Here is a letter that reflects some of my sentiments.
George M. Carter
**A Letter
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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?
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?
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 o f 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?
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 ar e 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 t o 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?
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. 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.
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 cooperaton?
Why did you elect a man who did nothing except run away and hide on
September 11?
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?
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.