Could we ever really have had your vote?

Sad American said:

It's been two days since John Kerry conceded, and all I am seeing, hearing and reading from the Democratic party is that you guys think you lost on "moral values."

I wonder why?

You seem to think this means nothing more than opposition to gay marriage. You seem to think that Bush voters waited in line for hours to stick it to the queers, to tell those faggots how much we hate them!

You know, I'm with you on this. That's what I would like to believe too so I'm going to join you. It's been the party line, your party line, by the way, that the ant-gay vote is what brought out the moralists in the swing states.

I personally believe that, although there may be a bunch of nuts who "hate" gays, there aren't enough to put Bush over the top. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Thank Zeus.

Who'd want to stand next to these folks in line at their polling place?

So then, where does that leave us?

Maybe Bush didn't win. There's gaining evidence that it's possible. Take a look at this:

And And this:

But let's not get off the subject or anything... that's not why you wrote. We're talking about your vote.

Many Bush voters, like myself, were not happy to be voting for the President's re-election. Many Bush voters agonized over our decision and cast our vote in fear, trepidation, and trembling.

Agony. I know it well. And my misery welcomes your company.

Many of us would have given our left arms for a Democrat we could have supported. Because I am too young to be as disillusioned as I am, and because I know that one-party rule is not good for my country, and because it is my deepest wish to see the Democratic party change into one I can give my whole-hearted support, [...]

Look, you are old enough to grow up. I'm 41 so I'm really, really old, but I'm really immature. Believing that you are always going to have the perfect candidate, that the guy is going to give you shivers like you're still on your first date, is beyond illusioned, it's kind of naive -- and I hate that word so I use it reluctantly.

During the '92 primaries I couldn't vote for Clinton because of his "women problems." If he couldn't handle his private life, I didn't think I could trust him with the country. But when it came down to him or Dole, I trusted Clinton more. And the '90's worked out pretty well, I was right about the women problems but it was his private life. When it came to the country, he left us with a pretty nice rainy day budget surplus. One that my depression-era grandmother would approve of.

This time around I couldn't support Dean because I happened to work with Joe Trippi, his campaign manager a long, long time ago during our years of "youthful indiscretion" and still don't trust him. But if Dean had the nomination and I respected his core values more than his opponent's, I would suck it up and vote for Dean. Lesser of two evils... yadayadayada. I hope I live long enough to see the day of the third, fourth, and fifth party candidates...

I am going to explain why you didn't get my vote, and how you can get it in the future.

And I'm going to listen.

First, for context, let me give you a bit about my perspective: I am a single, heterosexual, college-educated woman in my late 20's with an annual income of about $30,000. I live in a solidly red state in the South,

You know my age, I'm recently married. No kids (can't afford them). Didn't finish college (still might). Don't make as much money as you do. Live in a solid blue state but grew up in the South and just got back from a 12-day road trip to visit my parents there.

[the South,]the region you guys wrote off entirely without even trying to persuade us to vote for you.

Um, that swings both ways. Even though I live in a blue state, there's a big red county (may be the biggest) just south of me that shares the same TV stations. I don't think I saw a single Bush or Kerry ad at all, except what I sought out on the web. I don't have cable (can't afford it) so maybe there was something down there... but I don't think you should take this personally. One candidate spends all their money in the swings states, the other has to keep up. I would imagine that the richer candidate -- yours -- probably set the precedents. Hence, money wasn't spent trying to persuade either one of us... just an FYI

I am not an ideologue, and I experience painful ambivalence about many political issues. The notion of an abortion makes me queasy, but I don't want Roe vs. Wade overturned. I have friends who've been impregnated by rape and friends who found out late in their third trimesters that they were carrying babies too malformed to ever have normal lives. The pictures of Iraqi children who've lost arms from the bombs my tax dollars bought make me shed tears,

Right there with you on that. I personally don't know how you could vote for someone who is so staunchly anti-choice though. However, I've heard GOP pundits like David Frum and various Republican bloggers voice their support for choice with "some restrictions." I wonder who will decide where the line is drawn? It sounds, from this side, like the loudest voices and the hardest workers on your side are the ones who believe that life begins at conception, period. In that case, I think that both of your friends, the one who was raped and the one who was carrying a malformed fetus would be up shit creek. Er, I mean they would be wallowing in poopy diapers... you know what I mean... I hope that the one with the medical problems already had health insurance and doesn't lose their job or anything ... pre-existing conditions being exempt from coverage and all...

but I recognize that the war was the right thing to do, given the information we had available at the time the decision was made.

Well, here we part ways. Drastically. I don't recognize this in any way shape or form. I could give you lots and lots of links and evidence and timelines of what was know by whom and when but I'll spare all that rehashing. I will share just one link with you. I often hear than we lefties never had any plans or ideas or offers of our own. That's simply not true. We have many of our own think tanks and such. One of the ideas that was out there before the war was declared was "Preemptive Democracy." I think it would have worked -- at least as well as the mess we've made so far -- and probably much better. It would have truly liberated the Iraqi people, if that is, indeed, what this war was intended to do. There have been so many reasons floated for why we went to war, I am only assuming that this is the one you are referring to... maybe not... we'll see...

I had no health insurance for three years, but I'm still, hesitantly, not in favor of socialized medicine.

I really don't know what it is that scares people so much about "socialized medicine." When I was growing up I remember hearing about the long lines that the socialists had to wait in to see doctors. In places like England and Germany and Canada. I don't know about you, but I've had to wait months to see a doctor at my HMO -- when I had coverage at an HMO. It was kind of a nightmare, but nothing compared to the horror stories I've read in the paper about folks dying because they can't see doctors in time. Would socializing medicine help? I don't know. Would regulation help? You bet it would. Or if you disagree with that, how about some deregulation? Like allowing Americans to get drugs from Canada? Bush makes so many contradictions when it comes to health care that it makes me ill!

And what about returning Reservists? Did you know that the Bush Administration has successfully fought including Active-Duty Reservists and Guardsmen who are currently fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan in the Military Health Care Plan, TriCare? These guys are going over there to fight, losing their health care from their regular jobs, coming back disabled and sometimes unable to work again and then only getting coverage from the VA for two years!

Benefits Information for National Guard and Reserve Personnel: Veterans who serve on active duty in a theater of combat operations during a period of war after November 11, 1998 or in combat against a hostile force during a period of hostilities are eligible for hospital care, medical services, and nursing home care for a period of two years from their date of discharge.

Now we can get all outraged about our vets who are mistreated and end up homeless and unable to see a doctor... can we not muster the same sympathy for a child of a mother who is working full time but without benefits and can't afford insurance? Or the retired senior whose husband's company was sold and pension and health benefits have been decimated so now there's no drug plan? Her husband thought he set her up nicely before he died, but she is on a fixed income... how will she pay for her medicine and see the doctor? And what about the guy you knew in highschool who was in the special class? What should happen to him if his parents die or can't take care of him anymore?

I know people who abuse the social services, but I also have friends who would be dead without the food stamps and SSI checks they collect each month.

Good. I know people too. I've been on unemployment before and I thank Zeus for the Free Clinic in my early years. I could get by on donating money there...

I believe in God and consider myself a Christian, but I don't go to church,

Well, you have that in common with Bush... Most of the Dem presidents went to church... does that have anything to do with why you didn't like them?

and Falwell, Robertson, and their ilk scare me more than they scare you.

No offense, but just like I said to the squirrel trapper on the phone when he tried that "they're more scared of you than you are of them" crap... you have no idea how scared I am...

I believe that in a perfect world, Roy Moore would have to live with the stench of his own ego, just like the rest of us do.

I had to look Roy Moore up to refresh my memory... yeah, what a dick...

I have gay friends who are closeted and gay friends who couldn't be more open if they had QUEER tattooed across their foreheads, and I think they should be allowed to get married if they want to.

Whoa, ... hold on there... then how in the world can you support Bush? I'm furious at Kerry for not coming out stronger against all of this homo-hating hogwash. I wrote my Congresspeople vitriolic rants for not having more of a backbone and I was on Clinton's back from the moment he betrayed the gays in the military... But Bush, he started this whole constitutional amendment, Bill of Wrongs crusade. And he continues to use it to divide us. Can you honestly look your gay friends in the eyes and tell them that you voted to deny them the right to share their lives with someone they love? And we're talking about just that. Sharing lives, marriage, partnership, complete commitment. I don't know about you, you are younger, but when I was your age I thought about it quite a bit.. what it was going to be like to finally find the person I would commit the rest of my life to. What it would be like to say "forever."

And we're not talking about sex here... because everybody's having sex already.. you, me, gay, straight, single, married, christian, heathen, whatever. Sex comes and goes. We're talking about all of the stupid little legal privileges that automatically come with being married. Inheriting property, raising children, getting health insurance, picking out caskets, ruining credit, renting cars, transferring gift certificates and gym memberships... dumb stuff. And very, very important stuff. Go tell your gay friend -- the one who's out of the closet would be my choice -- that you voted to keep him or her from doing all of those things... Even better, before you do it, why don't you practice by saying it to yourself in the mirror a couple of times... how does it feel to be a second class citizen? Bad? Oh well, 51% of the people here don't care so either shut up and marry a straight person or leave the US and good riddance! Ick. Feels creepy, doesn't it?

I read The Onion, Dilbert, Dan Savage's sex advice, Salon.com, and quite a few blogs.

If you read The Onion, you MUST read "You Are Worthless." It's their self help book and it rocks. It's kind of a weird, existential, acquired taste and doesn't always work in mixed company... so you might want to give it a test drive from the library if they have it ... (what kind of mixed company? hard to say... read the book to your friends... it'll sort folks out)

The local librarians know me on sight.

Me too! Mine actually groan when I come in.. with my bags of books to turn in and a shelf or two waiting for me to check out. Soul sista! Here's the thing though... John Ashcroft is willing to let the FBI look into our library records under the USA P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Act but won't let the FBI look into the gun buying records of potential terrorists. This is so unbelievably uncool. And the thing is, when it comes right down to it, it's because of the gun lobby. Now the library lobby may be strong and nagging and annoying but they don't have the cash. The gun folks do. If you really think about it, libraries are kind of socialist organizations... actually you could even think of them as communist-like... Communism being based on The Commons and libraries being the public storage of the city's books, the book commons... So it makes perfect sense in a weird, perverted, tinfoil-hat-wearing kind of way that the P.A.T.R.I.O.T. ACT would come after me (and you) for using the library... Consider yourself warned.

I waited in line until midnight when the fifth Harry Potter book came out.

I haven't read that one yet. I think the movies ruined the books for me...

I can't wait to see the new Chucky movie.

Nope. Big Chicken. Me.

I will probably shack up before I get married, but I won't be proud of it.

But you'll force your gay friends to "shack up" forever? ... "Shack up."... Hmmmm....Codespeak alert! Are you, by chance, a Dr. Laura fan?

I used to listen to her because she got my adrenaline going and I got a lot of work done. Plus, I think that I was trying to figure out the rhyme and reason to her multitudinous blatant contradictions. Then I read an unauthorized biography (from the library!) and it took all the fun out of it. Actually scared me quite a bit. I never really believed in "EVIL," like anti-christ evil, before I read that book. Now I do. I actually have a whacked-out theory that Dr. Laura could actually be the anti-christ. Think about it. It'd be perfect. Beezlebub or whatever his name is, comes back as a female talk show host -- it fits perfectly into the women-hating, extremist, religions -- and then she awakens the sleeping masses of disgruntled homebound, housewives... diabolical!

I wouldn't buy an SUV, even if I could pay cash for one. I recycle.

Same here... compulsively recycle... trying to make up for all the ills of my littering, polluting, ozone-destroying, water-privatizing brethren. Keeps me pretty busy these days..

I shop at Wal-mart, but I feel guilty about it, and if they unionized, I would never cross the picket line.

I was just tempted while visiting my folks. There was a grand opening on a Wednesday (?) at 7:30am (!) a few blocks from my parent's house. Sure has changed the neighborhood... I wanted to stand outside with a sign that read "One World! One Government! One Store!" but my parents forgot to wake me up... I wonder why...

I think FOX News is about as fair and balanced as a seesaw with a gorilla on one end.

Nice image. Can the gorilla be eating a falafel? But again, no cable. Can't comment much..

President Bush's close relationships to people like John Ashcroft scare me. I hate the PATRIOT Act and am fearful of what might be part of PATRIOT II. The two dumbest trial balloons I've heard floated for his second-term agenda are privatizing Social Security and abolishing the income tax.

Thank you, once. Thank you, twice. Thank you, maybe... what makes you think they're trial balloons? I believe this guy. He has the whole congress now and he's sure tanked the economy already... But yeah, thanx for your support on the income tax... what are people thinking? Have you read "Perfectly Legal?" Johnston makes some great points about taxes. Do Libertarians really want to fork out all the money it would take to pave their own roads, hire private security guards/police and fire fighters and food/building/safety/drug inspectors, teachers, etc.?

When he says that God chose him to be President during this time of trial, I am embarrassed. I roll my eyes.

I'm too shocked to do that... but I can understand embarrassment... if you're supporting him and all...

I am a pragmatic, disillusioned, realistic, and entirely ordinary member of the radical middle.

Okie dokie...

Here is why you didn't get my vote:

I'm all ears...

1. You didn't give me clear positions on the issues. I followed the news closely all through the campaign, but I still don't understand Kerry's position on Iraq. I know he voted for the IWR, but then he voted against the $87 billion. To you, that seemed to be a symbolic stand against Saddam Hussein (the IWR) but also a principled stand against a President who was out of control (against the $87 billion). To me, that was just confusing. He said he would have done everything different, but he also said that, knowing what he knew today (the day he was asked) he still would have cast the same vote. He said that he would bring allies to our side to share the burden, but he also said he would be sending 40,000 more of our troops. He said that we must finish the job, but he also said it was the wrong war at the wrong place and the wrong time. Huh?

Look, I could go through this line by line -- and I will later if you want me to, but it's late right now and I have this volunteer thing in the morning and... but you can obviously figure this one out: Kerry would never have made the choices that Bush made. I think very few leaders would have. So Kerry fought against Bush at every turn. However, when it came to hardcore, dealbreaking issues -- and his vote was going to make or break a decision (kinda like Nader supporters in Swing States) he had to suck it up and vote for the lesser of two evils and do whatever it took to support the troops. Now that went for the past, present and the future. He wouldn't have sent them in the first place but now that they are there he's got to support them. Is that really so hard of a principle to stick to? So at any given time in history, you could ask him a question and he's going to have to give a qualified, or "nuanced" answer.

2. You didn't convince me that you would defend America against the threats of terrorism. Kerry seemed to think that terrorism is like any other crime. You catch the people responsible and put them in jail, and that's that. After seeing the destruction – physical, financial, psychological, and emotional -- wrought by the September 11th attacks, I do not understand how he could believe this. The hijackers lived among us, ate at our restaurants, shopped in our malls, and wounded us worse than we have ever been wounded before. How Kerry saw this as a crime, and not as a paradigm-shifting event that deserved a military response, both in direct retaliation and to keep it from ever happening again by going on the offensive, is something I don't understand.

Terrorism is a type of fighting, a type of warfare. It isn't a type of person or a country. Bush seems to want to confuse that issue. You follow the news closely so you know that there was no connection between 9/11 and Iraq. So why did we attack Iraq to combat terrorism? If we are going to attack a method of fighting, how are we going to do it by attacking a whole people? Wouldn't it make more sense to use crime fighting techniques, like our special forces use, to single out the individuals who are using the methods of terrorism? And yes the hijackers lived among us. For those of us who live in Florida or New Jersey or NYC, they looked a lot like the guy in our office or at our newsstand.. We would certainly never drop bombs on Florida or New Jersey for harboring hijackers so why a neighborhood in the middle east? Doesn't it make more sense to do detective work? And isn't it easier to do that detective work by building a network of confidantes and allies?

The other thing that scares me is that when we started generalizing terror into something we could fight in a war, it seemed like we were fighting a type of people. And just like the hijackers lived among us, so do the type of people who are now associated with terrorism. I lived in New York on 9/11. I can only say that there was such a deep, profound sadness in that city. And in the days following the event, we all reached out to one another, especially across racial and cultural lines, trying to reassure one another that we wouldn't let this divide us. I sincerely believe that this is why NYC was so overwhelmingly for Kerry.

I sense in you a frustration that you feel that you're not taken seriously by the blue staters, the democrats. I ask you, for this one moment, to try to understand why most of the big cities did indeed go for Kerry. Most of the known terrorist targets are these same cities. Could you please, seriously, try to understand why we might still feel safer with a leader who would choose diplomacy and true coalition building over hubris and threats? Iraqis and Kuwaitis and Egyptians are in and among us. I work with a woman from Afghanistan... We are bombing her relatives... Please, meditate on it for a while...

3. You insulted my intelligence by the constant mantra of Kerry's service in Vietnam. Most of the men I know who are older than 50 served in some way, either in country or in the Coast Guard or other non-combat roles. I don't see the relevance, and the drumbeat of "three purple hearts" struck me as manipulation. It was as if you were saying, "These dumbshit hawks want war? We'll give 'em a real war hero! That'll get their votes!"

Well, this kind of pisses me off, so I'm going to tread lightly here. First, from my vantage, it looked like the GOP strategists kept drawing him out on this just for this desired effect. Kerry seems to be a pretty modest guy about it personally. Others seemed to be having to constantly defend him from attacks... However, I would imagine that going to war would be the single most life-changing experience a human could ever have. Hell, I'm still talking about stuff that happened to me in my 20's and it was nowhere as monumental... And I believe that when you compare the backgrounds of the two candidates, they are uncomfortably similar: Ivy League, political legacies, etc.. however, the major differing factor is Viet Nam.

4. Your constant references to the opinions of the rest of the world scared me, and I'm not talking about the "global test" comment. I don't care what Europeans think about me or my country. I learned in high school that living my life with one eye on the opinions of everyone else leads only to unnecessary turmoil and pointless pain. Why didn't you?

(Ignoring snerky, highschoolish, attitudinal... pun?) Um.. this isn't about approval.. this is about consideration. I think it's a very christian concept, actually. Love thy neighbor, etc... It's also about being able to make a decision that you can stand behind, without a doubt, without shifting baselines, or timelines... call it a test or flooble or whatever you want... It's about being a good global citizen -- yes, that's what we are.. can't be denied. We are all stuck on the same planet -- unless you are a rapture fan and then I guess you really don't care about what anybody on earth thinks ...

5. You disturbed me with your demonization of the rich. Rich people were talked about in this campaign as though they were all evil cheaters who had wage slaves tied up in the basement to be flogged for minimum wage, and what they didn't earn from the wage slaves' labor, they stole from nursing home residents. I am not rich, but I work hard, am learning about investing money, am continuing to improve my prospects for earning more money in the future, and fully expect to end up at least well-off someday. If I do, it will be because of my efforts and work, not because of winning "life's lottery." I know two millionaires personally. Both are entrepreneurs who took big risks and worked their backsides off for years to get where they are. Given that Kerry is married to a billionaire, this seemed especially hypocritical.

Wasn't Bush the one who made some remark about the rich hiring lawyers to get them out of paying their taxes so we might as well not raise them?

Listen, good for you and your future. You are voting for your aspirations. I guess I can understand that... I hope it works out for you the way you want...

I was doing pretty well in my 20's too. I didn't have nearly the amount of expenses as I do now... but I was happy and saw a bright future. Things have definitely gotten harder in the past few years though. My husband's company keeps denying him benefits and has been telling him that they're going to lay him off for four years now. Literally. They keep firing everyone around him, dumping their work in his lap and then saying "work faster so we can fire you when you're done!" They close down the shop every year between Christmas and New Years (without pay) and I'm a seasonal employee who gets laid off at the holidays too. So we're coming up on another bleak winter... Life has a way of catching up with you as you age, it's not always harder, it's heavier somehow, denser...

I'm not complaining though... the only thing that I wish I had more of is security. If we did have more money, we would like to get a bigger apartment and become foster parents and then maybe adopt a child... but I don't see that happening any time soon...

But how the heck do you get off even bringing up Kerry's wealth? So he married into it. At least he knows what it's like to be without it to some extent... Bush was born into it and has lorded it over folks his whole life... goodness gracious!

6. Here is something you could work on right about now: I could not stomach to listen to your incessant hatred of President Bush. Bush is stupid, Bush is an idiot, Bush is Hitler, Bush is a Nazi, Bush masturbates to photos of dead Iraqi babies, I'd vote for my dog before I'd vote for Bush, I'd vote for Castro before I'd vote for Bush, the Rethuglicans are fascists, Bush voters are treasonous, Bush should be impeached, blah blah blah blah blah blah. It was old three months after Bush's inauguration, and it's now just tiresome. I don't hate my President, even though I voted for him with more reluctance than I can express and a queasy feeling in my stomach. Language like this makes you seem immature, needlessly vulgar, and obnoxious.

Interesting... where exactly do you hear this? You say you live in a red state... I know you are going to get to Air America in a minute but that hasn't been on the air that long... I know that I still hear Clinton bashing on the radio often... so just imagine what it must be like for a lib to cruise the AM dial.

7. Lastly, and I hope this doesn't hurt anyone feelings, because my objective is to make you think, not emote: I don't think you really want my vote. I actively sought out your perspective. I tuned in regularly, for months, to your biggest media project, your serious effort to get your message out: Air America Radio. I listened all day on Good Friday as host after host mocked people like me for believing in Jesus's life, death, and resurrection. I listened as Janeane Garofalo, who was one of my favorite comedians for years, expressed hatred and disgust for Bush voters so vile that I ended my live stream feeling assaulted, as if I'd been vomited on. I listened the night that Mike Malloy told a young Republican to hang up the phone and go open a vein. I listened to pure, unadulterated venom that was so intense I sometimes cut the stream and cried.

Again, I say, cruise the AM dial, anytime, night or day, and imagine what it's like for us... have you heard Michael Savage lately? How about Laura Ingraham? And we're not even getting into TV where folks like Ann Coulter reign supreme. I can imagine that AAR might piss you off, but it's a direct backlash, a mirror image of what we've been subjected to for over a decade! I'm a huge fan of radio. I love it and I am addicted to AAR. Of course, I don't always agree with everything they say. For instance, I didn't support their position that Rush Limbaugh shouldn't broadcast on Armed Forces Radio. And I don't support your listening to AAR if it upsets you so... I can't listen to Michael Savage. I would commit suicide. Don't do it!

Tonight, your spokespeople on AAR have been calling people like me "snake-handling evangelicals," and that was about the kindest thing I heard. Um…y'all? I've lived in the South my entire life and have never met a single snake-handler.

OK, now look. Hopefully, I can help you out here. I don't know if you get out of the south much, but if you do, I'm sure there are things that you find weird about yankees. I know that I did when I first left... I wish I could remember specifics... the only thing that comes to mind right now, and this may not be yankee/south specific, is that the yankees sure liked to talk about their bodily functions A LOT. Always talking about taking a dump and farts and pooping or their periods or something else like that that I don't even like typing about. To me, it was something that you certainly didn't do in mixed company, and preferably didn't do at all unless it was in a doctor's office or something...

So, I have got to tell you that the religion thing stands out in the south sooooo much more than anywhere else. Sure, you may not know any snake handlers, but you know some jesus freaks, dontcha? You probably don't know them well, Zeus forbid! They would NOT approve of your reading Dan Savage, now would they? But you might have even been tricked into spending time with some without knowing it up front, right?

When I was in highschool we had a mandatory Friday assembly thing with an Elvis impersonator and a saxophone player and a muscle man and it was a grand ol' time... and at the end they invited us back that night for a free pizza party in the gym. We could even invite friends from other schools, which was a big deal. So we all showed back up at 7pm and went through the line and got our Pizza Hut pizza and retired to the stands and just as we're shoveling in the first bites of pizza, the MC from the assembly says,"now we're going to start talking about Jesus, so if anyone wants to leave right now you can, but if not, we're locking the doors..." Of course, all of us pizza piggies guiltily stayed and it turned into a tent revival thing right there in the gym with a bunch of kids tearfully coming to Christ that night and everything...

Now, when I tell this to my yankee friends, they can't believe it. This was a public school? In a major southern city? No way! But yes. It might have happened to you, too? Or you've been walking in the mall or at a fair and some cute friendly guy comes up and starts chatting and you think things are going great and then you get the question. "If you died tonight, would you go to heaven?"

This has never happened to me anywhere but in the south... A few years back my husband was visiting back home with me and we were at a big, huge, indoor flea market. He saw this one weird booth with only one painting. It was a cityscape, kind of crudely done but with a plane on fire in the sky and buildings falling over and people jumping out of windows. He told me he thought it looked kind of like convict art or something. As he was trying to figure out what the heck it was, a woman came up behind him and asked the question: "Do you know the Lord Jesus as your personal savior?"

No, this isn't snake handling... but to folks who take their religion as a private matter -- quite possibly because they've been persecuted for it in the past -- this is weird and kind of scary. And, even for me, a native southerner, I always found it kind of aggressive and creepy. I always felt like I'd been ambushed and that someone had just thrown an anti-surprise-party on me or something. So it's really, really, really shocking to see the Jesus stuff around every corner when you're not used to it. It's like hearing a funny accent you're not used to or trying to drive on the other side of the road in England or the Bahamas or something... it just keeps you kind of nervous... But with the Jesus stuff there's this added guilt/politeness/sin element that can be almost -- and I'm going to say it -- oppressive. You're afraid to speak out... well I am... so it's even more fear inducing... I'm sure there's something you can equate this to...

Your attitudes, language, and behavior toward people like me: reasonable, thinking Christians who are quite moderate politically and who are just as well-informed as you are (yes, I've read all the PNAC essays, too, and yes, they scare me, too)

Great. You might consider getting your voice out there more, because right now the christian extremists are hogging the limelight. Have you heard of the Religious Left?

is reminiscent of nothing so much as an abusive ex-lover, a crazy and drunken stalker. "I'll make you love me, or you'll regret it, you worthless bitch! Come here and let me beat you over the head and tell you how stupid and worthless you are! Then you'll see it my way!"

Wow... hmmm. I'll reply the only way I know how... with this delightful little ditty from your pal and mine, Grover Norquist!:

Many wonder what it will take to restore social civility to Washington, to get Republicans and Democrats mingling again. Rock-ribbed Republican Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, proffered a solution, telling us that Democrats must accept the finality of their powerlessness. "Once the minority of House and Senate are comfortable in their minority status, they will have no problem socializing with the Republicans. Any farmer will tell you that certain animals run around and are unpleasant, but when they've been fixed, then they are happy and sedate. They are contented and cheerful. They don't go around peeing on the furniture and such." Norquist assured us that he meant neutered "psychologically" and his metaphor was "facetious." Of course: Let the healing begin.

For more verses on our Animal Natures click here.

I tried so hard to give you guys a chance. I'm young, I'm not extremely religious, and I'm supportive of liberal ideals like fighting for higher wages, stopping outsourcing of jobs, and standing up for the little guy. I wanted to vote Democratic this time, more than I can possibly put into words. You just didn't give me the option.President Bush won on values, yes, but not hatred of gays or any other stereotype you have in your head about Bush voters like me.He won because he has values, clearly defined values, and even though I agree with little of what he believes,

Oh please! Zeus help us all! So you respect the man because he sticks to his values even though you don't respect the values he sticks to? And you don't understand why we become condescending? Please! Laugh with me! Ha ha ha! Good one! Not laughing at you... laughing with you... you're laughing... right...? Ho ho ho, hee hee, ohhhhh good one...

at least I know what he believes. At least I know that he really does believe in something. At least I know that he will do what he says he will do. That's disgustingly little, but unbelievably – you offered me less.

See response to your point #1, rinse, repeat...

So, if you want my vote next time, and the vote of all my close friends, and the millions more like us that you refuse to believe exists, it's pretty simple: take positions and don't waffle on them. Stand up for America, especially with regard to terrorism. Shut up about what Germany and France think. Stop pretending that the only way to become wealthy in America is to cheat, for the sake of those of us who still want to get there. Treat the President with at least as much civility, if not respect, as you would've wanted right-wingers to give a President Kerry. Most importantly, please, please please, please, please, please stop abusing me. No more verbal and psychological and emotional savagery. Treat me like a voter whose vote you would actually appreciate getting, and you will get it.

Well, you've done a nice job of summarizing here and even added a few of your party's catch phrases to boot, like "waffling" and "shut up." And then you ask for civility and for the abuse and emotional savagery to stop...

Here's something to think about: I don't think that we're the ones doing the savaging.

I think it's really hard to take responsibility for some of the choices your team has made.

You've said as much yourself. You've gone beyond that to say that you don't support much of what this President stands for, but you simply support that he is standing. That has got to hurt. Deep down that has got to hurt like a mofo. As much as we are stinging from our "defeat," we can at least cling to the knowledge that our beliefs are consistent.

As much as your guys, like Rove, will twist and pervert the language, we know deep down that discriminating against people because they are gay is just wrong. Killing innocent Iraqis for whatever reason they've come up with lately is just wrong. Denying help to those in need in need of health care or birth control or housing assistance or union protection is just wrong. Giving tax breaks to corporations to send jobs overseas is just wrong. Turning our back on the entire world without ever questioning why they don't support us is just wrong. I could go on, but you've said so much of this already... you know it. Or else you wouldn't have written.

And justifying your vote against such profound truths, such deeply held convictions, your deeply held convictions ... justifying your vote on the basis that somebody made you feel condescended to or you didn't like folks' attitudes can't make up for what you know to be true...

We can't stop the pain you are going through. It's going to take some serious soul searching on your part. I hope you'll do it... you seem like a pretty cool pragmatic, disillusioned, realistic, and entirely ordinary member of the radical middle.

Do you maybe, just maybe, see where I'm coming from? I doubt it. But I had to try.

I've given it the best try I can. And many hours of my time... I want to thank you for writing and for giving me the opportunity to respond and explain how things look from over here. But mostly I want to thank you for the opportunity to recognize all the things we share in common, because that is truly where our strengths as a country lie.. and where the only true healing will begin..

Sincerely,

A Very Sad American

Peace,

An Even Sadder American