Karl Rove Repug Tactics are in full swing

[grisvador]

I received the letter below in my email - I replied to all with an actual letter to the President that I had found a link to here on DU. 4 years ago I would have ignored these tactics - but no more.

received via email this morning.

LETTER TO PRESIDENT BUSH:
Bush Took My Job, Killed My Sons. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak my mind. I lost my job this past year. When Clinton was president I was secure and prosperous, but in the last year, we had to close our operations. We simply could not compete with foreign labor. This foreign labor worked for low pay under very bad conditions. They worked very long shifts, and many even died on the job. This competition could hardly be called "fair." I was forced out of the place where I had worked for 34 years. Not a single government program was there to help me. How can Bush call himself "compassionate?" Far worse, I lost two of my sons in Bush's evil war in Iraq. They gave their lives for their country, and for what? So that Bush's oil buddies can get rich. My pain of losing my sons is indescribable. While it is trivial next to the loss of my sons, I regret to say that I also lost my home. I simply have nothing left. How can Bush call himself a Christian when he neglects people like me? I am a senior citizen with various medical problems. I'm not in a position where I can begin a new career. I was reduced to the point where I had to live in a hole in a ground, all because of President Bush. And when the authorities found me there, did they have any compassion for my misfortune and ailments? No, I was arrested.

Mr. Bush, I dare you to look me in the face and tell me you are a compassionate man! I dare you to look me in the face and tell me you are a Christian! If I had any money left, I would donate it to the Democrat Party. If Al Gore had been elected in 2000 I would still have a job, a home, and most importantly, my dear sons!

Signed,
Saddam Hussein

My response

An ACTUAL letter to the President...


Shaken father writes to president


Published in the Home News Tribune 2/05/04
Dear President Bush,
With heavy heart, tears in my eyes and a home full of sorrow, I pick up my pen to write you about a brave soldier, 2nd Lt. Seth J. Dvorin, U.S. Army. My son was killed in Iraq on Feb. 3, 2004 fighting in a war.

Seth was a good boy, well-mannered, smart, kind and understanding.

He joined the Army in an effort to serve his country. And serve his country he did. Seth made the ultimate sacrifice.

Burying a child will no doubt be the hardest task that his mother and I shall ever have to do. The one question I have, and the one question I would like you to answer, is, "Why did my son and every other soldier that was killed, maimed and wounded have to suffer settling your vendetta?"

My son is gone just when he was laying a strong foundation to build upon for the rest of his life.

Now, President Bush, his life has been snuffed out in a meaningless war.

Where are all the weapons of mass destruction, where are the stock piles of chemical and biological weapons?

Please President, pray for all our fallen heroes and as a tribute to these heroes get our boys and girls out of Iraq now, before too much more blood is shed.

Since you waged this unnecessary war on Saddam Hussein the world has become a horrible place to live in.

I know my boy is safe now, in a new world free of hate and prejudices where GOD is his president, but you tell me President Bush why he had to go so soon and in such a violent way.

Respectfully yours, Richard M. Dvorin

[LEW]

1. Good job

Glad you responded. I bet I will get this same e-mail from my repub friends and I am going to do what you did. Thanks.

[glarius]

2. Even if there are WMDs found THERE WAS NO NEED TO GO TO WAR!

Saddam was being contained and this could have continued without the loss of life (either American or Iraqi) that has happened with his unnecessary war!!!

[MidwestTransplant]

3. Marking

to use in a response email when I get the stupid Saddam one!

[JohnyCanuck]

4. You might want to send them this as well.

Speaking about a preliminary hearing for some US Marines accused of mistreating Iraqi prisoners, the author of the article, James Glaser, writes:

On the face of it, it sounds just horrible that Marines would be kicking and punching men with bags over their head and hands tied behind their backs. This sounds more like what would happen in one of Saddam Hussein Prisons.

Well America, welcome to the real world of Warfare. American Soldiers and Marines can and do get every bit as vicious as any Iraqi that ever lived. Maybe it hasn't reached the point of total insanity in Iraq yet, but it will.

Sad to say, I saw us torture and kill women and children and a memory like that sticks with you. There are many reasons that former Marines do not want to see another war, mine is because it destroys so many of our troops lives. It isn't just the dying or the losing of limbs; it is the horror that is stuck in your mind...every day, for the rest of your life.

Here is a real easy research project for you. Go to GOOGLE and type in "Winter Soldier Investigation." The first page that comes up is about this same 1st Marine Division and the first man to testify, talks about the mistreatment of prisoners. These testimonies were taken in Detroit, in 1971, by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War.


http://www.jamesglaser.org/2004/p20040205.html

[grisvador]

6. War is Hell!

And many that fight in a war have to live like there is no tomorrow. Because tomorrow they may die. What a profound aspect that has on one's psyche. What rationalizations would I make? I hope I am never faced with that...

Remember the first days of the war - they showed a young captain pointing his gun at the ground - surrounded by a group of angry Iraqis who thought the Americans were going to take their cleric into custody - the cool resolve of the captain was amazing - he wanted the Iraqis to know that we were there to help.

Now, our troops are demoralized and have seen many of their comrades die. They are angry at the Iraqis because they are still in Iraq. Who else can our servicemen vent their frustration on? Certainly not the President whose policies require them to stay there. And so the frustration builds and must find a release...Now we hear of servicewoman being raped by their own countrymen.

There is no question that we must withdraw our servicemen soon. The longer they are in the pressure cooker the more they will rationalize their actions.

[Lucille]

5. Excellent response

This fake letter is a mistake, and your letter shows why. The "joke" works only if you think that Saddam is a horrible boogy-man. That image was destroyed, not just for Iraqis, but for Americans also.

But the major problem with it is that it reduces those Americans who have lost a loved one and/or their jobs to a set up for a joke. This effectively negates--and and actually mocks--the genuine grief that living, breathing Americans feel. It also insults those who feel, for the first time, anxiety or ambivalence over the war. They know the anquish and anxiety they feel for others does not make them supporters of Saddam.

This fake letter will backfire.