Letter to Mr.President

26 August 2004

Dear Mr. President,

What a great speech Mr. President just gave!! I could not resist applauding your visions and achievements. However, let's take a closer look at some issues that you, who always proclaim yourself as a compassionate conservative, have concerned about.

You care about our children so much that you cut the budget of the Head Start program that the Clinton Administration initiated. The No Child Left Behind Act is a great vision but it is still a vision that will most likely not materialize because the federal
government does not have enough money to fund that dream. They have spent most of that ex-surplus money and current huge deficit to fight the war in Iraq.

You are a very compassionate president. You cut the work place regulations that will lessen safety requirements in the work place. As a result, it will reduce cost for the business to install any necessary equipment to prevent any accidents to the workers. However, it will put a huge burden on the workers. They have to take more risks and they will have a harder time to sue the irresponsible companies that always put profits before workers’ safety. The most valuable gift that you gave to the poor workers is to cut the overtime pay. Consequently, more workers will be exploited to work longer hours for the same money.

The elderly are also your top priority. Therefore, you passed the Medicare Reform Act that, in the long term, will cut the benefits to the retirees but it will benefit your friends in the health care industry. Not enough for those poor silver hair grandma and grandpa? Your administration propose to privatize the social security.

You always praise veterans that have sacrificed their lives to protect this great country. Thus, you reward them by cutting their health care benefits.

You said the government should improve people’s life not run their life. To pursue your belief, you improve the minority’s life by supporting the Constitution Amendment to ban gay marriage. You also improve our life by strongly supporting the Patriot Act that gives the Government authorities to go into our house or wire our phone without us knowing it.

You have a love for nature, in particular, the nature around your ranch in Texas. You show your profound love in nature by withdrawing from the Kyoto Protocol that will limit the carbon dioxide release to the environment. You also redefine Mercury as a non-toxic substance that can be released into the air and water without regulations. If it is not enough to show your love in nature, your administration is trying to drill the Artic Wild Life refuge in Alaska to benefit your friends in the oil industries. Also, you try to pass the federal law to allow the logging companies to cut down tree in the federal land.

Strength and self-confidence are the most valuable assets you own. To show this, you asked your vice-president to baby-sit you before the 9-11 commission. Can you do something without your VP at all?

You love to talk about truth and honesty. However, the truth that you have never mentioned is you misled the American people and the world into an unnecessary war. Thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians have been sacrificed by this unjust war. Almost a thousand American soldiers have lost their lives. Thousands of children lost their fathers and mothers. Billions dollars are thrown in this black hole. Honesty? You allowed your corrupted VP to have a closed door meeting with the energy and oil companies. Honesty? You denied the connection between your best friends in Saudi Arabia house and September 11.

You keep pounding that you are a man of principles. You are a real conservative president. However, your government is bigger than that of Clinton’s. The deficit is looming and government spending is expanding under your watch. You blur the line of the government and religion.

You are indeed the great pro-life president. However, you did not hesitate to send American people to the unnecessary war. As a result, thousands of lives have been lost. You also stole our hope of searching for ways to cure the incurable diseases by putting limits on the stem cell research.

You care about jobs by promising to create 6 million of them. Alas, it’s been four years, 7 millions are still short. The only job that you have created is the permanent terrorists all around the world.

Once upon a time, you opposed the idea of creating the 9-11 commission, allowing Ms. Rice to testify before the 9-11 commission, extending the deadline for the commission to gather more information. With all political pressures from both parties and the families of 9-11, you changed your mind. You were the one who said you would win the war on terrorism but unfortunately, without script from your aids, you said the war on terrorism would never be defeated. Before you went to war, you said Saddam had WMD. Then, when it was clear that Saddam did not have them, you said Saddam was a brutal dictator who needed to be rid of. When someone raised questions about other brutal dictators, such as, North Korea, or Castro, you changed cause again. To make it sounded so patriotic, you said the best way to defend the country was to bring the war to the enemy instead of waiting for them to bring it at home. Fine, if Iraq is an enemy, how about Saudi Arabia? Who is the biggest donor to the Islamic Wahhibism? So, do you still think that you are not a flip-flopper?

You are a born again Christian, maybe only re-born once is not enough to save your sins.

You talk like a moral preacher but you act like a villain.

You proclaim you are a man of God. But you govern far from what your heavenly father teaches you.

Tae (Kriengsak Athikomvittaya)