30 Second Letter to the Editor - Write AGAINST the Democrats THURSDAY! (action item)

The fact is, many people read the "Letters to the Editor" in their local, hometown papers. Further, these papers are more willing than the major ones to publish conservative points of view. Thus, by flooding these papers with letters, we can get our viewpoints out to a good chunk of the public.

So, I have prepared four sample letters below with some major points we need to get across. Take a look, and, if you have time, compose your own letter. If not, feel free to use a sample. Although I strongly discourage seminar letters, there is a good chance that, because of geographic diversity of FReepers and the options that have been laid out, more than one of the same sample will probably not reach the same local paper.

Before you start, be sure to enter your zipcode in the form provided and select "get info" -- the red button.

Check off all the publication names, and then scroll down to write your letter. If you have the time, then click "Show All Newspapers" and check off as many boxes as you can.

Why is John Kerry, a candidate for President of the United States, hiding from the American public?

It is about five months from the election, and, still, most Americans do not know who John Kerry is. Additionally, it seems that his handlers are intentionally trying to keep him out of the news. This shameful "run out the clock" strategy -- i.e. keeping Kerry out of the spotlight for as long as possible -- is unbecoming a candidate for the highest office in the land.

If John Kerry thinks that voters would turn away from him if they knew more about him and saw more of him, then he has no business running for President.

It is only five months from the Presidential election, and most Americans don't know who John Kerry is or where he stands.

His campaign is, apparently, trying to hide him from public view. Every time he does make an appearance, he seems to shoot himself in the foot -- e.g. his comment that he voted for funding the troops before he voted against it. Thus, his campaign managers appear to be trying to shield him from media coverage to prevent further gaffes -- which is absurd, because the American people have a right to know where their Presidential candidates stand on the issues and what their plans are to lead the country forward.

Senator Kerry must come out of hiding and tell the American people who he is and what he intends to do if elected. His current tactic of avoiding public contact is unacceptable.

While President Bush's plans for Iraq and for America's future are very clear, most Americans have absolutely no idea what his apparent opponent, John Kerry, would do differently. Aside from pretty commercials that tell us that he served in Vietnam 30 years ago -- along with his 8mm home movies -- we have no idea what he would do today.

In fact, John Kerry has not clearly articulated his position on any major issue whatsoever. Most Americans feel that he tends to flip-flop because he refuses to define for us any clear plan on any issue in any area.

Sure, he spends plenty of time bashing the President, but that doesn't give Americans any reason to vote FOR him.

John Kerry should be ashamed of himself if he intends to base his entire campaign on hammering the President's poll numbers while saying nothing about what he would do differently. Kerry needs to stop hiding, quit the bashing, and start talking -- substantively.

There is a lot of smoke rising out of the Democrats' camp lately, but there doesn't seem to be any fire.

Democrats have decided to run the most negative campaign in history. Ted Kennedy has compared Americans to Ba'athists; Nancy Pelosi, the Minority Leader in the House (and member of the Democratic Socialists of America), has launched vicious ad hominem attacks against the President; Senator Hollings burst into an Anti-Semitic tirade; Al Gore, worked up into a demented fury, said, again, that the President has "betrayed us"; and Senator Tim Johnson has sunk so low as to call the GOP "Taliban." This sort of rhetoric is nothing short of appalling. If this is the best they have -- i.e. nothing of substance or policy to say -- then these Democrats should not be in office.

Further, John Kerry -- who has apparently been in hiding -- has not distanced himself from this acerbic rhetoric.

We have no idea what the Democrats' plan for America is -- but they certainly have mastered the art of the negative campaign.

In the past three-and-a-half years, our great nation has faced many challenges, both new and old. Luckily, in 2000, the people, by a razor-thin margin, chose for president the candidate much more capable of handling these crises.

In early 2001, for the first time in a decade, our economy was heading into recession. Quickly after his inauguration, President George W. Bush passed a massive $1.9 trillion tax-cut package, which has translated into massive economic benefits. Sure enough, this year alone nearly 1 million jobs have been created, and unemployment has dropped to Reagan-era levels. Inflation is nearly nonexistent, less than half of a percent, and interest rates are at a 30-year low. The GDP is growing at a tremendous pace, and our economy is in full recovery mode. Even better, the full supply-side benefits of the Bush tax cut have yet to fully take effect.

After 9/11, the specter of Islamic terrorism faced our country with a rigor never seen before. President Bush swiftly and strongly acted, and within months the terrorist-harboring Taliban was destroyed and al-Qaeda, perhaps the biggest terrorist threat and culprit behind 9/11, was decimated. Libya, another major terrorist threat, was so frightened by our decisive actions in Afghanistan, they immediately ceased all terrorist activity, and ended their biological and nuclear weapons programs, opening their borders to UN inspectors and befriending the US, without a shot being fired.

The war on terrorism did not stop in Afghanistan, however. After trying for a year to get a UN Security Council Resolution condemning Saddam Hussein and his brutal regime passed and failing, President Bush took action without the UN, fulfilling President Clinton’s 1998 Iraqi Liberation Act and a more recent resolution authorizing the use of force in Iraq (both passed by overwhelming majorities in Congress). Within weeks, coalition forces (representing nearly 15 countries, with many more sending aid and approval) had toppled the most brutal, extremist, tyrannical regime since Hitler.

Saddam Hussein had brutally murdered hundreds of thousands of his own people, funded terrorist operations (including al-Qaeda) and presidential palaces using oil-for-food money, and clearly defied UN Res. 1441, refusing UN inspectors access to much of Iraq. If Saddam did not have WMDs, why would he not allow inspectors to confirm this assertion?

Regardless of the liberal rhetoric being spread, the occupation since has been a smashing success and casualties minimal. Transfer of sovereignty to an Iraqi-controlled government is still on schedule for the end of this month, and our Army is training an Iraqi security force to take over police duties. In two years or less, Iraq will be a free, democratic country and the war for its freedom a historical anecdote.

Polls show overwhelmingly the three issues most important to voters this election season are the economy, the war on terrorism, and Iraq. The facts clearly show that President Bush is doing a superb job on each. President Bush is a great man and a great leader, and four more years of his leadership would be the best thins for this country. Your vote, especially here in Florida, is essential.

Joshua R. Simmons (not affiliated with the Bush campaign)
Lake City, FL

This is the letter that I just sent to the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, [Jacksonville] Florida Times-Union, Miami Herald, Orlando Sentinel, St. Petersburg Times, Tampa Tribune, Palm Beach Post, Gainesville Sun, Pensacola News Journal, Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Tallahassee Democrat, Lake City Reporter, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, USA Today, and the Washington Post. Since I only subscribe to and read the Reporter and Times-Union, I'd much appreciate it if fellow FReepers would keep an eye out for it (and if you read the Times or Post, you have my pity...). I doubt it will be published in all 16 newspapers, but it never hurts to try.

FReepers are given full rights to the above material and unconditional discretion in editing it to their personal tastes (just don't use my name with it ;)). I suggest you not send a letter similar in phrase and structure to the above-mentioned papers (as surely there would be cries of "conspiracy"), but PLEASE write letters to your local papers.

If you have a different letter you want to send to these Florida papers, you can FReepmail me for the full list of e-mail addresses.

Keep on FReepin' on!

I would like to send a response to a letter to the editor listed below. I cannot, because they only allow one letter a month, & I just sent one. If anyone is interested in tackling this, or even sending a "generic" letter and including the website www.vietnamveteransagainstjohnkerry.org with the letter, please visit www.leaderherald.com & click "letter to editor."

Here's the letter:

Administration misled citizens on war in Iraq

Thank you for your fine article, "Crosses at shrine honor fallen soldiers."

Veterans For Peace recognizes the honorable intent of our servicemen and women currently in Iraq. However, we do not believe this war is in legitimate defense of our country. We feel the American people have been misled by a failed administration in Washington. We clearly support the troops. In their support, we say, "Bring them home, now." We are dismayed by our government's attempts to deny the cost of this war, our sons and daughters, by trying to hide the deaths of so many of our young from the American public. Perhaps if more of the current administration had actually served in the military rather than having "other priorities" when their country called upon them, they might have proved more competent in handling foreign policy and avoiding a pre-emptive war with a nation which had no weapons of mass destruction, no ties to al-Qaida and that did not attack us.

There is also one correction in the article I feel honor-bound to make. I did not serve in Vietnam. I served honorably in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1965 to 1969 during the Vietnam era. After attending a Vietnamese language school in 1966, possibly in 1967 at El Torro Air Station in California, I put in for assignment, likely to be sent to Vietnam, but was sent to Okinawa instead.
I thank God for that very good fortune. I would also add by way of explanation that the crosses we used at the shrine are not modeled after Arlington. The concept for this memorial comes from a Veterans For Peace ongoing display in Santa Barbara, Calif., where VFP Chapter 54 has modeled its crosses after Arlington. This project is named Arlington West. For more information about Arlington West or Veterans For Peace, we have an excellent Web site at www.veteransforpeace.org. Thanks again for your fine local coverage.

JOHN AMIDON

Albany (New York)

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