An open letter to Allan Filip, chair of the Livingston County Republican Party, in reply to his letter-to-the-editor full of false accusations in the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus.
The party of FDR and Truman is alive and well, thank you, but I must ask you: where’s
the party of Eisenhower and Ford? The answer is long gone, and it has been hijacked by the likes of Tom Delay, Karl Rove, Dick Cheney and George Bush.
I attended the Melon Festival parade in Howell with my family on Saturday, and I failed to see the signs you are complaining about. In fact, I talked to a friend of mine where the signs from the parade are currently stored, and she did not see them either.
“I saw no nasty signs,” said Hamburg Township resident Debby Buckland. “Healthcare for all” “No spying on US Citizens” is nasty and hateful?”
In fact, here are the exact wording of the signs that were carried by members of the Livingston County Democratic Party in the parade:
“Quit stalling on State budget.”
“We want universal healthcare.”
“No spying on Americans.”
“Mike Roger's voted against children's health.”
“Support the troops, bring them home.”
“State Senate:
Don't balance the budget on our student's backs.”
I see no hate speech there, do you Mr. Filip? I see some hard truths. As for complaining to the Jaycees, go right ahead and make your case. We know the Republicans like to censor political speech, but like one of your “leaders,” Mike Bishop, recently found out; people will not stand for censorship.
I also worked a shift at the Democrats booth on Sunday and I stopped for a while on Saturday, and no one reported anyone complaining about the signs. In fact, the opposite was true. The response was great, and many people stopped by on Saturday to fill out our survey. People were also pleasant and interested on Sunday, but because of the rain they were les of them. But they were with us.
The people you claim complained may have been figments of your imagination, but more likely they were hard-core Republicans like you who do not like hearing the truth.
Actually, I did not see the Republicans in the parade at all. I did see some people marching for U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, but again, no Rogers. Perhaps you can remind him where the 8th Congressional District is if you ever see him. He seems unable to find it lately. We, of course, did not see Reps. Chris Ward and Joe Hune, but we didn’t expect to see Ward. He even blew it off last year when it was an election year.
You are calling the majority of Americans Marxists because the majority of Americans who do not support the Iraq civil war/occupation. It was an immoral invasion that did not need to be made that was based on faulty information bent to allow Bush and his cronies a long-held wish to invade Iraq. It did not, and still does not, have anything to do with combating terrorism or protecting the U.S. against terrorists.
The protest sponsored by Americans Against Escalation in Iraq occurred in a bedroom, commuter community at noon on a weekday. It’s a miracle anyone showed up, but you should check out Rogers' Michigan office on Thursdays if you want to see lots of people protesting against the Iraq fiasco.
Like you, I also grew up grew up believing America could accomplish anything with the support of our citizens, and that’s why I am hoping the citizens can get us out of that useless occupation. I also grew up believing that we were the good guys wearing the white hats. We did not invade smaller weaker country for no reason based on made up reasons, excuses and justifications. But far more importantly, we most certainly did not torture and kidnap people. I spent 20 years in the military trying to be a good American the many times I was overseas representing America by being a good ambassador for the U.S. and projecting a positive image, but in a matter of seconds George Bush threw away all of that great good will people had for us.
It makes you wonder what prompted this unprovoked attack, but after seeing how few people visited your booth, I am beginning to see why. Apparently, the Livingston County Democratic Party is a force to be reckoned with based on this attack.
7 comments:
Go, Guru!
"Apparently, the Livingston County Democratic Party is a force to be reckoned with based on this attack."
Oops. Typo in your sentence CG. You typed "force" - I think you meant "farce".
Thank you, Celeste, for the kind words, and thank you, Anonymous, for pointing out that typo.
"Actually, I did not see the Republicans in the parade at all."
Sen. Valde Garcia marched in the parade.
Again, I did not see the Livingston County Republican Party in the parade. I saw my state Senator, Valde Garcia, and some people marching for my U.S. Congressman, but I did not see the party in the parade. Did you?
Guru, this comment posted below Filip's letter says it all:
As a Moderate Republican, I find this letter to be embarrassing.
Someone, please rescue the once Grand Old Party.
This comment below the letter was good too:
"I think the problem with the GOP in Livingston, is that it is the party of Trent Lott and Strom Therman [sic]. It could equally be located in Georgia in the 1950's."
-johnth
The tone of Filip's letter was indeed suggestive of the "Old South", whereby pointing out ugliness is considered to be even uglier than is the ugliness itself. "Manners" before ethics. I loved the way the event was cited as being a family event - as if dissent were risque.
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