will lose my husband, that I will never
have children, that I will never grow old and watch the sunset in a
backyard of my own. I am afraid that my career -- which should end with
a triumphant and good-natured roast at a retirement party in 2035 --
will be cut short by an attack on me and my colleagues, as we sit
sending emails and making phone calls one ordinary afternoon. Is your
life at stake? Are you terrified?
I don't think you are. I don't think you realize what you have done. And
if anything happens to me or the people I love, I blame you. I wanted
you to know that.
-Frank
Sorry, I try not to deluge people with my ramblings. But I had to write
this and, having written it, had to send it. Even though I don't know
anyone I can send it to (without alienating my Republican in-laws, who
are the only "middle country" people I know.)
I am writing this letter to the people in the red states in the middle
of the country -- the people who voted for George W. Bush. I am writing
this letter because I don't think we know each other.
So I'll make an introduction. I am a New Yorker who voted for John
Kerry. I used to live in California, and if I still lived there, I would
vote for Kerry. I used to live in Washington, DC, and if I still lived
there, I would vote for Kerry. Kerry won in all three of those regions.
Maybe you want to know more about me. Or maybe not; maybe you think you
know me already. You think I am some anti-American anarchist because I
dislike George W. Bush. You think that I am immoral and anti-family,
because I support women's reproductive freedom and gay rights. You think
that I am dangerous, and even evil, because I do not abide by your
religious beliefs.
Maybe you are content to think that, to write me off as a "liberal" --
the dreaded "L" word -- and rejoice that your candidate has triumphed
over evil, immoral, anti-American, anti-family people like me. But maybe
you are still curious. So here goes: this is who I am.
I am a New Yorker. I was here, in my apartment downtown, on September
11th.
I watched the Towers burn from the roof of my building. I went inside so
that I couldn't see them when they fell. I had friends who were inside.
I have a friend who still has nightmares about watching people jump and
fall from the Towers. He will never be the same. How many people like
him do you know? People that can't sit in a restaurant without plotting
an escape route, in case it blows up?
I am a worker. I work across the street from the Citigroup Center, which
the government told us is a "target" of terrorism. Later, we found out
they were relaying very old information, but it was already too late.
They had given me bad dreams again. The subway stop near my office was
crowded with bomb-sniffing dogs, policemen in heavy protective gear,
soldiers. Now, every time I enter or exit my office, all of my
possessions are X-rayed to make sure I don't have any weapons. How often
are you stopped by a soldier with a bomb-sniffing dog outside your
office?
I am a neighbor. I have a neighbor who is a 9/11 widow. She has two
children. My husband does odd jobs for her now, like building
bookshelves.
Things her husband should do. He uses her husband's tools, and the two
little girls tell him, "Those are our daddy's tools." How many 9/11
widows and orphans do you know? How often do you fill in for their dead
loved ones?
I am a taxpayer. I worked my butt off to get where I did, and so did my
parents. My parents saved and borrowed and sent me to college. I worked
my way through graduate school. I won a full tuition scholarship to law
school.
All for the privilege of working 2,600 hours last year. That works out
to a 50 hour week, every week, without any vacation days at all. I get
to work by
9 am and rarely leave before 9 pm. I eat dinner at my office much more
often than I eat dinner at home. My husband and I paid over $70,000 in
federal income tax last year. At some point in the future, we will have
to pay much more -- once this country faces its deficit and the
impossible burden of Social Security. In fact, the areas of the country
that supported Kerry -- New York, California, Illinois, Massachusetts --
they are the financial centers of the nation. They are the tax base of
this country. How much did you pay, Kansas? How much did you contribute
to this government you support, Alabama? How much of this war in Iraq
did you pay for?
I am a liberal. The funny part is, liberals have this reputation for
living in Never-Neverland, being idealists, not being sensible. But let
me tell you how I see the world: I see America as one nation in a world
of nations.
Therefore, I think we should try to get along with other nations. I see
that gay people exist. Therefore, I think they should be allowed to
exist, and be treated the same as other people. I see ways in which
women are not allowed to control their own bodies. Therefore, I think we
should give women more control over their bodies. I see that people have
awful diseases. Therefore, I think we should enable scientists to try to
cure them. I see that we have a Constitution. Therefore, I think it
should be upheld. I see that there were no weapons of mass destruction
in Iraq. Therefore, I think that Iraq was not an imminent danger to me.
It seems so pragmatic to me. How do you see the world? Do you really
think voting against gay marriage will keep people from being gay? Would
you really prefer that people continue to die from Parkinson's disease?
Do you really not care about the Constitutional rights of political
detainees? Would you really have supported the war if you knew the
truth, or would you have wanted to spend more of our money on health
care, job training, terrorism preparedness?
I am an American. I have an American flag flying outside my home. I love
my home more than anything. I love that I grew up right outside New York
City.
I first went to the Statue of Liberty with my 5th grade class, and my
mom and dad took me to the Empire State Building when I was 8. I love
taking the subway to Yankee Stadium. I loved living in Washington DC and
going on dates to the Lincoln Memorial. It is because I love this
country so much that I argue with my political opponents as much I do.
I am not safe. I never feel safe. My in-laws live in a small town in
Ohio, and that town has received more federal funding, per capita, for
terrorism preparedness than New York City has. I take subways and buses
every day. I work in a skyscraper across the street from a "target." I
have emergency supplies and a spare pair of sneakers in my desk, in case
somethng happens while I'm at work. Do you? How many times a month do
you worry that your subway is going to blow up? When you hear sirens on
the street, do you run to the window to make sure everything is okay?
When you hear an airplane, do you flinch? Do you dread beautiful,
blue-skied September days? I don't know a single New Yorker who doesn't
spend the month of September on tip-toes, superstitiously praying for
rain so we don't have to relive that beautiful, blue-skied day.
I am lonely. I feel that we, as a nation, have alienated all our friends
and further provoked our enemies. I feel unprotected.
Most of all I feel alienated from my fellow citizens, because I don't
understand what you are thinking. You voted for a man who started a war
in Iraq for no reason, against the wishes of the entire world. You voted
for a man whose lack of foresight and inability to plan has led to
massive insurgencies in Iraq, where weapons are disappearing into the
hands of terrorists. You voted for a man who let Osama Bin Laden escape
into the hills of Afghanistan so that he could start that war in Iraq.
You voted for a man who doesn't want to let people love who they want to
love; doesn't want to let doctors cure their patients; doesn't want to
let women rule their destinies. I don't understand why you voted for
this man. For me, it is not enough that he is personable; it is not
enough that he seems like one of the guys. Why did you vote for him? Why
did you elect a man that lied to us in order to convince us to go to
war? (Ten years ago you were incensed when our president lied about his
sex life; you thought it was an impeachable offense.) Why did you elect
a leader who thinks that strength cannot include diplomacy or
international cooperaton? Why did you elect a man who did nothing except
run away and hide on September 11?
Most of all, I am terrified. I mean daily, I am afraid that I will not
survive this. I am afraid that I will lose my husband, that I will never
have children, that I will never grow old and watch the sunset in a
backyard of my own. I am afraid that my career -- which should end with
a triumphant and good-natured roast at a retirement party in 2035 --
will be cut short by an attack on me and my colleagues, as we sit
sending emails and making phone calls one ordinary afternoon. Is your
life at stake? Are you terrified?
I don't think you are. I don't think you realize what you have done. And
if anything happens to me or the people I love, I blame you. I wanted
you to know that.
-Frank
![N[U]TS](/data/avatars/m/4/4610.jpg?1366521177){kind=avatar}
