Open letter to Sarah Palin:

[AndyA]

Governor Palin:

I watched some of your speech last night and realized that the words you spoke were written by someone else. But since they were spoken by you, it would seem you at least agree with them, which makes me wonder if you have any credibility whatsoever. You know, with the internet available to so many today, there are many ways for Americans to fact check what politicians tell us, and your speech last night does not pass the fact check at all.

What is more obvious than ever is what was omitted in your speech last night. You spoke of how Barack Obama wants to raise taxes. You didn't say that most Americans would see a tax CUT with his program, and that only the wealthy top 1-2% would see increases, which don't really have any impact on them anyway. You also left out the reason why taxes might need to be increased: the huge deficit, created when your President George W. Bush borrowed money from foreign countries to fund the war in Iraq. A war that was based on lies he and his administration told the American people, Congress, and the world. Do you know what the interest alone on that borrowed money amounts to? I suspect you do not, nor do you care. Is this the change I want? Is this putting "country first?"

Then there was your statement about the "bridge to nowhere" in Alaska. You indicated you were always against it, and don't like pork projects like that. Well, why don't you tell us what happened to all the money appropriated for that bridge? Where did it go? Did Alaska still not receive it anyway, only with no direction as to how it was to be spent? You were for the bridge until it blew up in Congress and became the poster child for everything that is wrong with government today. We can check the facts, Governor Palin. Do you really think Americans are so stupid that we're going to take what you say at face value without checking? Perhaps the people in that arena last night will, but many of us know better.

You claim to be a Christian, but you support war and violence. War and violence are not Christian traits. I suppose ultimately this issue is between you and your God, but don't try to force your convictions on everyone else, because The Bible does not support your platform on this topic. Enough said.

I realize the Republicans have NOTHING positive to show for their efforts the last eight years. You took a record budget surplus and turned it into a record deficit. You started a war based on lies that has consumed huge amounts of money and has killed over 4,100 of our troops. Our bridges are literally crumbling, and our reputation in the world is severely tarnished because of your party's actions.

You promised to make government smaller, yet it is bigger than ever. You said the grown ups were in charge, yet I can't think of a time in our history when partisan attacks and childish behavior have been more prominent. You were going to restore integrity to the White House, yet you outed a covert CIA agent for political reasons. An agent who was fighting the war on terror. Why is this not treason?

Your party is responsible for creating one of the most secretive administrations in our history. Gas averaged $1.46 a gallon when Bush/Cheney took office, and because their Energy Policy is secret, we don't know what it contains. But is it any wonder we have been paying record prices for gas? Are we supposed to believe that an Energy Policy written in secret with the help of the oil company CEOs isn't responsible for these high prices and record profits for the oil companies? Is this not profiting from war?

Your party wants to tell me what I can and cannot do in my own bedroom, yet your family affairs seem to be a mess. Alleged affairs, an unwed pregnant teenage daughter, using the power of your office in Alaska to get even with your former brother in law. I think you need to spend less time worrying about imposing your values on my family, and spend that time fixing the very serious problems in your own.

There were too many inconsistencies in your speech last night, Governor Palin. And there are still too many unanswered questions. You say that Barack Obama and Joe Biden won't be good for this country, that they don't have the experience or whatever you feel it takes to lead this country. Yet we're supposed to overlook the poor leadership of the Republican Party the last eight years? Personally, I'd rather take a chance on two unknowns than go with a known failure, which the Republican Party certainly represents.

You have nothing to show us as proof that you and your party can do what you say it will do. And the last eight years have certainly indicated you and your party are unwilling or unable to do what's right for America. We see the devastating loss of jobs in this country. We see the prices going up, up, up for gas and food, straining our budgets. We see our friends and neighbors losing their homes. We read about the bank failures, and wonder how secure our money really is. We know people who are suffering because they can't afford health care, and we wonder why our compassionate, conservative government representatives are so lacking in compassion that they allow this to continue. And the list goes on and on, Governor Palin.

Is this how the Republican Party puts "country first?" It seems to me you're putting PARTY FIRST with little or no consideration of what the American people really need or want. And yet you are asking us to give you another four years in office to bring change. Well, you brought change over the last eight years, the problem is the kind of change you brought isn't what this country needs. And now you want to reverse course and take us back to where we were before the GOP made such a mess of things.

We know who was in charge on September 11, 2001, and we know about the warnings that were ignored in the months before that devastating day. I believe your President was on vacation during the month of August, after less than eight months on the job.

No, Governor Palin, I don't think America can afford to give the Republicans another four years. In your speech last night, I kept hearing about how awful things are and it is a fact that things are that way because of your party and its policies. America needs change we can see and feel for ourselves. We don't need the kind of change where we're told everything is OK, everything is getting better, but we can't see proof of it anywhere. That's what we've had from the Bush Administration.

America, historically, has always done better under Democratic leadership. This is a fact. History has forever documented this, but that's a fact you no doubt don't want people to check. As an American, I'm tired of what I've been seeing the last eight years. You expect Americans to not be smart enough to see the truth in our reality, but many do. And the words you spoke last night were not words of truth, but words of deceit.

You, John McCain, and your party are out of touch with what America needs. We didn't need a war based on lies. We didn't need to see our jobs go overseas, and we don't need another four years of the same failed policies that brought us this mess.

So when America sends you packing back to Alaska in November, perhaps you'll take that opportunity to look at what's really going on and change your policies to make America a better place for everyone. Or, you can ignore the facts and ignore reality and hope that Americans will forget the last eight years.

America needs change that begins at the bottom, where it has the most impact on our lives. Republicans spend so much time catering to those at the top, they don't even see that they're stepping on the people who make America what it is, or was, before your party came along. So when your party takes a major hit in November in the Senate and House, and when the White House is returned to the Democrats, don't take it personally.

America is just tired of being lied to, ignored, and abused. We want our rights and liberties back, and we want our government to work FOR us instead of AGAINST us. It's really quite simple, the Republicans just can't give us what we need, and the last eight years are proof of that.

[woodsprite]

1. Love it! Can you get it published anyplace?

It says everything it needs to say and is not snarky. Pound 'em with facts!

[Window]

2. K/R.

:kick: