UnsilentMajorty

"What we do in life echoes an eternity".

I am writing to you on the eve of what may be the defining event of the future of the United States, and also the future of millions of people around the world.

I am making a final plea to those who are still lurking and undecided as to which candidate and party they will cast their vote for sometime tomorrow, November 2, 2004.

I do not hide the fact that I am a Democrat and believe in John Kerry and John Edwards' visions of how to run this country in terms of fiscal policy, foreign relations, the war on terror, healthcare and Social Security among the many important issues that have been brought to the voter's attention the last few months.

However, I ask you to put aside my political affiliations for a few moments and allow me to speak to you as a naturalized American citizen and someone who is gravely concerned with the direction this country is headed should George Bush and the Republicans be elected for a second term.

"On the boats and on the planes... They're coming to America"

I was born in the '70s, during the Vietnam War, in a suburb of Siagon, abanadoned at birth and left at an orphanage with many other children with no hope of survial regardless of who won the war.

I was blessed in that I was adopted by a young American couple, my adoptive parents, who were looking for a child to love and raise.

I was flown to the United States and shortly after my fifth birthday was legally made a naturalized U.S. Citizen with all of the rights and freedoms that every citzen, born or naturalized, is entitled to under the Constitution, The Bill of Rights and our sysem of democratic rule.

My parents tought me America is the land of opportunity and that you can be anything you want if you work hard enough.

It doesn't matter if you're parents are paupers, or princes. It doesn't matter what caste, or relgious sect you to choose to be a part of, or not worship at all. It doesn't matter what the color of your skin is, or the gender of your sex.

Everyone can get ahead if they make an honest effort. Everyone can achieve the "American Dream" if they work hard enough for it... At least, that is what it seems when you are young.

"Choice. The answer to the riddle is choice".

These are the ideals most of us are tought when we are young and we believe them because they are, at the very least, true in comparison to other places around the world where your future is already set by your parent's past, their race, their relgion their social class and so forth.

However, as we get older we question these ideals as we start to see the realities and drastic discrepincies between our citizens with regard to race, religion, social and economic status, and gender equality among some of the major factors.

But at the same time, we still embrace the general ideals of what this nation was originally founded on because it is in fact what still makes our country the most unique country on the face of the entire planet Earth:

We have the right to choose.

We have the right to choose who we want to be, who we want to love, what we can say, what we can write, what we can read, what we can watch on TV and most important who we choose to lead and represent us as a nation.

Unfortunately, too many citzens take this notion of controlling our own destiny for granted... Or they are being manipulated into supporting ideals that are the exact opposite of what controlling one's own destiny means and these same people are also willing to take others' right to choose their own destiny away in the process.

George Bush, The Republicans and the Extreme Christian Right are trying to take away from the masses the very notion of choice based on the elitist, neo-religious and socialeconomic agendas of a select few.

We no longer live in a country that adheres to the "live and let live" philosophy. It is now "live and do as I say, or there will be consquences" in every sense of the word.

This administration wants to overturn a woman's legal right to an abortion (Roe vs. Wade); try and force through a Constitutional Amendment to ban Same Sex (Homosexual) marriage at the national level; Supress all forms of freedom of expression that criticize anything they do based on arbitrary criteria, I.E. Howard Stern being forced off the air by the FCC; Forcing "The Reagans" to be aired on limited premium cable TV; Force the majority of people to worship certain things and in ways only a select few do because they believe they are the one "true" religion and basically kill any form of serious free-thought that critically questions this administration's actions and motivations.

Where is the choice in that?

"Honor their memories. Honor them with the Truth"

We live in a very dangerous world since the attack that leveled the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

Osama Bin Laden's main goal was to not only cripple our economy, but to spread fear, hatred, divide and mistrust through our nation... And he succeeded.

However, it wasn't the attack that succeeded in accomplishing his goal, but how George Bush and the current administration responded to this attack and instead of uniting its citzens and the world, they pitted friend against friend, nation against nation with Geoge Bush's "you're either with us, or against us" mentality that was supported by the passage of the Patriot Act that allows those in power to deem anyone they do not agree with as a potential terrorist threat... The gravest possible crime in this new world we live in... And where the accused no longer has the rights afforded to them under the Constitution (and the Geneva Convention) and is in fact stripped of their citizenship without due process.

In addition, as a "direct response" to the attacks on 9/11, this administration invaded a country, Iraq, that posed absolutely no threat to the people, or national security of the United States to secure its oil reserves.

The only comparison that can be made is the United States invading Mexico, or Canada after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941.

This administration also failed to kill Osama Bin Laden when they had him cornered in a cave in the mountains of Afghanistan and I believe they never had any intention of capturing, or killing Osama Bin Laden because he is in part financed by the Saudi Royal Family whom George Bush and his predecessors have many ties and financially vested interests in.

To me, this is the most gross dereliction of duty I have ever seen any Commander in Chief make with regard to national security and having a global conflict of interest that actually is a threat to our national security.

"Ask not what your country can do for you..."

"With great power comes great responsibility"

They say that our grand parents, parents of our boomer mother and fathers, the so-called "greatest generation", faced one of the great tests that a generation can ever be faced with: Live free, or live under the (then) tyranny of Nazi, or Japanese rule.

Some have even said the mantle is now being passed down to this generation, the boomer's children, and to the boomer's themselves who grew up in a relative time of peace compared to the turmoil of World War II.

I argue that there is no comparsion between the War on Terror/The invasion of Iraq and World War II and that many of our grand parents who were not lucky enough to survive that era are looking down on us now and are greatly ashamed and disappointed with what this country has turned into under the current administration.

If you want to truly honor their memories, if you want to honor the sacrifice they made for us, for you, their children and grand children, do so by giving this great nation a new direction and new leadership that honors the pain and hardships they suffered on the streets of Europe and in the islands of the Pacific.

Give back to America real American values and the real definition of freedom and democracy.

Honor the victims of the 9/11 attacks by restoring the vales of what America should stand for, so that it brings dignity back to why they died and more importantly, how they lived in this great nation and why they loved it so.

If you and your generation want to be remembered for something, do something to help stop the wars of the future instead of becoming the warriors who blindly fan the flames of those conflicts and who may have to go and fight those wars.

"Real heroes may not always save the day. But at least they try"

In closing, when you go into that voting booth tomrrow and you are all alone...

I want you to remember that you are not alone:

You have the hopes and dreams of not only past generations of Americans with you, but also future generations of Americans, born and naturalized, as well as the rest of the world at large.

They are counting on you to make the right choice.

They are counting on you to be a hero and show the rest of the world what it could be like and should be like and can be again before this administration came to power.

As a hero it is your duty to honor and protect us and them by making the right choice.

Honor and protect the 44 million Americans who lack basic healthcare.

Honor and protect the 30,000 children worldwide who die of disease, hunger and poverty every day.

Honor and protect those whose struggle is possibly yet to come based on sexual orientation and relgious biggotry.

Honor and protect the advancement of medical technology, Stem Cell Research, based on scientific benefits and not archaic relgious propaganda, so that others may have the chance to live life, love and the pursuit of happiness.

Make a choice that honors those who have suffered and died before you to ensure you have the basic right to make your choice every four years.

A choice based on hope and not fear.

A choice based on generousity and not selfishness.

A choice based on inclusion and not divide.

A choice based on tolerance and not tyranny.

A choice based on compassion and not hate.

A choice based on defending the weak and social justice and not elitism and favoring only the wealthy.

"The Gift of Freedom is yours by right. It exists inside each of us by our actions and deeds"

"Earn it, James. Earn it"

Show you have earned the gift of freedom that most of you were automatically born with the moment you took your first breath by casting a vote that honors the 13,000 civilians and 1,000+ American troops that have died in a war that should not have happened by making sure it doesn't happen again.

Show that you have earned the gift of freedom to those who wouldn't give up their seat on a bus in Alabama based on the color of her skin and who fought for equal treatment under the law because it was right.

"What we do in life echoes and eternity"

Brothers and Sisters. What we do in life echoes an eternity.

And how we choose to live will echo into the next four years and beyond.

The world is watching.

The very soul of America is at stake.

Make the right choice.

Vote John Kerry and John Edwards and make America Stronger at Home and Respected in the World again.

86amanda86

Yes, no matter who for, get out and vote!

Milt Palacio

Thank you for posting that, Unsilent Majority.

AuburnGrad

Yes, thank you, UM.

capesidefan

UnsilentMajorty, always great posts, nice job

migamoo

That was a great post. Hopefully it will make us all look inside ourselves and see what it is we truely want our country to be.

86amanda86

I have, and I want our country to reelect our president.

ceilirose

Thank you UM for that post and sharing your story. It's hope and not fear that should guide us..not the other way around.

froukje

I agree with so many things you write, but in your post there is one big idea that has been the basis for a lot of wrong ideas about america as well. The idea that America is unique in it's freedom of choice is what led a lot of Americans to think it was their divine right to propagate this notion of "democracy" over all the world. It is this idea that is engendered so deeply in the neo-colonialist attitude of the right-wing christians and republicans...

Allthough truly the idea behind the american nation and the american dream, this is not something that only exists in america. American's seem to have the false idea that the American dream, the rags to riches, and free speech and choice, are only possible in this great country. I live in the Netherlands. We have free speech, free choice, and the right to choose.
I dare say that we have more rights to choose: we can choose abortion, we can choose gay marriage, we can choose not to be influenced by the church, we can choose to use soft drugs or not to. The USA is not the most unique country in the world in this sense.

Furthermore, in Holland, when you can't make the right choices by yourself, when you can't manage to live up to the dream, there is a great social security system to pick you up. yes, we pay 35-52 percent taxes, but the minimum wages are much higher than in the unted states. the rich are less rich, the poor are less poor.

I agree with almost everything you say, I am just very disappointed that people don't seem to realise that America isn't the only 'free country' in the world, even more so, not very free at all....

sum1

Well, America voted and it voted Bush!