In 2008 this country will elect a new president. We Americans make this enormous decision during a time in which we begin to acknowledge economic recession, our government leads us to record high national debt. The US Dollar is steadily plummeting, mass housing foreclosures are taking place, policies of torture are encouraged, banks are failing at an alarming rate, our president has taken a record breaking 879 days of vacation and visited another record breaking 143 foreign countries in just short of 8 years...
In 2008 this country will elect a new president. We Americans make this enormous decision during a time in which we begin to acknowledge economic recession, our government leads us to record high national debt. The US Dollar is steadily plummeting, mass housing foreclosures are taking place, policies of torture are encouraged, banks are failing at an alarming rate, our president has taken a record breaking 879 days of vacation and visited another record breaking 143 foreign countries in just short of 8 years, facts offer resounding proof that the planet is ill, two separate wars continue to send home the bodies of brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, cousins, and friends, the seeds of nuclear proliferation are prevalent, poverty runs rampant in the streets of America, tension in the Middle East festers, Our 109th congress spent three days a week at work while our 110th congress graces us with 5 work days and takes lengthy vacations, we stand by idly while icebergs melt, increasing costs and decreasing wages make four dollars per gallon of gas particularly painful, we have willingly relinquished the protections of civil rights, available employment has been reduced to service industries and low level positions, bankruptcy is no longer the option it once was, health insurance benefits and pension plans are fading, our government suffers from a lack of accountability, simply forgetting identification can land an individual on the federal terrorism watch list with a staggering 1 million other names, our public representatives allow the Insurance Industry to wield more anxiety then it does comfort, negative sentiments toward American culture are increasing rather than decreasing and lastly, but not least, the average CEO makes 364 times what the average worker makes in one day. We make this decision from homes that are tired, and grief-stricken. We make this decision from homes that are filled with fear and uncertainty. In 2008 this country will elect a direction that will affect our future as individuals but will inevitably affect the planet as a whole.
Currently the United States is engaged in two wars and publicly flirts with the notion of a third war. The country is fatigued by the constant fluctuation between truth and fiction regarding the intent, causes, and future of the wars we have chosen. More than 70% of the country no longer believes that war is worth the cost in blood or economic debt. 70% of Iraqis no longer want our presence in Iraq. Yet the United States continues to forge ahead in its lusty and immature quest for victory. Teenagers often exhibit the same sense of fractured urgency. If America had parents, the attributes of discipline, accountability, humility, and respect would have been discussed and addressed long ago. During these years of war, we have lost sight of what the founding fathers intended this country to be and that is simply unacceptable. The bid for the Presidency of 2008 has become the race to see who can offer the best war strategy that brings our families home sooner rather than later. I, too, want war to end. Yet the wounds of this war far surpass the war itself. During this time of war we have seen our civil liberties dissipate, we have given up our families for the country we believe in, we have seen the end of an American city, we have felt the sorrows of homes flooding, bridges collapsing, and neighborhoods burning. We have watched as the standards by which we judge our education system diminish, we have learned that our government did not trust us with the truth; we have endured photos of tortured souls, stories of war profits, and the loss of taxpayers’ money and weapons to unknown foreign entities. I write this letter to remind you that I have not forgotten. War is my concern but it is not my only concern.
I still believe that America is the home of the Free but we must continue to be brave.