Dear Editor,
Endless, pointless war, and an overabundance of belligerence promising more.
Environmental destruction and plunder, as the world becomes warmer and warmer.
Ten trillion dollars in national debt, causing skyrocketing inflation and threatening federal bankruptcy.
This is what the Republican Party has bestowed upon the country.
Isn't it time to elect someone intelligent for a change?
Sincerely,
Paul Bailey
Legend has it that while the brave Odysseus was off fighting the Trojan War, his wife Penelope stayed home, fending off suitors, waiting faithfully for her warrior husband to return home. Odysseus eventually returned to Greece and became a great king.Few, however, are familiar with the sordid details of this story.Odysseus did not earn his commission in the Greek army; his father was a famous general, and although Odysseus performed poorly in training, he was elevated through the ranks as a legacy.While in Troy, Odysseus spent very little time fighting; in fact, he was captured very shortly after arriving, and so was unable to help the Greek cause as he sat in jail.Upon returning home to Penelope, Odysseus dumped his adoring wife in order to remarry a young, beautiful, rich heiress who he felt could do much more to further his career.
For the next several years, Odysseus relentlessly used the story of his participation in the Trojan War to solicit prestigious appointments with the aristocracy throughout the land.
In order to ascend to the throne, he clung to those in power while ridiculing a much more talented rival who was beloved by all of the people. However, the powers that be sided with the deceitful Odysseus, and declared to the public that the rival was too "inexperienced" to be king, and so coronated Odysseus.Thereafter, the glory of Greece crumbled, as the inept Odysseus provoked other nations, and implemented inscription to fight many failed wars. The natural resources of the country were plundered by those who had helped Odysseus rise to power, and the wealth of the country was squandered to the point of bankruptcy.
Dear Editor, The recent conflict between Russia and Georgia exposes how truly desperate our position in the world has become. The dreams of global domination, advocated at the end of the twentieth century by the Project for a New American Century and other neoconservative think tanks, have manifested themselves as the nightmares of today. Our dependence on oil has only been exacerbated by the policies of the current administration, as has the severity of our vast national debt. Thus we borrow money from rivals such as Russia and China and build pipelines through foreign lands such as Georgia to feed our addiction. Our army is exhausted and preoccupied in an unwise, unjustified, and unnecessary war. We have no moral, financial, or military leverage to bring to bare when an international crisis arises. In the meantime, policy makers have intentionally censored the results of the majority of the scientific community, postponing our eventual confrontation with the potentially greater pending disaster of climate change. Chest pounding and empty, ill-defined notions of "leadership" will not elevate us out of the pit in which we find ourselves. Only true intelligence, problem solving skills, and the willingness to cooperate with our neighbors abroad can address this situation. Thus I humbly submit that the times require an intellectual in the White House. Rambo should sit this one out. Sincerely, Paul Bailey, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Southern Arkansas University
