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   Donald writes me:

     I found your site during a run of late night insomnia induced web
     surfing, So your a liberal. I am conservative. Labels aside we are
     probably pretty close i our thinking for the most part. I don't
     think either one of us would want to live in a country governed
     extreme right or left. That only leaves a few degrees of separation
     between us. At a conservative I want government out of my life with
     the exception of protecting me from harm, however I do see the need
     for social programs. There are people out there that should be give
     help. Again we probably differ on the extent in the relatively few
     degrees of separation between us. The reason I am writing I am sick
     and tired of all the name calling, finger pointing, and
     politicizing of the war on terror. Bush appears to be trying, but
     he isn't fully focused on protecting us. Then there are the
     democrats that seem to be so desperate to take back the whitehouse
     and congress that they will do anything and say anything to get it.
     We need leaders, now more than ever. People, liberals and
     conservatives, who can put aside their minor differences and do the
     things needed keep us safe. Everything else is meaningless if we
     are dead. There are people out there who want to kill us all (From
     Far Right to Far Left), solely because we are not their kind of
     people. There is no reasoning with them. The candidates who get my
     vote this year and in 08' will be the ones who can stand up for
     this cause regardless of political party.

   Donald I would tell you that I am conservative on some issues, but
   liberal on many others. There are things that you are conservative
   about that I might disagree with, and that I am liberal on that you
   might disagree with. But so what? Here is something I fundamentally
   believe, and that I wish more Americans would believe:

   We as a people mostly, usually, find the right answer. We sometimes
   make the wrong decisions, but usually, in the vast scheme of things,
   we find the right answers. It doesn't matter whether Democrats or
   Republicans are in charge, the most important thing is that in the
   long run, we mostly find the right answers. At least somewhat.

   The truth is that the average American today lives longer and is more
   prosperous than most of her forebears. And we usually, no matter how
   screwed up it seems, tend to find the right way. The system is far
   from perfect but it basically works.

   I am writing to you right now as a 40 year old man who is out of work.
   I am entirely uncertain where my next paycheck will come from, and may
   soon have to ask the state for some free cheese and bread. Yet I
   cannot express to you how much I believe in this country and its basic
   rightness, and its ability to find the right answers for most people.
   Even at its worst, its very worst, I know I will never starve to
   death. I may lose my internet connection, but I and my children will
   not starve, and my kids will receive a basic education and basic
   medical care.

   The ultimate "conservatives" might call me a "welfare recipient," and
   the ultimate "liberals" might call me a "victim." But the truth is
   somewhere in between: I know for a fact that no matter how poor I
   might get, I will never be treated to watching my children's bellies
   swelling because they are starving, or dying of diarrhea because no
   doctor will see them. Yet I do not have to look to the state to allow
   me to pursue whatever career objective I might have. I am free, as are
   you.

   Talk to anyone who grew up under Stalinism or Hitlerism, and they'll
   tell you what life was really like for them. Everything else is just
   an argument on the margins. No matter who is in control of the White
   House or Congress at the moment.

   Never forget that. NEVER forget it. There are people right now in the
   world watching their children die of starvation, or of horrible
   diarrhea because they're drinking out of cesspoools, and living out
   lives of ignorance and violence because they can't even read and can't
   vote for their own leaders. No matter what happens, even if I died
   tomorrow, I would know that my children, whatever they might be put
   through, would NEVER starve, and would NEVER grow up illiterate or die
   of something so fundamental as diarrhea. Thank GOD for America. I
   thank God every day I was born here.

   I never forget that. I hope you never do either. It's not a joke.

   God Bless America. What a wonderful country we have. It's not a joke.