My letter to the editor: both versions.

knitter4democracy

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Thu Nov-17-05 09:53 AM
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My letter to the editor: both versions.

Here's my original version to the Battle Creek Enquirer:

"I must admit that I laughed out loud when I read Rick Wertz's letter to the editor today ("Leftists deep into twisted realities," November 14, 2005). He exhibits in his letter several logical fallacies, and interestingly enough, he accuses Leftists of those same fallacies.

First of all, the "American Left" (usually known as the Democratic Party) is comprised of many different groups and coalitions. I know liberals, progessives (there's a difference), socialists, anarchists, moderates, and free market moderates--and I met all of these through the Democratic Party. I know it is popular to use a reduction argument (if they associate together, they're all the same, and they're all bad), but it is just as inaccurate to apply to the Democratic Party as to the Republican Party. The differences are strong and evident as soon as anyone takes a good look at the American Left.

I am a liberal. I believe heartily in our Constitution, especially as the Framers wrote it--to be a living document that the people interpret. I believe in a government big enough to protect the weak in our society and the nation from our enemies. I believe that taxes are my dues for membership in this amazing country, and that it is partly my responsibility as a voter and member of our society to make sure that those taxes are well-spent and not just flung around to huge multi-national corporations and into the pockets of the ultra-rich.

Mr. Wertz brings up the War in Iraq and again repeats the lie that Saddam Hussein was aiding terrorists. There was no evidence of that, but there is plenty of evidence that our allies Saudi Arabia and Syria as well as many other nations we do business with do, sometimes with the money we pay them to use their land and air for military manuvers.

Am I glad that Saddam is out of power? Yes. Should we have forced him out sooner, rather than sell him the chemical and biological weapons he later used on the Iranians in war and his own people in peacetime? Yes. Should we have considered him an ally even knowing how evil he was back in the early 1980's when Ronald Reagan was president? Never. We knew back then who and what he was, and we made money off of him. Recently, he was contained (always the goal for the Soviet Union) and rather well at that. For some reason, that was not enough for the Neoconservatives now in power.

Our world teems with worse enemies, and now we've added to that number by using napalm in Iraq and committing horrible atrocities against the Iraqi people, giving rise to a new generation who hates us enough to kill. Osama bin Laden, whose family has strong ties to President Bush's family, is still on the loose, and Al Qaeda is stronger than ever with our ham-handed actions giving them more recruits every day. Only one party has been in power nationally during this time.

As for Hurricane Katrina, there is plenty of blame to go around. FEMA promised that they would come in on the tail of the storm and then waited for days. People died waiting for that help. National Guardsmen sent in afterwards said that it looked like Iraq. That is not what our government is in place for. If we cannot protect the least of these within our own borders, why are we sending our young men and women off to die in other nations? If we cannot make sure that we are prepared for the breakdown of society in the face of horrible conditions after a hurricane, why are we sending our young men and women--the future of this great nation--off to deal with the breakdown of society in another country that we caused?

Mr. Wertz says that liberals use fear to control people. His party is the one in power, the one that has created the Department of Homeland Security, the one that has raised the terror threat levels constantly whenever their opinion polls have gone low (as several reporters have started to trace), and it is the President from his party who repeats the mantra of terror and 9/11 in every speech he makes.

As for turning lying into an art form, as he alleges, Tom Delay and Bill Frist are not in our party or anywhere near our politics. Both have lied repeatedly about financial dealings that are at least shady and at worst illegal. We are not the party in power that has accused men like John Kerry, John McCain, and Max Cleland who actually served our nation honorably, even to the point of being wounded, of all sorts things, none of which were true but enough to help them lose their campaigns. Karl Rove is also not ours.

I have always enjoyed debates, and I don't know anyone of the American Left who does not. We are not all socialists or communists, even though we are often painted with that broad red brush. Remember: tyranny does not always come from the Left but most often comes from the Right and often cloaks itself with seeming logic and grand nationalism. If we learned nothing else from WWII, let it be that."

Apparently, that's too long or something. *blush* What can I say, I was on a roll. Anyway, they asked me to cut it for publication, so here's the second version:

"I must admit that I laughed out loud when I read Rick Wertz's letter ("Leftists deep into twisted realities," November 14, 2005).

I am a liberal and a proud member of the Democratic Party. I believe heartily in our Constitution and the Bill of Rights. I believe in a government big enough to protect the weak in our society and the nation from our enemies but small enough to stay out of personal choices. I believe that taxes are my dues for membership in this amazing country and well worth the cost.

Our world teems with worse enemies than Saddam Hussein was, and now we've added to that number by using napalm in Iraq, as recently admitted by the Pentagon, and committing horrible atrocities. Osama bin Laden is still on the loose, and Al Qaeda is stronger than ever. One national party has been in power during this time, and it wasn't the liberals.

Mr. Wertz says that liberals use fear to control people. His party is the one that has raised the terror threat levels constantly whenever their polls have gone low. It is the President from his own party who repeats the mantra of terror and 9/11 in every speech he makes, just in case we all forgot about them.

As for turning lying into an art form, Tom Delay and Bill Frist are not in our party or anywhere near our politics. Karl Rove and Scooter Libby are also not ours. Their lies have been shady at best and illegal at worst.

Remember: tyranny does not always come from the Left but most often comes from the Right and often cloaks itself with seeming logic, fears for security, and grand nationalism. If we learned nothing else from WWII, let it be that."

Any thoughts? I might still be able to change it.