I just received the following letter from my aunt who’s one of the famous undecided voters. I think she asks some great questions that many others would ask. I was preparing to send her an email response but figured this might be a better place to put up my thoughts and encourage a discussion. First, her letter:
…the only decision I have made thus far with regard to “my” future as an American, is that I am now open-minded to both sides! Mr. Obama had (please note the word had) deeply impressed me in the beginning and Mr. McCain was not really a contender in my estimations, but he (Mr. Obama) all by himself has left me in my current state of quandary. I am extremely dismayed by the “once again” negative campaign attacks both sides have chosen to partake in….ENOUGH WITH THE BULLSHIT!!!!
Please offer me constructive and concrete plans to allow me to chant proudly…”land of the free and the home of the brave”. I still well up with pride, my sweet boy, when those 10 words are sung; and I WILL NOT succumb to anything less. The one question I still have not heard answered by anyone of caliber is “what else would they have done when our land was attacked..what else could have (or should have) been done to stop the “filth” from pretending to be better and stronger than we are?? And if we had chosen not to defend..what would (or could) have happened? Can Mr. Obama answer that…what would he have decided if he were President for less than a year???? I, as many Americans do (I am sure) cry intensely when a member of our land is defeated by death in this horrible charade called “war”, but could we have done something else? Let your incumbent share with me “his” views on that… then I will listen… Please remember, my love, that I do not in any way approve of Mr. Bush’s bull-headed and pompous continuations… I just have not been given any “credible” arguments to the contrary.
I still cannot go the area (twin towers) where we lost sooo much (more than huan life) of our world. I grew up loving and living New York and now, to this day, cannot fully appreciate or accept its full majesty when I visit (Mr. Shit-head Bin-Ladin took that from me). I cried, worried, and mourned ALL WHO LOST THEIR LIVES that day, because of a psycho path that, you might remember, had once shook hands with our “Democratic Leader MR. WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON. Should he had taken him down back then?? He knew the threat! We wouldn’t be where we are or have lost so much if ” he had done his job” (instead of banging (oh, wait..it wasn’t sex) his impressionable intern).
And my response:
My dearest Aunt,
I can’t say what others would have done after 9/11 but I can (and of course will) spell out some of the serious errors that the current administration has made, why I think McCain would act in the same vein in the future and why Obama, while certainly not perfect, represents a much better choice.
- If 9/11 and al-Qaeda was, in fact, the opening salvo of a conflict that threatens our very existance, as was, and continues to be argued, than a national mobilization would have been called for. Not just our military forces, but all Americans could have been encouraged to pull together to help in this struggle. Americans could have been encouraged to conserve energy, engage in some sort of national service (the military, Peace Corps, etc.) and made to feel like we were all in this together. Instead, the American people were told to go shopping. I believe this was an intentional plan to seperate the American people from any sort of hardship the ‘War on Terror’ would impose and therefore buy their support. While both Obama and McCain have encouraged national service, Obama has a plan for national service while everyone at the RNC convention except McCain seemed to regard service (except military) as some sort of punch line. In short, I think its safe to say that you can expect ‘more of the same’ from McCain on this point.
- The invasion of Iraq was a disastrous mistake. This isn’t hindsight. Even someone as uninformed as I was quite clear in 2002 that Iraq was not the threat it was being made out to be and that a war there was definitely not in our best interest. While blowing crap up and kicking ass (with or without taking names) may make us feel better, it doesn’t necessarily get us closer to our goals: making al-Qaeda less able to attack us, bringing those responsible for 9/11 to justice, and eliminating (or reducing) the underlying incentives for people to try to fly airplanes into our buildings. Iraq just highlighted something that I believe has become a fatal flaw in current Republican ideology: the military is the answer to everything. In this regard, McCain may be slightly better than Bush but his constant sabre rattling (and poor decision making skills) should give one serious pause. Obama was also clear that Iraq was a mistake and also believes that there is value in attempting other ways of getting what we want from the world.
- John McCain and the Republicans don’t understand the world we live in. For all the talk about pre 9/11 thinking and post 9/11 thinking many (Republicans and Democrats) don’t understand the world around us as well as they think they do. I am convinced that McCain still sees the world through the lens of Vietnam and is still trying to ‘win’ that war. Obama doesn’t see the world in those terms and could be the first step in getting us out of the 1960s mindset.
- Over most of the past seven years we seem to have gone out of our way to ensure the long term survival of al-Qaeda. We have allowed Pakistan to play footsie with militants in their North West Frontier Province, giving Islamists a safe haven to regroup. We have given Islamists (now, more than just al-Qaeda) the opportunity to use our actions as both a powerful recruiting tool (Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, unnecessary civilian deaths, etc.) as well as an opportunity to get training against our military for years while we were failing about.
- I don’t know of any time in which any U.S. president shook hands with bin Laden. Certainly, the Clinton administration did not persue him as vigorously as it could have. I will not defend that administration which, I believe, made some other serious foreign policy errors during their watch. I will however, remind you of the reaction he got when he did try to attack bin Laden with missile strikes. We were told that the bin Laden threat was being exaggerated in order to provide cover for the Lewinsky scandal. It’s not an excuse (for a leader should do what’s right regardless of the fall out) but let’s be clear that he would have received little support or acclaim had he killed bin Laden that day. And, of course, George Bush knew of the same threat and did nothing as well.
- I think both candidates have learned some lesson from 9/11 and will not likely take threats to the U.S. lightly. That’s no guarantee that we won’t be attacked again. That is, in fact, an unrealistic hope. You must come to accept that at some point in the future, despite our best efforts, we will be attacked again and people will die. We can minimize the chances but not eliminate them. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying.
- From my own personal perspective I can tell you that I think the Bush administration has been the worst for military personnel since I’ve been in (that’s 1986, if you remember). They have let us down in many ways over the years. McCain’s recent opposition to the new G.I. Bill is quite enough, thank you, for me to see in how he would treat those who’ve served in uniform, but here’s some more if you’d like it.
- We have ignored Afghanistan. When I left Afghanistan in 2004, it was with a sense of disappointment since I felt that little progress had been made in the ten months I was there. It was no secret as to why that was. All the attention and resources were focused on Iraq. It’s only been recently that we have begun to look at Afghanistan and we still don’t have a coherent strategy there. Because of the errors of the last four years (which I believe will be maintained by a McCain administration), we could very well end up losing that war as well. That will mean that we betray the Afghan people a second time and loose to the people who supported the 9/11 attackers.
So, I hope this begins (and believe me, I could keep going on but I’ll spare you) to address some of your questions. I agree, I would prefer there not be petty bickering between the candidates during the election but, unfortunately, it is what works and it is what people want. So we’ll have to put up with it. I do think the Obama camp has been generally more fair and tried to focus more on issues than personal attacks but certainly neither side can claim to be ‘clean’ in this regard.
So, you can vote for Obama or demonstrate publicly that you don’t love me and vote for the other guy (just kidding).
Your favorite nephew.
