<p>Oh gosh...sadly, I can definitely imagine that! Yayyy CONDI! Haha...not.
Anyway, here's the letter...this chic emailed it to like everyone in NHS at my school! A lil weird, but whatever...I think lil miss PIXIE needs to read it!:D</p>
<p>A LETTER TO THE RED STATES</p>
<p>**I posted this on several sites, asking for lists of email addresses.<br>
Therefore, you're receiving this because someone in your precious red
state does not agree with you, or possibly just wanted to offer a new
perspective. </p>
<p>Sorry, I try not to deluge people with my ramblings. But I had to
write this and, having written it, had to send it. Even though I
don't know anyone I can send it to (without alienating my
Republican in-laws, who are the only "middle country" people I
know.)</p>
<p>I am writing this letter to the people in the red states in the
middle of the country -- the people who voted for George W.
Bush. I am writing this letter because I don't think we know each
other.</p>
<p>So I'll make an introduction. I am a New Yorker who voted for
John Kerry. I used to live in California, and if I still lived there, I
would vote for Kerry. I used to live in Washington, DC, and if I
still lived there, I would vote for Kerry. Kerry won in all three of
those regions.</p>
<p>Maybe you want to know more about me. Or maybe not; maybe
you think you know me already. You think I am some anti-
American anarchist because I dislike George W. Bush. You
think that I am immoral and anti-family, because I support
women's reproductive freedom and gay rights. You think that I
am dangerous, and even evil, because I do not abide by your
religious beliefs.</p>
<p>Maybe you are content to think that, to write me off as a "liberal"
-- the dreaded "L" word -- and rejoice that your candidate has
triumphed over evil, immoral, anti-American, anti-family people
like me. But maybe you are still curious. So here goes: this is
who I am.</p>
<p>I am a New Yorker. I was here, in my apartment downtown, on
September 11th. I watched the Towers burn from the roof of my
building. I went inside so that I couldn't see them when they fell.
I had friends who were inside. I have a friend who still has
nightmares about watching people jump and fall from the
Towers. He will never be the same. How many people like him
do you know? People that can't sit in a restaurant without
plotting an escape route, in case it blows up?</p>
<p>I am a worker. I work across the street from the Citigroup
Center, which the government told us is a "target" of terrorism.
Later, we found out they were relaying very old information, but
it was already too late. They had given me bad dreams again.
The subway stop near my office was crowded with bomb-
sniffing dogs, policemen in heavy protective gear, soldiers.
Now, every time I enter or exit my office, all of my possessions
are X-rayed to make sure I don't have any weapons. How often
are you stopped by a soldier with a bomb-sniffing dog outside
your office?</p>
<p>I am a neighbor. I have a neighbor who is a 9/11 widow. She
has two children. My husband does odd jobs for her now, like
building bookshelves. Things her husband should do. He uses
her husband's tools, and the two little girls tell him, "Those are
our daddy's tools." How many 9/11 widows and orphans do you
know? How often do you fill in for their dead loved ones?</p>
<p>I am a taxpayer. I worked my butt off to get where I did, and so
did my parents. My parents saved and borrowed and sent me
to college. I worked my way through graduate school. I won a
full tuition scholarship to law school. All for the privilege of
working 2,600 hours last year. That works out to a 50 hour
week, every week, without any vacation days at all. I get to work
by 9 am and rarely leave before 9 pm. I eat dinner at my office
much more often than I eat dinner at home. My husband and I
paid over $70,000 in federal income tax last year. At some
point in the future, we will have to pay much more -- once this
country faces its deficit and the impossible burden of Social
Security. In fact, the areas of the country that supported Kerry --
New York, California, Illinois, Massachusetts -- they are the
financial centers of the nation. They are the tax base of this
country. How much did you pay, Kansas? How much did you
contribute to this government you support, Alabama? How
much of this war in Iraq did you pay for?</p>
<p>I am a liberal. The funny part is, liberals have this reputation for
living in Never-Neverland, being idealists, not being sensible.
But let me tell you how I see the world: I see America as one
nation in a world of nations. Therefore, I think we should try to
get along with other nations. I see that gay people exist.
Therefore, I think they should be allowed to exist, and be
treated the same as other people. I see ways in which women
are not allowed to control their own bodies. Therefore, I think
we should give women more control over their bodies. I see
that people have awful diseases. Therefore, I think we should
enable scientists to try to cure them. I see that we have a
Constitution. Therefore, I think it should be upheld. I see that
there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Therefore, I
think that Iraq was not an imminent danger to me. It seems so
pragmatic to me. How do you see the world? Do you really
think voting against gay marriage will keep people from being
gay? Would you really prefer that people continue to die from
Parkinson's disease? Do you really not care about the
Constitutional rights of political detainees? Would you really
have supported the war if you knew the truth, or would you
have wanted to spend more of our money on health care, job
training, terrorism preparedness?</p>
<p>I am an American. I have an American flag flying outside my
home. I love my home more than anything. I love that I grew up
right outside New York City. I first went to the Statue of Liberty
with my 5th grade class, and my mom and dad took me to the
Empire State Building when I was 8. I love taking the subway to
Yankee Stadium. I loved living in Washington DC and going on
dates to the Lincoln Memorial. It is because I love this country
so much that I argue with my political opponents as much I do.</p>
<p>I am not safe. I never feel safe. My in-laws live in a small town
in Ohio, and that town has received more federal funding, per
capita, for terrorism preparedness than New York City has. I
take subways and buses every day. I work in a skyscraper
across the street from a "target." I have emergency supplies
and a spare pair of sneakers in my desk, in case somethng
happens while I'm at work. Do you? How many times a month
do you worry that your subway is going to blow up? When you
hear sirens on the street, do you run to the window to make
sure everything is okay? When you hear an airplane, do you
flinch? Do you dread beautiful, blue-skied September days? I
don't know a single New Yorker who doesn't spend the month
of September on tip-toes, superstitiously praying for rain so we
don't have to relive that beautiful, blue-skied day.</p>
<p>I am lonely. I feel that we, as a nation, have alienated all our
friends and further provoked our enemies. I feel unprotected.
Most of all I feel alienated from my fellow citizens, because I
don't understand what you are thinking. You voted for a man
who started a war in Iraq for no reason, against the wishes of
the entire world. You voted for a man whose lack of foresight
and inability to plan has led to massive insurgencies in Iraq,
where weapons are disappearing into the hands of terrorists.
You voted for a man who let Osama Bin Laden escape into the
hills of Afghanistan so that he could start that war in Iraq. You
voted for a man who doesn't want to let people love who they
want to love; doesn't want to let doctors cure their patients;
doesn't want to let women rule their destinies. I don't
understand why you voted for this man. For me, it is not enough
that he is personable; it is not enough that he seems like one of
the guys. Why did you vote for him? Why did you elect a man
that lied to us in order to convince us to go to war? (Ten years
ago you were incensed when our president lied about his sex
life; you thought it was an impeachable offense.) Why did you
elect a leader who thinks that strength cannot include
diplomacy or international cooperation? Why did you elect a
man who did nothing except run away and hide on September
11?</p>
<p>Most of all, I am terrified. I mean daily, I am afraid that I will not
survive this. I am afraid that I will lose my husband, that I will
never have children, that I will never grow old and watch the
sunset in a backyard of my own. I am afraid that my career --
which should end with a triumphant and good-natured roast at
a retirement party in 2035 -- will be cut short by an attack on me
and my colleagues, as we sit sending emails and making
phone calls one ordinary afternoon. Is your life at stake? Are
you terrified?</p>
<p>I don't think you are. I don't think you realize what you have
done. And if anything happens to me or the people I love, I
blame you. I wanted you to know that.</p>