An Open Letter to Bush and My Republican Friends

Dear Friends,
I know I don't have many Republican friends, but the ones I do have, well, let's just say we've clashed from time to time. When I was working so hard to turn the vote against Bush in Florida, of all places, in 2004, you were tolerant and patient. You explained your point of view in terms I could understand; and in return you listened to me, as well. This post is not a slam against Republicans. Yes, I am liberal, but not THAT damn liberal. Most Republicans I know are actually good people, who care about our country and its values. Never mind the fact that I don't agree with some certain values...I like you anyway. I don't have to like your politics and you don't have to like mine. So with that said, here I go:

president bush,
How are your vacations going? What are you doing now? I haven't been able to stomach watching the news since you got re elected. Shame on me, I know, since I really should be up to date on current events, but I am sick and tired of hearing about you. Every time I hear something about you, I get to feeling very negative but what's even worse is the feeling of hopelessness. Like things will never end. By this I mean the war in Iraq, continously rising gas prices, and relations between Americans and other countries. That's only the tip of the iceberg. I will admit, however, that I felt a certain kind of evil glee when I read that your approval ratings in the polls have slipped down to an all time low. It's really hard for me to remain objective because what I really want to do is track down each and every one of your supporters and ask them personally, Was it worth it?

I am almost 29 years old, married, and I have a 12 year old child. My husband works but doesn't necessarily make the greatest money. I am a full time student at a local college and I bust my ass regularly in order to graduate on time and with honors. Now, it is certainly not your fault that I waited until I was 27 to start college, nor is it your fault that my husband doesn't make that much money, considering the fact that the exportation of American jobs in order to save large corporations millions of dollars started long before your time. So, no, I am not blaming that on you. But my question is, how are we, and hundreds of thousands of other people, supposed to get to work, school etc. when the price of gas continues to hover at around $2.50 a gallon? I know that your rich daddy has been investing in Saudi oil for years, so you have probably never in your life felt the punch to your wallet when filling up the tank like the rest of us do. But we feel it. It's making us very, very angry. This is no longer the generation of "we can't do anything about it." Oh, no. This is becoming the generation of "we can do something about it, and we will." I know people who can't even afford to drive to work. Do you know how sad that is? I bet you don't. All your life, everything has been paid for you.

I feel sorry for you, actually. You have a cute face and a great sense of humor. But you are not a leader. You are the kind of guy I would want to host my dinner party. Not leading my country. But I feel you were not ready for this presidency. I think there are several things that pushed you into it, most of all your daddy. He got pissed off because he was beat down by a "lowly" Democrat and perhaps he wants to fulfill his legacy through you. And you poor man, you're no match for Daddy's wit. You are spunky, and we like that, but your spunk is headed in the wrong direction. Most people do not like you anymore. I cannot tell you how many people have scraped their "Bush Cheney 2004" stickers off their cars in shame and embarassment. It must not feel very good to be a pariah to an entire nation.

Which brings me the reason for this letter. A couple of days ago, I received my gas bill from the energy company. Last month's bill was high, so we decided to set the thermostat at 65 and just freeze our asses off until it could get better. By the way, did you have to do any such thing? Probably not. So, anyway, I open the bill. Can you guess how much my gas bill was? It was TWO HUNDRED AND FORTY-FOUR DOLLARS AND FOURTEEN CENTS. Yes, that's right. I'll say it again. TWO HUNDRED FORTY-FOUR DOLLARS AND FOURTEEN CENTS. Upon reading the insert that came with the bill, I learned that gas prices are at an all time high and that the energy companies are selling the gas at cost, meaning they do not make a profit off the customers they service. Which is, of course, costing them money as well. After I kicked the bill around the living room (literally) and screamed and cried for a few minutes (I am a very passionate and dramatic person, I'll admit) I began to wonder how many other people are in the same boat as me. You see, mr president, I cannot afford to pay this bill. What am I supposed to do? I do draw in an income from rental property that I own, and thank God that my daughter's father pays his child support, but even that combined with my husbands income is not enough to pay our bills. If the gas bill was a hundred dollars less or so, that would be a different story and may even be considered reasonable. But I see this gas crunch hitting people like me where it hurts every day, while your rich conglomerates and hoodlum friends like Kenneth Lay are living it up. We are honest people, mr president. We may not be rich, but most people I know are good, honest, hard working people just struggling to make it in today's economy. This is no easy feat, thanks to you, but we don't give up. No one I know draws benefits from welfare....we all work hard and it's like running on a treadmill these days...you run and run and run but stay in the same place. It can be very frustrating.

This is where my Republican friends come in, the ones who say that people should do for themselves and not rely on welfare or assistance in order to succeed. I do agree to a certain extent that everyone can succeed if they try, but everyone needs certain tools in order to utilize that independence. For instance, how can a single teenage mother go to work if she cannot afford the gas to get there? You may say it's her fault for getting pregnant in the first place, and while that may be true, the facts are that this is America and everyone should have an equal opportunity to succeed, regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation, handicap, etc. Right? Unfortunately, that's not the way things are. They never have been, but at least we weren't paying 2.50 a gallon for gas and paying off monster gas bills in monthly installments in order to not get out service cut off. This is the reality, mr president. I know you don't know what that word is, so let me spell it out for you: R E A L I T Y. It means R E A L. Something you are not familiar with. But I guess we are even. You are not familiar with our world, and we are not familiar with yours.

In closing, mr president, I have this to say: You ought to be ashamed of yourself. And if you were standing in front of me right now, I would tell you to go fuck yourself. See, because you MIGHT be president right NOW, but I guarantee you, sir, that I am one hundred times smarter than you. That IS a comfort, albeit a small one. And while more and more of our loved ones are dying FOR ABSOLUTELY NO DISCERNIBLE REASON AT ALL, I want you to continue your power trip, because baby, it's coming to an end. You may finish out your presidency, but please do so with the knowledge that NO ONE LIKES YOU. NO ONE. Except your ass kissing friend Cheney, who is worse than you because he's actually evil and not just stupid, like you are. I am counting down the days until you get your ass out of the White House. I am not the only one. Believe me, if the Republican candidate is a good one, I'll vote for him. If the Democrat is better, I'll vote for him. Anything has to be better than this. The bad news is, it's going to take years and years to clean up the mess you have created. The good news is, we only have a couple more years to wait. Thank God.


Seriously Thinking of Moving To Canada,

Sondra