Volume 7, #4 October 23, 2002 POLITICS WITH BITE! CONTACT HELP previous BACK ISSUES next
A FORUM FOR ANTI-AUTHORITARIAN POLITICAL OPINION, RESEARCH AND HUMOR

Backtalk



ETS! encourages comments, feedback, tips, corrections, and info! Please keep them as concise as possible so we can print as many different voices as possible: ETS!, P.O. Box 85541, Seattle WA 98145, or e-mail ets@scn.org.

Where To Find It

ETS!,

RE: The National Security Strategy document.

I couldn't get it off of the New York Times, but I did get it off the Web Site for the White House. Enclosed is a copy of the PDF: http://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/nss.html

It comes from the White House itself. I guess it's something to be proud of!!!!

Keep it up! I knew the truth was out there somewhere!!!

Thanks,

--Anita LaFranchi, via e-mail

G.P. comments: Thanks to the many readers who reported that the National Security Strategy document, described in last issue's lead article, was pulled down from the NY Times web site, and put up on the White House's site, both even before our article hit print. Now you know where to find it. It's still worth reading. (Shudder)

RNC Zombies

Dear Eat the State!,

President Bush should be applauded for taking a courageous stand against Saddam Hussein's outlaw regime and its reckless pursuit of weapons of mass destruction. As the President noted in his recent address to the nation, the riskiest option for dealing with Iraq is to do nothing. Inaction would only give Saddam Hussein time to complete his malicious pursuit of nuclear weapons and would embolden tyrants and terrorists everywhere.

Acting now to disarm Saddam Hussein, using military force if necessary, is the only way we will keep America safe from weapons of mass destruction that fall into the hands of freedom's enemies. President Bush is right--our nation cannot let world events be dictated by brutal and lawless dictators.

Sincerely,

--Melissa Whitis, via e-mail

G.P. comments: This was one of a number of letters we get regularly through a letter-to-the-editor distribution service run by the Republican National Committee. I couldn't resist printing this one, not just because of the boilerplate nonsense, but because I totally agree with Melissa. I don't want weapons of mass destruction in the hands of freedom's enemies. I certainly don't want world events to be dictated by brutal and lawless politicians. That's why I support regime change in Washington DC.

Shame On Us All

Eat the State!,

After graduating two years ago from university, I left America to discover the rest of the world and I discovered myself in the process. I lived and worked in Japan and took opportunities to explore other Asian countries.

During my time away, many things changed both in the US and in myself. Much has happened in my absence. The Supreme Court elected a president. That president broke the Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty. Our nation was attacked in a way that no missile defense system could have thwarted. In response the president took up the doctrine of preemptive strike. I watched all of this from a distance and from my vantage point I saw it all clearly.

It was the apathy of a nation that no longer cares, that led to the debacle of the 2000 election and the breakdown of the system. We are responsible. The system is broken. Our liberty is eroding around us. Though it is wrong for those in power to take advantage of us, we are culpable for allowing them to do so.

Bush seeks peace through violence when peace and violence are mutually exclusive. Perhaps it is because this president never faced combat that he fails to act in a way that demonstrates the understanding of previous presidents.

Now that we have consented to allow the Supreme Court to elect our president, our Congress is preparing to give their constitutional right to declare war to that same president. It is wrong for our leaders to act this way. It is wrong for us to allow them to do so.

None will say that Saddam Hussein is a good man. War may be inevitable, but it is our responsibility to know why. It is our responsibility to give those so intent on war a moment of pause. Why is it unreasonable to ask our administration to work within the construct of the United Nations? Why is it unreasonable for the president to ask for congressional consent for unilateral action after it becomes apparent that UN sanctions are not going to work? Why is it that the congress is being pressured into war just before the November elections?

I write in order to defend America from Americans. Shame on you who would deprive me of my liberty. Shame on you who are too afraid to defend it with me.

Sincerely,

--Nicholas Despopoulos, Spokane



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