Response

I got an e-mail and saw this on a blog, so I thought I would post this response about it.

Have you seen this letter? It's some retired VP (who apparently is the smartest man in the whole world) who wrote why Obama"scares" him. I am sure he has NO agenda- like protecting his fortunes- and he is writing this out of true concern for the welfare of our country. Because, of course, nothing Bush did was scary.

Anyway, I don't really care and so I probably won't say anything further. This letter is so rediculous, I can not believe anybody would take it seriously, but apparently people are. Here is a response I saw by a guy named Kevin, and I liked it, so I thought I would post. It is LONG, however, but pretty much sums up what I think about this letter and was too lazy to write myself:


Lou,

You scare me.

I am more scared of you than of Obama.
Why?
Because I don’t know what you eat for breakfast. Thus, the proper response is fear, I guess.
Huh? Of course that’s not worthy of fear, is it? And neither are your reasons to be afraid of your own democratically elected President.

When will Republicans stop using fear as their only policy tool?

Your letter to Obama is filled with paranoia and probably an underlying whif of racism.

I am a white kid from California, and I am an American. I have no reason to respond to you except for that your e-mail was forwarded to me and it was so full of ignorance and misinformation that I couldn’t just sit by and let you spread such fear mongering.

For the record, I think Obama’s ok. A better choice than most. He's not perfect, and I don’t expect him to be. Some of his policies I approve of, and some I don’t. But when I don’t agree, my first logical step is not to dream up lies and fear about it as a policy alternative like you do.

I’m just an average guy and not that into politics. But I can’t keep quiet on this, as I can’t stand ignorance. Just can’t put up with it, especially when its so unsupported by facts or logic.

I’m an American, and I want my country to succeed and prosper. And you are truly the one being Unamerican here.

Why bother to be so lilly livered scared, Lou?

You don’t realize it, but you are part of the minority here… apparently one of those who is afraid of democracy.

See, a majority of the American people voted for Obama, and a majority support him.
We are not afraid, like you, of democracy.
Your fear list is made up of lies and unsupported parinoia.

If there is anyone to be afraid of, its Republicans. I have some facts on my side rather than fear mongering.

Under Repubicans, and their leader GW Bush, the nation TORTURED. Bush and Cheney approved of it and demanded it. Now that’s not only wrong, its ILLEGAL.
Under Repubicans, and their leader GW Bush, the nation SPIED ON ITS OWN CITIZENS WITHOUT WARRANT. Bush and Cheney approved of it and demanded it. Now that’s not only wrong, its ILLEGAL.

Under Repubicans, and their leader GW Bush, the nation SUSPENDED HABEAUS CORPUS. Bush and Cheney approved of it and demanded it. Now that’s not only wrong, its ILLEGAL.

Under Repubicans, and their leader GW Bush, the nation LIED TO ITS OWN CITIZENS TO GET THEM TO GO TO WAR WITH A NATION THAT HAD NOT ATTACKED US. Bush and Cheney approved of it and demanded it. Now that’s not only wrong, its ILLEGAL, per the United Nations President at that time.

Now, that scares me. Remember the Soviet Union, and how they were such a menace because of their fascist undemocratic ways?
Bush really did resemble the USSR in the worst ways imaginable, because what he did was ILLEGAL.

But apparently massive violation of the ideals and laws of the US are ok, what really scares you is a guy who has been hired to pick up the pieces? Because he is “omniscient”? What? That’s what scares you? A totally unsubstantiated projection of your knee jerk fear onto a regular guy just trying to clean up a terrible mess. Yes, blame the janitor, his happy juice was spilled in the hallway? Right.

Again, I have to remind you that your views are actually in the minority here. And with good reason - they are unsubstantiated and in fact a bit paranoid.

Do you not remember it was Bush and his Paulson team that started us on the road to “socialism” by approving TARP? No, you’d rather blame the guy who inherited the worst failure of American capitalism since the great depression.

Or did you forget so quickly that it was under Bush that the nation’s financial world fell apart, ushering in a CRISIS.

Oh, but you’d rather monger some fear without fact instead, huh?

Let’s go down you fearful laundry list one by one and correct your misperceptions before we close out this little rebuttal.

1. You are the thirteenth President under whom I have lived and unlike any of the others, you truly scare me.

Really? Not Nixon, who broke laws and was forced to resign? Not Bush, who bankrupt the country by spending us into a ditch on a war which was unjustified for reasons which Bush and cabal knew were false? You have wierd standards for what gets you fearful, and a very very short memory.

2. You scare me because after months of exposure, I know nothing about you.

And who’s fault is that. I doubt you tried very hard to get to know him. Have you ever read a book, or are you just completely xenophobic?

3. You scare me because I do not know how you paid for your expensive IvyLeague education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no visible signs of support.

Oh, that’s a real biggie. Almost on par with getting caught releasing photos of US troops torturing detainees and ruining the country’s reputation? No. Yes, our Ivy League schools, the best education in the country and world… is pernicious and must be stamped out! If you were semi-literate you’d read O’s two published books and get your answer. But let’s just answer your question: SCHOLARSHIPS and CASH and some STUDENT LOANS. Because O was in fact at the top of his class at Harvard Law. See- he’s better than the C student dry drunk Bush whom you somehow think is less scary than the best and the brightest in our country? Education should not be feared! And being upscale is not a crime, as all the Republicans on bailed out Wall Street could tell you, and those in the top percent for wealth in the country who got more tax breaks than the common american under Bush can also tell you that Republicans usually think wealth is ok. Ok, that is, unless you want to use class issues as wedges to defeat the country’s efforts to get back on the right track after a decade of crisis creating policy by republicans. Only then, apparently, is wealth a bad thing. Only for those who would put their narrow little political party tactics above the betterment of the country is education and a upper middle class lifestyle somehow scary.

4. You scare me because you did not spend the formative years of youth growing up in America and culturally you are not an American.

Oh- the worst accusation that can ever be made!! Lou– have you ever travelled outside the US in your life? There’s a whole world out there Lou, really. Travel broadens the mind, so its clear you’ve never set foot outside your insulated little republican stronghold. This is myopic and racist. Don’t you see that you’ll never win another election in America again when you are seen to be the party of redneck reactionaries? Where did your ancestors originally come from, Lou? Under such standards, you are Unamerican! And what “proof” do you have that “culturally” Obama is “not an American.” What’s your criteria? If he eats Kelloggs cereal does he get a passport, but if not he’s not American? If he played with silly putty as a kid, would that do it? Howabout he runs GM into bankruptcy, would that do it? Howabout he tortures innocent civilians held without habeus corpus (which used to be a core American ideal)? Would that do it?
Again, so far we have a lot of fear and accusation but no real logic or fact to support it. NOW THAT’S REALLY SCARY!

5. You scare me because you have never run a company or met a payroll.

Yes, because your hero Bush really did a great job running Harken energy, right? So that’s alaways the best criteria for a leader. But again, facts are getting in the way of your fear. He did meet payrolls when he was the director of community organizations in Chicago which he ran. He ran the HARVARD LAW REVIEW as well, and so has some experience in leadership and management. But you’d only know that if you picked up a book instead of throwing your energy into closing your mind so often.

6.You scare me because you have never had military experience, thus don’t understand it at its core.

Ahh, yes. the Right wing must have its macho postures on war to be a real meat eating American. Except that there were more “chickenhawks” in the Bush adminsitration who sent others to war when they had the chance (and so then actually bungled it beyond belief) than there is space to list here. But let’s put it this way: Cheney, who fought all his life to avoid military service to their country, and Bush who actually went AWOl from the National Guard, said we would be greeted as liberators in Iraq. Yes, their experience and understanding of the military was impressive indeed! If you want to use that criteria against O, use it on your own party’s failures first and be afraid of them first, because the facts on them are even more clear than on O’s lack of experience which so far hasn’t cratered the world’s opinion of the US. (Yes- the world’s opinion counts, because they are TRADE PARTNERS with us… duh).
You scare me because you lack humility and ‘class’, always blaming others.Oh- the dreaded lack of humility. The word “always” here is what makes this sentence bogus.

7. You scare me because for over half your life you have aligned yourself with radical extremists who hate America and you refuse to publicly denounce these radicals who wish to see America fail.

Who, exactly, are you referring to other than the boogieman Acorn or Rev Wright? This is a lot more unsubstantiated raving parinoid here. Show me the list of names, and show me quotes that state “I wish to see America fail, signed…” I bet a million dollars you can’t find it except in transcripts of Rush Limbaugh’s radio shows. The truth is, there are a lot of people who want to see America succeed at being the best America it can be. Lou, no one, no one, wants to see America fail, and no one around Obama today and far into the past hates America. They only hate the problems in America that keep it from being the America it should be, with equality and justice for all. To say I hate that my country’s past government which broke its own laws and ruined our international reputation by torturing innocents does not mean I hate America, I only hate Lawbreakers.

8. You scare me because you are a cheerleader for the ‘blame America’ crowd and deliver this message abroad.

But he looks so cute holding pom poms when he acknowledges that America in the last administration broke its own laws and international standards of decency. And acknowledging errors in order to set the stage for fixing them… weakness!

9. You scare me because you want to change America to a European stylecountry where the government sector dominates instead of the private sector.

I don’t think he said that’s what he wants to do. Anyway, have you ever visited Europe? Lovely place. Being American does not mean always putting your head in the sand in xenophobia, Lou. If the French are paying a third of the cost for healthcare than I pay, tell me how they do it and if it works we’ll use it. But for some parinoid, foreign always means bad. (Even as you continue to use arabic numbers on your own money! If you give up using american currency because it came from foreigners, I’ll accept that you are truly beyond influence from foreigners.)

10. You scare me because you want to replace our health care system with a government controlled one.

What a big lie. The government option will simply be there as a backstop in case there are those (and there are many) who can’t get healthcare any other way. You are free to go about your own purchasing of private healthcare if you want. So why do you want to spread disinformation? Perhaps because being partisan and wanting to see the president fail is more important to you than truth and success for Americans? So who is unAmerican and wants to see America fail, then? Calling it a “health care system” implies that we have one already instead of a costly ineffcient hodgepodge of private corporations who are raising their bill to you at a 6% clip.

11. You scare me because you prefer ‘wind mills’ to responsibly capitalizing on our own vast oil, coal and shale reserves.

You scare me because you know nothing about energy policy. First, did he state he “prefers” windmills? When? Cite please. In any event, what is bad about clean energy that creates jobs in a future looking sector of theeconomy? Apparently, you love pollution more than sensible energy policy. No one thinks O is going to ban oil, shale and coal, and tomorrow you’ll be able to fill up your gastank just like yesterday, and you’ll also continue, I guess, to espouse dependence on commodities that benefit foreign entities like the Saudis at the same time. But I guess your xenephobia doesn’t extend to terror sponsor states when they are equated with muscle cars and unchecked long term raping of the environment to feed them.

12. You scare me because you want to kill the American capitalist goose that lays the golden egg which provides the highest standard of livingin the world.

Are you blind to what just happened to America’s economy? The goose suffocated in its own excrement after years of overfeeding and no cage cleaning. O didn’t cause the crisis that led Bush and Paulson to bail out the banks; Bush is the leader who’s policies killed the capitalist goose by getting the government into the bailout business. If a doctor has to apply chemotherapy because a patient let themselves get cancer from smoking, it is not the fault of the doctor that the chemo feels bad. In this case, due to unprecedented crisis, O is offering the cure at the behest of smart people like warren buffet and his other esteemed financial advisors. Some would say O is not going far enough in favoring the average american over the wall street fat cats who almost sent us into another great depression overtheir greed and lack of risk management.

13. You scare me because you have begun to use ‘extortion’ tactics against certain banks and corporations.

You scare me because you use scare tactics yourself. Note, of course, that all of this was not O’s idea. The companies themselves invited it by asking for bailouts (GM) and by bringing themselves to the brink ofbankruptcy and national collapse. Or would you like to see your tax dollars wasted on bonuses for those who created the mess?

14. You scare me because your own political party shrinks from challenging you on your wild and irresponsible spending proposals.

O’s proposals are responsible, and directed towards getting the country on its feet, create more jobs, and re-regulate areas of the economy that failed under the last president. But since when does O control the mind of every last blud dog dem in the senate? What stupid expectations you have about political power. You scare me because you will not openly listen to or even consider opposing points of view from intelligent people.
Yes- he won’t even consider favoring the minority interests of the super-rich, what an affront! Except I don’t think you have any solid facts to back that up, considering the fact that at almost every juncture O has invited opponents to the White House again and again to discuss just such differences in an attempt to get a consensus. Do you want me to make a list of the meetings, or can you do your own research before spouting off unsubstantiated claims?

15. You scare me because you falsely believe that you are both omnipotent and omniscient.
You are truly in outer space on that. I think you are confusing O with Jesus Christ.

16. You scare me because the media gives you a free pass on everything you do.

Except for Fox News and Bill Kristol, and Rush Drugsbaugh and Glenn Beck, your brave heroes. And your mighty fear mongering email chain letter, of course.

17. You scare me because you demonize and want to silence the Limbaughs, Hannitys, O’Relllys and Becks who offer opposing, conservative points ofview.

Did O call them demons and I didn’t catch it? Did he really shut down their companies in a federal raid and I missed it? Did he really ask them to be silent and I missed it. You’re really going to have to give me some facts and quotes before I believe this little lie. Plus, there’s a difference between “conservative points of view” and nutjobs who cry for ratings on tv about how they don’t like black people being racist for trying to stop the white perogative to be racist.

18. You scare me because you prefer controlling over governing.

Except for all of the times when he couldn’t control things. So where is his quote from any source where he states this? Or even demonstrates it? Facts, that’s what you lack. Fear, that’s why you’re a hack. Meanwhile, your hero Bush actually said about the Presidency, quote, “it would be easier if this was a dictatorship”. And that didn’t scare you but trying to solve the healthcare problem in American does? You are really down the rabbit hole, Lou.

19. Finally, you scare me because if you serve a second term I will probably not feel safe in writing a similar letter in 8 years.

Yes -its true- because our last government and its disrespect to the rule of law was to be feared, so I completely understand. After all, they were guilty of TORTURE, SUSPENSION OF HABEUS CORPUS, ILLEGAL SPYING ON THEIR OWN CITIZENS, and other anti-American acts that would have been unthinkable ten years ago. (Even Regan came out stating torture was unacceptable in all circumstances, Lou. But that doesn’t bother you as much as a black man trying to reform healthcare in America?) Sure, in this case I agree with you… I’m a little scared of neo cons and Republicans too, since they are closet facists, so i understand where you’re coming from and I agree that Obama should work harder to roll back such abuses in the future. Isn’t that what you mean? Oh– its not? You really think Obama will jail you or supress you worse than Bush already did? You are high, because its not going to happen. Instead, note that liberals and democrats actually seek to uphold this country’s values, not take the fear mongering tack in an attempt to get back into power and send America back into the ditch at the same time.

Love,
Kevin