Dear Mr. President-Elect: Part 2 (A Letter By Corey Thompson)
By Corey Thompson, filed in Corey Thompson, General on Nov.11, 2008
November 11, 2008
Mr. President-Elect:
On this Veterans Day, a day in which we pause to remember and pay tribute to those brave men and women who answered the call of service to our country, I find myself with so much to say to you. Although I will never take their sacrifice for granted, on this day in particular, I am reminded of my own ancestors who gladly stood in harm’s way so that you and I might enjoy the freedoms and liberties that we hold so dear.
On this day, it is because of their courage and their resilience that you and I had the option, and not the necessity, of wearing the proud uniform of our Armed Forces. Though we both chose other avenues of “service” to the nation we love, we can never forget their heroic deeds that gave us such an option…
While I never wore the tattered boots of an Infantryman at ‘Death’s Door,’ nor stood in Dress Blues next to a flag-draped coffin in Arlington…while I never took aim upon the enemy among the clouds above hostile territory, nor manned the decks of a ship on the high seas…while I never lost a son, daughter, or a loved one on a foreign front half-a-world away (although I have lost friends)…while I have experienced none of these firsthand…I have always fought for something…I have fought for the beliefs and values that make up the very core of who I am…
You see, Mr. Obama, my bloodlines take me back to the most significant pages in American history. Whether it was my ancestor who helped patriot forces win the Battle of Kings Mountain during the American Revolution, or whether it was my grandfather who stormed the beach at Normandy, or the other who earned a Bronze Star in Europe, I have been bound by their courage to stand up and fight for this nation and its ideals, whether I wore the uniform or not.
Had I been born at any other time in our nation’s past, perhaps the ‘option’ mentioned above would not have been so “optional.” I may have been required to step forward with little choice in the matter. But rest assured, I would have done my duty…
So on this day, this anniversary of Armistice Day, a date which marked the end of major hostilities during the first World War, we pause to remember…we remember the role of our beloved country. We remember our fallen countrymen whose graves are not here at home, but are that “half-a-world” away. We remember Arlington. We remember the known…and the unknown…the living, and the dead…and we vow to fight on, to fight for the values and beliefs that we hold so dear…and we vow to never forget, to never surrender, to never give up.
We continue to call upon the past…yet we also look ahead…
You, Mr. Obama, are a public official, and the soon-to-be 44th President of The United States. I am only a teacher. Yet, we share a common bond in the fact that we both felt the need to do something with our lives to give back to the greater good of our nation. For that, I can say thank you. However, that is where or similarities end, and our stark differences begin. It has been exactly one week since your election Mr. Obama, and it is exactly ten weeks until you take the Oath of Office on Inauguration Day. Allow me, if you will, the opportunity to share the grievances I have with you…on this day.
Last Tuesday night, I heard you speak to millions as you gave your victory speech in Chicago. But unlike the mass of your followers, I wasn’t moved to tears or awestruck by your resounding message of how “change had come to America.”
I, on the other hand, was reminded of the long months and the muddy campaigns that had preceded your victory…
I was reminded of how I was called a “racist” on numerous occasions because I was going to vote for John McCain…not because of race or ethnicity, but because of the qualities I saw in the man for whom I wished to cast my vote. What’s so “racist” about that? Furthermore, how do such comments fit into your definition of the “change that has come to America?”
I was reminded of how I was referred to as a “Republican bigot” because I had stood behind President Bush and our troops during a time of war…not because of closed-minded party loyalty, but because of the principles and values that I personally hold above a ‘single-letter of affiliation.’ What’s so “Republican” about that? Is that your definition of “unity?”
And, Mr. Obama, I was reminded of why I simply could not vote for you…
In your speech last Tuesday night, you called for all Americans to “stand” with you, and how together we could usher in a new era of change for the unity of our nation. Mr. Obama, rather than just blindly accepting your invitation, perhaps I will “stand” with you in the same manner and fashion that you stood with your president, George W. Bush. The best leaders always lead by example, and I would ask you to look back upon your own example of “standing by your president.” Instead of “unity,” you were the ringleader of a divisive campaign to demonize and belittle your own president. So, how can I accept such a muddied invitation to a deceitful celebration of “unity” and togetherness? You can only expect to receive what you have so given…
Mr. Obama, you have repeatedly called our wars in Afghanistan and Iraq “mistakes.” Such verbiage can only be detrimental to the morale of our men and women, and cause them to question the very missions they are charged with carrying out. And as you inherit these “mistakes” (your words, not mine), may you always be mindful that undermining our troops and their leaders is the work of treasonous men, not those who aspire to be Commander-in-Chief.
Still, the majority accepted your voice and your message. They voted you into that esteemed position, despite the fact that Senator John McCain had served more time in a prisoner–of-war camp, than you had previously served in the United States Senate. Perhaps Americans will one day realize that they missed a final opportunity to elect a true national hero, a man who has worn the uniform and stared death in the face, all in the name of defending freedom, not of undermining its mission…and one whose record needs no blanket of interference from a devoted leftwing media…
In regard to the wars, you often make mention of the “thousands of lives lost” because of the “mistakes.” True indeed, Mr. Obama, countless military and civilian lives have been lost in these wars. However, since you seem to be so concerned with the “value of human lives” (as you put it), I cannot help but wonder how you so willingly choose to ignore the millions of lives sacrificed right here in our own neighborhoods under the practice of abortion? You have portrayed yourself as an expert on military operations, yet you have never once donned the uniform. And even still, the practice of abortion and the loss of innocent lives (in this case) are somehow “above your pay grade” (your direct acknowledgement). Mr. President-Elect, I stand confused by this blatant and intolerable double standard in what you consider as the true “value” of human life.
Mr. Obama, you claim to have “the answer” to solve our current financial crisis. Again, you and your minion of followers have repeatedly laid the cost of the crisis on the desk of George W. Bush, despite more than six years of market growth prior to the recession of the past year…despite the known greed and corruption that has perverted our financial institutions…despite the average American’s irresponsibility with spending, loans, and credit…and despite our Congress which has been dominated by your own Democratic Party. How can you blame this on one man, or on one party? This is an American crisis, not the “failure” which you so happily pin on your adversaries. Perhaps you would be so wise as to bring about real “change,” and influence the government to keep its filthy hands off of our hard-earned money…or, maybe you would be more interested in “spreading it around?”
You have continually hidden your past associations and affiliations from the eyes of the American society. Every attempt to look into such matters has been met with repeated interference. This has only aided your rise to overnight popularity. How could so many be convinced so quickly? You merely became a United States Senator in 2005, and now President? Even George Washington was not given the same “free pass” to the heights of historical immortality.
There was a time during this election that I could have considered voting for you Mr. Obama. Yet, you pushed me away…a biased media pushed me away…a leftist Hollywood pushed me away…the blind adoration of millions who made you so popular that even George Washington would have blushed (and before you ever took the Oath of Office, mind you) pushed me away…and now, the very same people who claimed that “George W. Bush isn’t my President,” want me to call you my own? The irony of some Americans never ceases to amaze me…
So, as a fellow American and out of respect for the office that you will soon hold, I will call you “my President.” It will be out of love for country, not out of blind admiration for you, nor respect for your policies. While the majority have spoken and have voted for “change,” please know that even while you are my President, I will not waver, nor will I “change” the principles that make me the proud American that I am. Yet I will give you a chance, because ultimately your success will be bound directly to America’s success. And Mr. President-Elect, I earnestly wish for nothing less…
Hopeful, yet ever vigilant…
Corey Thompson
“The Thirsty Quill” (www.thirstyquill.com)
True Unity
November 12th, 2008 on 10:06 am
I couldn’t of said it better myself. Although I’m a Mitt Romney supporter, I would have still liked to see Join McCain win.
November 12th, 2008 on 10:36 am
There is a lot that needs addressing (and correcting, or at least revision) in this post.
1. President-Elect Obama did not call you a “racist” or a “Republican bigot”. He never made any remarks to the general public using those words, either. So you can’t lay that at his doorstep. The logic you use in suggesting that those labels applied to you by third parties is somehow cause for not supporting him is tenuous at best.
2. Questioning our leaders — as Obama has done with the questionable leadership of George W. Bush — is not just a right in this country, it is a responsibility. Look at the run-up to the war in Iraq and try to tell us that it was even close to being an open-and-shut case. Our “evidence” was disputed by the world at every turn. It is a dangerous precedent (and a dangerous world) we created by our decision to invade a country that had nothing to do with 9/11, had no hard evidence attaching it to WMDs, etc. We talk about terrorists re-writing the rules of war with their tactics. Well, the US has re-written the rules of international diplomacy through the decision to invade — ILLEGALLY — a sovereign state, despite the fact that Saddam Hussein was a murderous scumbag. George W. Bush made that decision as Commander-in-Chief, and regardless of who supported the decision in Congress (note that Obama did not vote for the war in Iraq), we all know where the buck stops.
Shall we even get into the callous disregard of the Bush Administration during Hurricane Katrina? This was the critical moment where his approval rating nose-dived and showed his sheer incompetence as a leader.
If you want proudly to call yourself one of the 24% of Americans who approves of the job he has done, that is your choice. But by all objective measures, he is defined more by his bungling failures than his successes. He even took his eye off the ball on Afghanistan — his one temporary foreign policy success — and the Taliban have reconstituted, with a long winter predicted for Coalition forces there.
3. Obama never called the Afghanistan war a mistake. In fact, he correctly described it as the most important front in the war against terrorism.
4. McCain’s status as a POW has nothing to do with whether he is a suitable leader. It makes him a war hero of incredible resilience, but it says NOTHING about his judgment, his capabilities as a head of state, or his policy understanding. And he made plenty of regrettable comments during the campaign that led a majority of Americans to state with their votes that he was not the one for the job.
5. Obama did not portray himself as an “expert on military operations.” He said he would surround himself with experts and that Joe Biden would be a valuable asset — as head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Biden’s c.v. is pretty well established. Bush said the same thing in 2000. Again, we could always return to Bush who you have so unflappingly supported and his foreign policy “experience” prior to becoming President - had visited one country (Mexico), couldn’t establish where several more were actually located (reflecting a lack of basic knowledge), and other questionable qualities suggesting that he was a foreign policy novice. His incurious nature was mirrored by Palin, and the country has had enough of “Average Joe the Plumber-types” leading it through a dangerous world. Obama starts ahead BY A MILE of where Bush was before assuming the office.
6. The “spread the wealth” comment is a red herring. Obama’s plan to raise the taxes of those making over $250,000 a year pertains to NET PROFITS. For small business owners, that comes AFTER fixed costs such as utilities, payroll, and insurance. People could be forgiven for not understanding that, based on McCain’s campaign obfuscation. However, those who do know that and who still complain about $250k in profit being taxed at a higher rate are whining to deaf ears. This plan won’t stall the economy, especially when one considers the tax credits proposed by Obama that would benefit a majority of Americans.
7. The “past associations” remark would hold more weight if you would be willing to acknowledge John McCain’s “past associations” with the Keating Five, his decision when Chairman of the International Republican Institute to award nearly $500,000 in grants to Rashid Khalidi (the same guy he tried to cast in the PLO-terrorist-Obama relationship scare tactic), and his decision to abandon his first wife for an heiress. What was that thing about “until death do us part?” McCain missed that one. So much for family values.
8. Nobody pushed you away from Obama. You are a conservative, and he is liberal. John McCain would have had to say some pretty audacious things for you not to have voted for him.
But aside from those things, it is a pretty interesting post.
November 12th, 2008 on 11:03 am
OUTSTANDING….. I love it! Corey, you amaze me with your words. Now if only he would read this.
November 12th, 2008 on 6:33 pm
Erica and Shonda:
I very RARELY comment publicly on the blog, as I try to let my “post” be my only argument. Still, I wanted to say thanks!
D-Bones:
Thanks for your comments. Send me a workable email address, as I wanted to discuss it some more. You made some very solid points!
-Corey
November 13th, 2008 on 8:25 am
Responding to the point that people making more than $250K are “whining to deaf ears,” this point specifically motivated me to vote *against* Obama. I just fail to see how people can be so short-sighted on this issue.
Obama talks about hope and change. Wealth distribution simply is not the way to accomplish those goals. Taxing the “rich” discourages entrepreneurship and encourages complacency. The United States needs to support small business, not penalize it.
Democrats justify increasing taxes by saying people making more than $250K can afford it. I say they’re crushing the American dream! Small business owners already face extraordinary challenges: brutal competition from big business, the threat of lawsuits, a labor pool with a sense of entitlement, and a bureacracy that, like David Spade in the Capital One commercials — gets its jollies from saying “no.” Now, the government wants to throw in an additional obstacle to the Scylla and Charybdis through which small businesses already must navigate? I don’t think so!
We as Americans have lost that desire to only be given a chance. We have become so lazy that we just want to sit back and work our 9-5 jobs, take an hour lunch, take paid leave, and receive a whole host of benefits. Now, we’re demanding our employers pay more so that others can share in the same comforts we enjoy. Who wants to start a business when she would have to worry not only about her customers’ and employees’ welfare, but also society’s? Who wants to toil for years when the government will take an increased share of the harvest?
Under the Democrats’ view, this is social justice. I say this is a travesty. Part of the problem with our economy is the fact that we have supported behemoth corporations that are too big to fail all in the name of efficiency. What does that mean? Instead of allowing certain companies to fail, we are now arranging shot-gun marriages creating even bigger corporate bureacracies that are actually inefficient, wield monopolistic power, and are, or will be, full of complacent workers. (Don’t get me wrong: this is the only option we have at the moment since we’ve painted ourselves into a corner.) The result long term will be diminished consumer choice and higher prices. The result short term has been a devestated stock market and high unemployment.
Higher taxes discourage entrepreneurship, which will make us all worse off in the long run. Had the government focused on ensuring a robust market structure (i.e., many suppliers of goods and services), we probably wouldn’t be facing the pain we’re now experiencing. This was a failure of both parties.
The Democrats take the myopic view that increasing taxes on those making more than $250K will only result in some people paying more taxes. Again, we need to worry about the message we’re sending to someone considering taking a risk to start a new business. Admittedly, those already fortunate enough to be making $250K+ aren’t likely to stop what they’re doing (though some on the fringe may decide to hang it up). It’s just a shame that someone who’s worked her whole life to get to that position now has to pay a penalty for his success, despite paying her fair share along the way. I don’t see anyone offering to compensate that business owner for the lean years that allowed her to get to the position she now enjoys. Penalizing hard work and success is unAmerican.
What is especially amazing to me is the fact that people in California, Massachusetts, and New York making more than $250K are squarely middle class. Obama said he was trying to help the middle class. Yet, those states stood behind him. I guess momentum and history are difficult to change, regardless of the message.
When I voted against Obama, I simply couldn’t trust him on where he was going to draw the line on taxes. He had floated the $250K figure, but then his infomercial revised that figure down to $200K. Then, his running mate was talking $150K. This was before the election! Now, I’ve heard he may have to reconsider tax hikes altogether given the current state of the economy. This is encouraging, but it makes me wonder about his credibility and the politics of rallying the troops by saying he’s going to stick it to society’s most productive members.
November 13th, 2008 on 12:47 pm
Very well said D-Bones
November 13th, 2008 on 12:53 pm
Point for D-Bones
November 15th, 2008 on 3:54 pm
Corey, thanks for the blog post! It expresses what a lot of our nation is feeling and the reasons we could not vote for Obama. Thanks for creating Thirsty Quill! A great way to discuss issues that we all are concerned about and I’m sure there will be plenty in the future. Great job!