Dear Republican Voter

It's not my fault that after Newt Gingrich's Contract for America the Republican party, your party let you down starting with the fall of Gingrich himself, Bob Packwood, and others.

It's not my fault that the party of "christian values" has allowed you to be convinced that your grandfather or mother must suffer from Parkinson's or Alzheimers because a few in your party think that a single cell = human.  Christians are supposed to ease the suffering of the afflicted, no?

Much more below

It's not my fault that the party of fiscal responsibility and smaller and less intrusive government has given you a ballooning national deficit, possible Soc. Security insolvency, an estimated 1 trillion dollar democracy experiment/quagmire in Iraq (when its all said and done...somewhere in the far distant future), a govt that has assumed its power is so infinite that they can eavesdrop on your telephone conversations, mine your emails and other internet dealings, illegally search or seize your property, and even suspend your--or someone you know--right to habeus corpus if your name spews out of a hypothermic man's mouth.  It is not my fault that your smaller govt has grown even bigger and more cumbersome.

It's not my fault that your party leaders are concerned not for your well-being but the well-being of two exclusive types of Republican:  the uber-wealthy party donors and the severely mentally ill evangelist set.  

It's not my fault that the Constitution, about which you should have learned in school or educated yourself about since, is the true victim of the "war on terror".  You have at least a rudimentary idea of what the Constitution is right; well, if not, it is the foundation on which the walls of this nation are built.  It includes such taken for granted things as:  an independent judiciary, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, the right to not incriminate yourself, the right to wet your bed, the right to stomp your feet, the right to disagree with your govt, the right for a woman to vote, the right for a black person to vote (unfortunate don't you think that it required a couple of amendments and a boatload of years to ensure that WE the People, everyone of us, had the right to vote?  But though the Constitution's most glaring mistake concerning the humanity and sentience of a black person was corrected long ago we haven't learned from that mistake and are going to have to go through that whole painful process yet again to ensure that anyone who loves another can marry that person regardless of sexual orientation.  Why is this important?  Because its WE the People!  All laws apply equally to every citizen or they apply to none...exclusion is not an option, we fought a civil war to end exclusion, we fought a civil rights battle to end exclusion, we fought a peaceful battle for suffrage to end exclusion, we applied anti-discrimination laws to end exclusion.  Why fight another losing battle?  In the end the amended Constitution is always right and those who would exclude are always wrong.)

It's not my fault that the party of ethics/morals is swimming in a sea of election fraud, lobbyist graft (Dem, Jefferson included...if the allegations prove true he should get put in the cell across from Tom Delay or Duke Cunningham), racism, infidelity, and apparently also likes concealing sexual predators from prosecution or punishment.

It's not my fault that the party of Barry Goldwater and even Ronald Reagan is now led by someone so shallow and unprincipaled as George W. Bush.

It's not my fault that the party of the formerly respected and eloquent John McCain now has as its mouthpiece blatant liars and misrepresenters such as: Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Tony Snow, and my personal least favorite coward--Ken Mehlman.

It's not my fault that the party of Eisenhower is now the party of chickenshit draft dodgers.  Its not my fault that those who were afraid of sacrificial service to their country now hide behind the cloak of "public" service while the rationalize why the sons and daughters of this nation must fight and die in another Viet-nam, another unwinnable war.

It's not my fault that your party of "patriots" think that it is patriotic to enact unconstitutional legislation, name covert operatives in the media, and patriotic to lie to cover-up the lies that have led to nearly 3000 dead soldiers.

It's not my fault that you are either too blind or too stupid to see the truth as it actually is.  It's not my fault that you are satisfied with this nation's principles being sacrificed on an alter of pride.  

It's not my fault.  It's not my party's fault.  It's not those who share my beliefs fault.  It is yours.  It is your smug satisfaction with a govt who cares more about what a man does with a man, what a woman does with her body, what a scientist does to a single cell, what a teacher teaches your children than it cares about the suffering of the poor, the uninsured, international relations, the environment, or decreasing our dependence on fossil fuels.

It's not OUR fault so stop the lying.  Everything that happens, be it a sex scandal between a Congressman and a page or a failed strategy for war, is not the fault of Democrats in general or more specifically the fault of Bill Clinton.  As you recall the 90's were a good time.  Good foreign relations, great economy, budget surplus, etc.  When Bush gets caught in a lie he creates another to take the exposed one's place.  When Condi gets caught in a lie, she just can't, for all her purported brilliance, seem to remember.  The only one of YOU that has taken an ounce of responsibility in the last 6 years is Colin Powell.  I hate Colin Powell.  Why?  Because he should have known better than to lie in the first place.  But I respect him again for the simple fact that he came clean and admitted that the testimony he gave before the UN was "flawed".  Time for more of you to start taking some responsibility for your actions and your failures.  Credit is given when credit is due.  Name the thing that your party deserves credit for in the last decade?  Don't say the balanced budget..Clinton had to close down Congress to get that deal done.  Don't say 9-11, Bin Laden hasn't been punished.  Don't say the war in Iraq, you know why.  Don't say the 'war on terror' after the NIE just told us we were less safe.  Don't say "well, we don't want to cut and run" because you know it's the staying that is the problem.  Don't say medicare reform when a bunch of grandparents would like to disagree.  Don't say NCLB because the new world rankings don't paint a pretty picture of Bush's idea of education for all.  Latvia.  We're tied with Latvia for second to last in math skills.  Well go ahead and try but either I or someone else here will call you on it...better get your facts straight.

Stop the blame game and own it, own the scandals, own the corruption, own the war, own all the failures and then maybe you can sleep at night.

I have the right to judge because I want all the lazy hypocritical and corrupt Dem public servants out on their ass.  I have the right to judge because I don't have blind faith in any politician.  Their actions and votes earn the trust not the R or D next to their names.  I have the right to judge because my party is the true party of ethics but more than that my party is the party of humanity, the party of, not Christian, but human values.  My party wants the meek to inherit the earth.  My party wants an Earth that the meek can inherit.  My party wants a four year old in Compton to have the same insurance as the President.  My party wants the poor to be able to realize the American Dream, not be forced to dream of the American Dream.

In my estimation it is time for the GOP to re-enter the human race and leave the faith-based reality behind.  Stop thinking short term.  Stop thinking in about "what's good for me" and start thinking long term and for what is good for your children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren.  

On top of all that you owe me and mine an apology for putting us through six years of missed opportunity and failure.  You owe us an apology for the slanderous accusations which question our patriotism.  The truth is we love this country more than you.  We love the Constitution.  We love the ACLU who protects the Constitution.  We love our freedom to say and do as we want and we are tired of your trying to alter those things that make this country great.  We love this country so much that we don't burn Toby Keith CD's like some people burned Dixie Chicks CD's.  We love this country so much that we don't feel threatened by rational advice from foreign govts, advice that leads some to make up something called a freedom fry;  I like my fries the old fashioned way, french.  

Time to eat.