- Sorry, I try not to deluge people with my ramblings.
But I had to write this and, having written it, had to send it. Even though
I don't know anyone I can send it to (without alienating my Republican
in-laws, who are the only "middle country" people I know.)
-
- I am writing this letter to the people in the red states
in the middle of the country -- the people who voted for George W. Bush.
I am writing this letter because I don't think we know each other.
-
- So I'll make an introduction. I am a New Yorker who voted
for John Kerry. I used to live in California, and if I still lived there,
I would vote for Kerry. I used to live in Washington, DC, and if I still
lived there, I would vote for Kerry. Kerry won in all three of those regions.
-
- Maybe you want to know more about me. Or maybe not; maybe
you think you know me already. You think I am some anti-American anarchist
because I dislike George W. Bush. You think that I am immoral and anti-family,
because I support women's reproductive freedom and gay rights. You think
that I am dangerous, and even evil, because I do not abide by your religious
beliefs.
-
- Maybe you are content to think that, to write me off
as a "liberal" -- the dreaded "L" word -- and rejoice
that your candidate has triumphed over evil, immoral, anti-American, anti-family
people like me. But maybe you are still curious. So here goes: this is
who I am.
-
- I am a New Yorker. I was here, in my apartment downtown,
on September 11th. I watched the Towers burn from the roof of my building.
I went inside so that I couldn't see them when they fell. I had friends
who were inside. I have a friend who still has nightmares about watching
people jump and fall from the Towers. He will never be the same. How many
people like him do you know? People that can't sit in a restaurant without
plotting an escape route, in case it blows up?
-
- I am a worker. I work across the street from the Citigroup
Center, which the government told us is a "target" of terrorism.
Later, we found out they were relaying on very old information, but it
was already too late. They had given me bad dreams again. The subway stop
near my office was crowded with bomb-sniffing dogs, policemen in heavy
protective gear, soldiers. Now, every time I enter or exit my office, all
of my possessions are X-rayed to make sure I don't have any weapons. How
often are you stopped by a soldier with a bomb-sniffing dog outside your
office?
-
- I am a neighbor. I have a neighbor who is a 9/11 widow.
She has two children. My husband does odd jobs for her now, like building
bookshelves. Things her husband should do. He uses her husband's tools,
and the two little girls tell him, "Those are our daddy's tools."
How many 9/11 widows and orphans do you know? How often do you fill in
for their dead loved ones?
-
- I am a taxpayer. I worked my butt off to get where I
did, and so did my parents. My parents saved and borrowed and sent me to
college. I worked my way through graduate school. I won a full tuition
scholarship to law school. All for the privilege of working 2,600 hours
last year. That works out to a 50 hour week, every week, without any vacation
days at all. I get to work by 9 am and rarely leave before 9 pm. I eat
dinner at my office much more often than I eat dinner at home. My husband
and I paid over $70,000 in federal income tax last year. At some point
in the future, we will have to pay much more -- once this country faces
its deficit and the impossible burden of Social Security. In fact, the
areas of the country that supported Kerry -- New York, California, Illinois,
Massachusetts -- they are the financial centers of the nation. They are
the tax base of this country. How much did you pay, Kansas? How much did
you contribute to this government you support, Alabama? How much of this
war in Iraq did you pay for?
-
- I am a liberal. The funny part is, liberals have this
reputation for living in Never-Neverland, being idealists, not being sensible.
But let me tell you how I see the world: I see America as one nation in
a world of nations. Therefore, I think we should try to get along with
other nations. I see that gay people exist. Therefore, I think they should
be allowed to exist, and be treated the same as other people. I see ways
in which women are not allowed to control their own bodies. Therefore,
I think we should give women more control over their bodies. I see that
people have awful diseases. Therefore, I think we should enable scientists
to try to cure them. I see that we have a Constitution. Therefore, I think
it should be upheld. I see that there were no weapons of mass destruction
in Iraq. Therefore, I think that Iraq was not an imminent danger to me.
It seems so pragmatic to me. How do you see the world? Do you really think
voting against gay marriage will keep people from being gay? Would you
really prefer that people continue to die from Parkinson's disease? Do
you really not care about the Constitutional rights of political detainees?
Would you really have supported the war if you knew the truth, or would
you have wanted to spend more of our money on health care, job training,
terrorism preparedness?
-
- I am an American. I have an American flag flying outside
my home. I love my home more than anything. I love that I grew up right
outside New York City. I first went to the Statue of Liberty with my 5th
grade class, and my mom and dad took me to the Empire State Building when
I was 8. I love taking the subway to Yankee Stadium. I loved living in
Washington DC and going on dates to the Lincoln Memorial. It is because
I love this country so much that I argue with my political opponents as
much I do.
-
- I am not safe. I never feel safe. My in-laws live in
a small town in Ohio, and that town has received more federal funding,
per capita, for terrorism preparedness than New York City has. I take subways
and buses every day. I work in a skyscraper across the street from a "target."
I have emergency supplies and a spare pair of sneakers in my desk, in case
somethng happens while I'm at work. Do you? How many times a month do you
worry that your subway is going to blow up? When you hear sirens on the
street, do you run to the window to make sure everything is okay? When
you hear an airplane, do you flinch? Do you dread beautiful, blue-skied
September days? I don't know a single New Yorker who doesn't spend the
month of September on tip-toes, superstitiously praying for rain so we
don't have to relive that beautiful, blue-skied day.
-
- I am lonely. I feel that we, as a nation, have alienated
all our friends and further provoked our enemies. I feel unprotected. Most
of all I feel alienated from my fellow citizens, because I don't understand
what you are thinking. You voted for a man who started a war in Iraq for
no reason, against the wishes of the entire world. You voted for a man
whose lack of foresight and inability to plan has led to massive insurgencies
in Iraq, where weapons are disappearing into the hands of terrorists. You
voted for a man who let Osama Bin Laden escape into the hills of Afghanistan
so that he could start that war in Iraq. You voted for a man who doesn't
want to let people love who they want to love; doesn't want to let doctors
cure their patients; doesn't want to let women rule their destinies. I
don't understand why you voted for this man. For me, it is not enough that
he is personable; it is not enough that he seems like one of the guys.
Why did you vote for him? Why did you elect a man that lied to us in order
to convince us to go to war? (Ten years ago you were incensed when our
president lied about his sex life; you thought it was an impeachable offense.)
Why did you elect a leader who thinks that strength cannot include diplomacy
or international cooperation? Why did you elect a man who did nothing except
run away and hide on September 11?
-
- Most of all, I am terrified. I mean daily, I am afraid
that I will not survive this. I am afraid that I will lose my husband,
that I will never have children, that I will never grow old and watch the
sunset in a backyard of my own. I am afraid that my career -- which should
end with a triumphant and good-natured roast at a retirement party in 2035
-- will be cut short by an attack on me and my colleagues, as we sit sending
emails and making phone calls one ordinary afternoon. Is your life at stake?
Are you terrified?
-
- I don't think you are. I don't think you realize what
you have done. And if anything happens to me or the people I love, I blame
you. I wanted you to know that.
|
