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(The following letter was written by a self-described registered Republican airline pilot in response to some mass emails forwarded to him by his mom.)
Mom,
Pass this on to Dad after you read it if you will. Thanks!
Unfortunately Mom, that email that you forwarded to me checked out to be nothing less than a pack of lies that is being hatefully circulated by non-Christian arch conservatives who will do anything, say anything, no matter how low, to defeat John Kerry.
What bothers me most about all of this Mom is that all of these naysayers and 20/20 hindsight heroes have glossed over the simple fact, the undeniable fact, that John Kerry DID serve admirably, DID receive citations for valor, DID save a man’s life under enemy fire, and DID IN FACT go to Viet Nam when George Bush used his daddy’s influence to garner a highly coveted spot in the Texas National Guard – thereby ensuring that he would never see a days action in Viet Nam. Those are the facts, they are undeniable, yet the republicans know full well that many Americans, indeed MOST Americans will not take the time to check facts and simply forward these emails on and on and on and on. Laboring under the tried and true propagandist’s first and most important rule – say anything enough times and it will eventually be accepted as true – the republicans have even gone so far as to convince a majority of Americans that it wasn’t due to promised weapons of mass destruction that we invaded Iraq, but rather it was due to some sort of 9/11 linkage. A bald faced lie, but look at the republican imagery from their convention and quiz most older American’s these days and they will tell you, SWEAR to you in fact, that Bin Laden and Al Qaeda were in league with Saddam Hussein. It’s mind numbingly CRAZY to me to watch the more polished republican machine (after all, the right, which means the rich and big business, has all the money - they can afford the polish) spin these lies and watch Americans by the millions lap them up without question. But one thing the Bible tells us (if we would but pay more attention to everything that great book tells us rather than picking and choosing as Bush does) is that there isn’t anything new under the sun, and people were the same silly fools 2000 years ago that they were 60 years ago that they are today.
During the Nuremburg trials after WWII, Herman Goering said to a biographer who was documenting the trials and what was presumed to be the last days of the only surviving top member of Hitler’s team, “Naturally the common people don't want war; neither in Russia, nor in England, nor in America, nor in Germany. That is understood. But after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country."
Bingo. Never mind the truth - just "drag them along" in the same old tried and true fashion that has always worked and will always work.
John Kerry is not my idea of an excellent Democratic candidate. I was backing General Wesley Clark. And I'm not a liberal or even a Democrat in this day and age. But the politicians that I look highly upon, more than any other, are the Roosevelt/Truman style Democrats of old who were morally conservative but socially "progressive" and friends of labor and the working man. These are the men who built this country into what it became: The first nation on earth made up mostly of middle class workers with a high standard of living. The republicans didn't do it! They fought those early and mid-20th century heroes with everything they had! And then after the "dixiecrats" ran out of the Democratic party with their racist, white-supremacist dogma and straight into the arms of the republican party (where they sill fit in warmly today) they fought every social gain and quality of life improvement the little guy managed to eek out in the latter part of the 20th century.
As poorly run and disconnected as the Democrat party is, at least they're honest about who they are and what they support. This republican party, on the other hand, is the most corrupt, hate mongering, lying pack of vipers I have ever seen in my 40 years. And despite how it might seem, I've been paying attention since I was about 16! It wouldn't be accurate to say that these people are worse than the republicans of Nixon's time, many of them ARE the republicans of Nixon's time! Quite frankly, they make me ill.
Sam said to me one day as we were standing in front of Church, "I may be a Christian, but I'll NEVER be no republican." Well, I am in fact still a registered republican, but after watching the republican Supreme Court steal the election and appoint our current non-English speaking, C-student president I was still moved to say, "Amen brother."
Love,
Matt
P.S. Here's an article that I got from my union president today:
ALPA’s president, Capt. Duane Woerth, sent the following message to all of the members of ALPA’s Board of Directors, today, September 10:
Tomorrow is the third anniversary of the disaster known around the world simply as 9/11. This weekend, I will be the keynote speaker at a major “Get Out the Vote” rally in Florida—this time in Jacksonville.
I am going to talk about what has happened since 9/11 to airline families—more layoffs, more pay cuts, more lost health insurance, more lost and threatened pensions than at any other time in our history. I am going to tell everyone what the President—who is running his entire reelection campaign on what he has done since 9/11—has done, or rather not done, for us. I am going to tell everyone how through his political appointees, the President denied United (which lost two aircraft on that terrible day three years ago) a loan guarantee that Congress had authorized. First, it was denied because the administration said that employee concessions weren’t deep enough and that the business plan needed work. The final denial, however, incredibly said that the business plan was fine and that they didn’t need the loan guarantee that Congress had authorized. That’s unbelievable.
I’m going to tell the rally participants about US Airways—which did get a loan guarantee—but only after incredibly deep concessions, layoffs, and the ATSB’s demands that the pilots’ pension serve as a ransom. However, the loan covenants imposed on US Airways are so onerous and unreasonably stringent that the carrier, in spite of being one of the few airlines to make money last quarter, stands on the brink of a second bankruptcy because of the loan covenants. US Airways, which lost its National Airport hub for more than three months because of orders from the Executive Branch of our government, got no relief, but instead received lectures about market forces. The Bush administration made certain that only 16 percent of the $10 billion in loan guarantees that Congress authorized, were approved.
ATA’s loan guarantee covenants are also very stringent, and ATA is threatened once again with bankruptcy as a consequence.
America West pilots were denied larger raises than they deserved because of loan guarantee covenants.
ExpressJet’s pilots have been negotiating for nearly 1,000 days with management of a company that is making more money than Southwest, but President Bush’s no-airline-strike message and pledge in March 2000 still rings in the ears of those who have the power to put pressure on ExpressJet management.
American Eagle will make more than $100 million again this year, but its management still refuses to put a fair compensation proposal on the table.
On the first anniversary of 9/11, I sent every ALPA member a flight bag sticker with ALPA wings and a red, white, and blue ribbon. The sticker, which I still see on tens of thousands of flight bags, says simply “9/11: Never Forget.” Well, I will never forget, nor will I ever forgive, those who have denied the tens of thousands of pilots the aid that Congress intended. September 11 is the day I will double my resolve to make a difference on November 2. What you do, and what you say to other ALPA members between now and then, is up to you.
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