What does it take to get a drink in this place?

Dear America,

This is a letter from a concerned admirer. I’m writing you because I’ve been watching you of late and your actions have me worried. You don’t seem to be the country I fell in love with those many years ago; you’re just not acting like your normally optimistic self. I guess I have seen this coming for a long time, but the newspaper headlines on November 3rd forced me to do something more than just sit by and watch your destructive tendencies take over.

Maybe it is the crowd you’ve fallen in with – I never really liked that George W. when you first brought him home back in 2000. He always struck me as a man with something to prove, but that’s no surprise considering how he got into Yale and Harvard Business School due to his father’s influence. I’ve tried to keep quiet over the past four years, since we all have to live together, but I can’t hold my tongue any more. All you have to show for his time is more bruises than a few falls down the stairs bring.

I have always thought that these Presidential relationships were supposed to make you a better person and teach you some truth about yourself that you never knew you had in you. Look at it on balance – we’ve lost a bunch of soldiers way across the ocean in a place that never even picked a fight with us, we have less civil liberties than before, and there are still tons of our own in poverty and without adequate health care. I know you say he makes you feel safe, but from what? When will you wake up from your delusion and realize that he is a bigger threat to your safety than Osama ever was?

Speaking of Osama, what has George done to keep him from popping back in at a moment’s notice? Unconditional support for Israel’s territorial expansion into Palestinian lands and for totalitarian regimes in the Middle East that support us like Saudi Arabia only leave us more exposed to radical Islamic terrorists. Don’t you see that the only way to truly end terrorism is to address the underlying causes like poverty and a lack of economic options in third world countries, and that killing young radicals while trying to ‘export’ our own form of democracy will only make us more hated?

Chiefly I am disappointed in you that you fell for George’s sweet-talk rhetoric of fear. Can you honestly tell me that you think his us-versus-them view of the world and crusade mentality reflect the kind of rational thought that you’ve always fallen before in your previous presidents? Sure, it’s a great way for him to keep you interested in him for the short-term, but trying to win you over out of fear will eventually rip your heart apart and leave you lonely and divided.

That’s another thing – all your friends are wondering what has happened to your once principled leadership in the international arena. You used to think that because you were the biggest kid on the block you had to act with greater forethought and the interest of others in mind. Now it’s like you’re just trying to piss off France and Germany and most everybody else in the world. They’ve been through a lot with you, and just want to see you at your best. It’d do you well to listen to them every now and again instead of just turning away arrogantly.

I know this letter will upset you, but you can’t let George walk all over half of the country while claiming a mandate and advancing a narrow-minded agenda for the next four years. While I know you’ll see the light and change eventually, I hope for all our sakes you’ll do it sooner than later. There will be less pieces to pick up that way.