11/4/04--A Letter to my Father

Dear Dad,
      Well I woke up on Wednesday to discover that George Bush had been reelected president.  I was disappointed,  because I had voted for Kerry.  I voted for Kerry not so much because I believed in him, but because I didn't believe in Bush.  I'm going to try and explain why.
     Its not a "republican" thing....or a "democrat" thing.  I have no plans to jump on the "Hillary in '08" bandwagon (puh-leeze!).  I have no problem telling anyone who would ask that I would have gladly voted for John McCain if he had been on the ballot as the republican candidate.
     I don't trust George Bush.  I don't trust what he's become.  I don't trust that the republican party has allowed itself to be taken over by the extreme rightwing nuts.
I don't mean honest, conservative church going folks.  I mean the ultra right, who use religion as a weapon--who use it to intimidate their opponents.  Who claim that anyone who disagrees with the administration is "anti-american". 
     I worry that my 15 year old son will be draft eligible in a few years.  I worry, as someone who uses words and loves to writes, that "freedom of speech" is being looked at completely different than it was 20 years ago.  I worry that our president doesn't like people to discuss his past, but felt that his opponents were fair game.
I worry that our president doesn't like to admit when he's made a mistake.  Ever.
I worry that our president's family has some ties with the royal family in Saudia Arabia that he doesn't particularly care to discuss.  I worry that Iraq will turn into this generations Vietnam.
    I know with your personal background that you will always favor a strong military and a strong defense.  I respect that.  But I worry that some republicans are so vitriolic in their hatred of anything Clinton or related to Clinton that it makes it easy to blame our former president than to question the decisions or strategy of our current one.
    I love my country....but I'm worried.

Your loving son,
Jeff