My Response to a Young Republican

[Steely_Dan]

I had been receiving some pretty low-down emails concerning Obama. I pretty much ignored them until this afternoon. The email I was sent was concerning Biden not understanding what the VP position was about.

Here was my response:

Veronica,

I have hesitated replying to the numerous emails that you have been sending because I wanted to respect your views...after all that is the American Way.  However, this last email requires a response 

First off, the fact that this article appears on a Fox News web site should be of no surprise.  Fox News has made a career from carrying water for the Bush Administration and all things right of center.  This is common knowledge amongst both the main stream media and anyone who approaches all of the cable news networks with the slightest objectivity.

But more to the point of the article...
If you honestly believe that Dick Cheney has not been one of the most powerful Vice Presidents in U.S. history, then you haven't been paying attention.  It is clear to most thinking adults that follow politics and the events that happen on the Hill, that Mr. Cheney has exercised unprecedented power over many parts of our government for the duration of the last eight years.  I could give you a long list of references that address this issue, but I don't think that you would take the time to read them.  In addition, I sincerely doubt that you would believe anything that did not align with your own way of thinking.  However, if you wish me to send you links to truly objective points of view concerning our VP, I would be more than happy to.

But let me continue.

I agree with Joe Biden that Mr. Cheney was (and is) a dangerous member of the Executive branch of our government.  This is a man who has either attended or chaired many committees that a Vice President would not normally be involved with.  His connections to many parts of corporate America and his actions in office has often presented a conflict of interests and have not had the American people first in his priorities.  He held "energy" meetings that basically were corporate plans that included building pipelines across Afghanistan.  These meetings included many members of the petroleum industry like Exxon.  His high level position with Hallaburton and Hallaburton's no-bid contract in Iraq is also a conflict of interests.  He is still being paid by this company.  There are many, many examples of Mr. Cheney's abuse of power.  I would be more than happy to direct you to information that confirms this position.

Dick Cheney has been a powerful influence on the President in almost all areas of the Executive branch.  No VP should be allowed to wield such power.  It is not what the founding fathers intended.

Now, about Joe Biden.  Joe Biden has been a Senator for over 35 years.  He is considered the most knowledgeable Senator in the area of Foreign Affairs.  This makes him a natural choice for our immediate future when it comes to repairing the relationships with others in the global community.  He authored and got passed the "Violence Against Women's Act."  He also was responsible for putting an additional 100,000 police officers on our streets to combat crime.  He was the first Senator to push through legislation to get Humvees armored so that our brave soldiers would survive roadside bombs.  

Just as he was elected to office at age 29, he lost his wife and one of his children in a tragic automobile accident.  He (with the help of his sister) was a single parent.  He was sworn in as a Senator at the bedside of one of his surviving sons.  When asked why he didn't attend the Senatorial ceremony and swearing in in Washington, he said that "they can always find another Senator, but my son can not find another dad.  He had to take a second out on his home in order to have the money to send his kids to college.  He is the second to the last Senator on the Hill when it comes to personal wealth.  He wasn't in it for the money.  He takes a train every day to work so he can be home with his family at the end of the day.  Currently his son is serving in Iraq.

This is an honorable man who is not unlike us.  He does not take money from lobbyist and is not in office for financial gain.  

Believe me, I would much rather believe what Mr. Biden has to say about our government than some reporter from Fox News.  

I have little doubt that the Bush Administration will go down as one of the worst, if not the worst in U.S. history.  What the neo-cons have done to this country over the past 8 years even makes die-hard Republicans cringe.  

They have shipped our jobs overseas.
They involved us in an unnecessary war that is costing us roughly $10B a month.
They lied to us about weapons of mass destruction.
They have (and are) listening in on our phone conversations and emails disregarding the Fourth Ammendment.
They have approved of and sanctioned torture.
They have mismanaged the war in Iraq on almost every level.
There lack of leadership and regulation they have allowed for a global financial disaster.

I could go on and on.

I assume that a part of your position and your lack of understanding and knowledge concerning the past eight years is due to your age.  You are still young and do not understand or have the life experience to compare recent events to the past.  I assure you however, the mistakes made by this administration will be here long enough that your own children and perhaps their children will be paying the price.  

Finally I direct you to the following YouTube video of Mr. Bush giving a speech at a correspondence dinner a number of years ago.  By way of introduction, I will explain the circumstances.  

Every year the Newspaper and Correspondence Dinner is held in Washington.  This is a time when the President gives a speech basically lampooning himself.  It is like a "roast."  

In this instance, Mr. Bush was giving his "funny" speech while showing candid pictured of himself in the Oval Office.  

Keep in mind that we had already lost over 600 of our best and brightest, the brave soldiers that were fighting in Iraq.  Soldiers that were sent into Iraq for the primary reason to find weapons of mass destruction that the Bush Administration assured us were there.  To repeat, they lost their lives looking for WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION."

Now back to the speech...

As Mr. Bush is showing the slides, he comes upon a slide of himself looking under his desk.  He leans into the mike and says:  "Where are those weapons of mass destruction?"  A few slides later, he is seen looking out the Oval Office window.  "Could they be out here?"  "They gotta be somewhere."  

Unless you are completely immoral or heartless, you must find this kind of behavior outrageous.  If I were a father of one of the soldiers killed in Iraq (you know, the soldiers that were looking for weapons of mass destruction), I'm not sure how I could keep myself from....
There are no words to express how completely insensitive and immoral this was.

If you think that I am not telling the truth about this event, please feel free to watch it yourself at the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VD1gOhpRSU&feature=related

or

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKX6luiMINQ&feature=related

Veronica, if you find this funny.  Then there is no way I will ever convince you of why so many people are angry.

And by the way, I do not HATE America just because I criticize our government.  It is not only my right, but it is every American's obligation.

-Paige