WOW…..Maybe I’ll write a Letter to The President and sign it, 1st Grade, Teacher of the Year. I wonder if Con’s will believe that tale to?

It is just a matter of time before there is another revolution. American was not built by bowing to other nations and apologizing for our actions. At the pace we are going, all blacks and whited will be deported and the land that is known as the United States will be given back to the Native Americans and our great nation will cease to exist. Way to go, Duane!!!

Thank you for your thoughtful and detailed response to the 4th grade teacher Kathleen’s (not my high school classmate Kathleen’s!) letter. I don’t care who wrote the original letter. Your response was addressing the contents of the letter, not the personality of the letter-writer.

Thank you also for your service to our country. I am also a veteran (although I deployed in support of the war in Afghanistan, my service did not include combat) and I have several nephews who have served or are serving in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. I am always suspicious of people who claim to speak for “all Americans” or for “every veteran.” As you point out, many Americans and many veterans have distinctly different beliefs.

George W. Bush was my commander-in-chief, and while I disagreed vehemently with his policies, I never considered challenging his authority in court, based on ridiculous claims about his birth certificate, as several soldiers have recently done with President Obama. Something seems to have become unhinged in our country since Obama was elected.

4th grade teacher Kathleen’s letter seems to me to be nothing more than a mindless repetition of right-wing talking points. I often wonder where she was for the past eight years while the previous administration

– authorized warrantless wiretapping and surveillance of e-mails and other electronic communications,

– developed a torture regime and then prosecuted only the lowest-ranking enlisted soldiers for Abu Ghraib,

– recklessly instituted $1.4 trillion in tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans while simultaneously starting two very expensive wars

The list goes on. Although I voted for Obama, I have also written to him questioning some of his Justice Department’s policies on continued government secrecy and illegal wiretapping, as well as prolonged detention without trial. These are issues that I feel undermine our civil liberties–the ones we as veterans are always thanked so loudly for “defending.”

I think people like 4th grade teacher Kathleen represent a small, but very vocal, minority of Americans. But she does not represent me.

I think you misunderstood something. The letter is written by Kathleen Lyday, not Lady Kathleen. Lady Kathleen just posted it. The letter was sent by a friend.

Your first complaint is in regards to our President’s appeasement of the Europeans and the Muslims. The word “appease”, a transitive verb, owes its etymology to the word “peace”. In modern political usage it refers to buying off the demands of an aggressor nation at the cost of peace and/or principles, such as British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlin’s appeasement of Hitler. I am unaware of any aggressive demands made by any European (all of whom are our allies) or Muslim nation, save Iran.

I believe the first priority of our government is our own national security. If I can’t get along with my neighbors I will be isolated in my own neighborhood. In today’s world, our neighbors include the whole world. As our face to the world, I expect our President to play well with others. This is an important step in ensuring our security. The arrogant and ineffective policies of the President’s predecessor have left our President with many fences to mend which involves making sure they know America will not be following the Bush model of diplomacy. He has, so far, done a good enough job to have received the Nobel Peace Price. He has appeased no one.

I am not sure about the reasons for WWI (perhaps you could enlighten us?) but I seem to recall we entered WWII after Japan attacked us at Pearl Harbor and Hitler declared war against us. I don’t recall our President making any comments about his concern for the European people. In fact, a shipload of escaping Jews was denied entry to America. They were sent back to Germany where every single one was murdered. Concern for people in Europe?The attitude of Congress prior to December 7, 1941 was complete isolationism. Where is the concern of which you speak?

You complain about President Obama bowing to the King of Saudi Arabia. This complaint is so silly I considered ignoring the comment altogether, but I am addicted to verbosityand I’m feeling a little pedantic. Bowing is nothing more than a sign of respect and greeting akin to a hand shake. It did not insult me but I thank you for thinking of me in your letter where you spoke for all Americans. It is a common greeting in many nations (Japan comes immediately to mind). Though I don’t respect King Abdullah and would never bow to him, I don’t represent the U.S. and have no need to get along with him. World peace and oil supplies do not rest on my shoulders.

President Obama was correct. We are not a Christian nation. Though the largest religious group in America is Christian, that does not make us a Christian nation. That is as illogical as saying that, “because the largest group of Christians in America is the Roman Catholic Church, we are a Catholic nation”. We have never been a Christian nation. (And your remark “until you came along”, was just plain mean-spirited, uninformed, and not in keeping with Judeo-Christian ethics.)Two of the people who most often come to mind when speaking of the constitution were not Christians – Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin. I must, therefore, ask you, have you not read the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution?

In regards to President Obama’s visit to Europe, did you complain when President Raygun went to Germany and visited the graves of German soldiers who were SS members? And while I don’t know anything about your service in the armed forces, allow me to tell you about mine. I am a combat veteran. I was awarded the Combat Infantryman’s Badge and was nominated for the Silver Star. I suffered numerous minor wounds and though I never put in my paperwork for the Purple Heart, I was taken out of the front lines because of my injuries. I have carried my dead and dying brothers to the choppers for tranfer and continue to pay the price to this day for my service to my country. I have earned the right to tell you that you do not speak for me. So please, never again presume to speak for “every veteran”.

As for your blaming President Obama for not doing anything about the people you list, I refer you to your class’ civics lessons. Senators and Representatives are elected by the people to make laws and are part of the Legislative branch of government. The President. the Executive branch, has no authority over them or the way they run the Congress. If they want to give bonuses to their staffers that is their decision. In addition, he has no authority to take back any Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac bonuses. He does not run these private coporations.

I do not understand how you can make the quantum leap in logic from disagreeing with the policies of our President, to accusing him of thinking we are brain dead. As for the playground name calling, it leads me to believe you think George Bush is President. He is not. I can only advise you to watch something besides the Faux News channel, where all of the aforementioned issues are repeated daily and expressed in the same verbiage.