- Mar 29, 2004
- 13,051
- 6
- 81
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 p.m. 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 something 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 persuade 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 cooperation? 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.
-Anonymous Fellow American
:brokenheart: In hopes for a safer future for all of us.
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 p.m. 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 something 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 persuade 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 cooperation? 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.
-Anonymous Fellow American
:brokenheart: In hopes for a safer future for all of us.
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