My Letter to the Editor (RE: Cannon AFB closing)

[SF Bay Area Dem]

Dear Editor:



I am a native of New Mexico and love the state for its beauty. However, I was dismayed to see President Bush “winning” New Mexico in the recent election due to the rural voters who we are told by the conservative talking heads on TV that this last election was all about moral values. It seems that according to conservatives traditional married couples are divorcing in droves because gays are getting married and therefore traditional marriage is threatened to its very core (so vote Republican).

It seems to me and other clear thinking people that voters who decided to buy into this type of non-sense and also that President Bush is keeping us “safe” despite 3,000 Americans being murdered under his watch as being either naive or just plain out of touch with reality. The good people of Clovis and the surrounding area were given a rude reality slap last week when it was announced by President Bush via the Pentagon that a strong military is not really necessary and a massive cut and weakening of our armed forces is needed to keep us safe by closing Cannon AFB. Three out of the four BRAC’s thus far have come under Republican Presidents and this one is the largest.

Memo to the good people of Clovis: welcome to the cold cruel world of BETRAYAL by your president and the Republican Congress. 14 major permanent bases in Iraq are being built while yours is being closed. I thought this country was in state of perpetual war? So why cut our military during war? Cannon AFB, in my opinion is a key component of our homeland security and now it will probably be closed despite the best efforts of the Clovis business community.

Am I being to harsh on poor misunderstood President Bush and the Republican Congress? Hardly. Texas and Florida benefit the greatest under the re-alignments. It does not take a genius to see the politics and favoritism there. Would things have been different under a Kerry Administration? Possibly as he advocated using the bases for homeland security purposes. I fault Senator Kerry for not making this a major campaign issue which he should have. Instead we were treated to Karl Rove inspired Swiftboat Vets with a political axe to grind. I guess it is ok only if Republicans trash members of the military. On the morning of 9/11 the fighter jets could not intercept the hijacked planes in time because they were to far away. Now we are cutting bases like Cannon that provide that type of protection for Americans?

Where is the outrage with you conservatives? President Bush, under major political pressure had to withdraw proposed cuts to farmer subsidies. Does anyone believe that is the end of it? Now our Social Security is under attack by Republicans under a privatization scheme. United Airlines told their employees no more pensions. They are left high and dry. Still trust privatization? Couple these two things with massive proposed cuts to our military with bases like Cannon and just what has this current crop of Republican leadership done for us? Oh… if your livelihood is destroyed due to this closing and sadly need to file bankruptcy? Tough luck for you thanks to the Republican Congress and President Bush with the recent bankruptcy bill.

As the F-16’s fly out of Cannon AFB for the last time the good citizens of Clovis can take solace in that they voted for the guy that promised to keep them safe and secure. Welcome to the world of President George W. Bush.

[HEIL PRESIDENT GOD]

1. Good letter but

It's way too long to get printed. Try to pull out four or five important sentences if this is going to the Chron or the Trib. A little tiny paper would publish a letter this long, but probably only if you were someone important (to them).

[stopbush]

2. A few suggestions:

1. check for typos (and not just via spellcheck. I saw one instance where you penned "to" instead of "too")

2. Check punctuation

3. Edit the thing down by a half. Rarely will something this long get printed on an opinion page.