AN OPEN LETTER FROM AN AMERICAN CITIZEN
Posted by B. Preston
JunkYardBlog
A reader sent this to me tonight. It succinctly captures what a lot of people are thinking and feeling right now.
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September 8, 2005
Open Letter to Fellow Americans,
It’s the fashion now, from New Orleans to DC, to write open letters. Here is mine:
We need grownups in Washington, DC, in New Orleans, in Mississippi and Alabama (oh, wait, you’re not hearing too much from the utter devastation of those two states – hmm, might be their two governors are doing their duty.)
In fact, we need grownups across the United States. We face huge problems – we faced many before Hurricane Katrina, but now, we’ve got three out of 50 states out of commission, and the surrounding states picking up our fellow Americans.
I, for one American, do not want to hear elected politicians in DC or in their home states, bickering, pointing fingers, sending form emails in response to their constituents’ concerns. I want them to do their jobs, which is to run the United States. Partisan be damned. I am tired of Congress ducking their responsibility – a clear and present danger – for the 9/11 debacle of our defense and intelligence agencies. And now.
Whether we restructure FEMA or Homeland Security – calling for the heads of those agencies to be fired right now is counter-productive and destructive. Just pause for a moment and think how long it would take to get someone else approved.
Like it or not, we are in the midst of the worst natural disaster we’ve ever experienced. And as bad as it has been for one week, much tougher times are coming. Reclaiming the dead, rebuilding homes, towns, cities, states, battling diseases that are breeding as I write.
Americans, who deal with every day life – work, family, balancing checkbooks, are watching and ACTING, as we shoulder aside the naysayers, roll up our sleeves, and just help – from cash contributions to taking in a neighbor to piling their cars with foodstuffs and heading for the scene.
My fellow Americans, we are at war, we are responding to an unprecedented disaster, with 24/7 coverage (not experienced before). I realize we are all individually responding. When you have ten seconds, write, call, email your representatives and tell them what you expect.
The frustration raging inside me at childish pundits, childish politicians masquerading as adults, is reaching my max. I want grownups in charge. I do not care about your self-esteem, your next election, your ratings. Get out of the way and let us do the job.
Peggie Duggan
Federal Way, WA
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