Read my letter, stand with me, donate $5 or $10 to my Obama Fundraising page: http://my.barackobama.com/page/outreach/view/main/Anoka
Please forward.
Anoka
October 9, 2008
Quin Hillyer Senior Editor The American Spectator But We're Not Stupid Dear Mr. Hillyer, I'd like to respectfully disagree with your article "It's the Culture, Stupid" not only because I think the tactics you are endorsing are ultimately destructive and divisive, but also because I see them as increasingly ineffective in a continually evolving United States of America. To put it bluntly, that is so 2004. It worked for "W": he was the guy Americans could relate to and wanted to sit down and have a beer with. Look where that got us. Yesterday, the New York Times has pointed out how the country loses with each of these culturally laden attacks. Further, the Ayers attacks have led to angry partisan crowds, screaming "terrorist!" "treason!" and "kill him!" Americans are smarter now and though I was also angered with Obama for his "bitter" comments, you seem to dwell on that instance and take other instances out of context. As David Brooks said it the other day, the culture war that Sarah Palin is reigniting ala George W. Bush "represents a fatal cancer to the Republican Party." If the Republican Party is to remain viable in this election and in coming years, it must adopt a more inclusive and less divisive strategy. Alienating everyone from newspaper readers to Ivy leaguers to Easterners to immigrants to thinkers, as the McCain-Palin cultural tactics are doing, simply will not and is not working. You may say that I am not like you and therefore my point of view is "anathema". My Muslim parents immigrated from Bangladesh and I was born in Ann Arbor Michigan. I attended Yale and lived on the east coast, so maybe I am not "one of you." But I AM an American. I am a teacher dedicated to helping young people forge a future. I am committed to the honor, dignity, unity and promise this country represents. I have worked hard all my life to honor my parents' sacrifice: to leave their family, and yes a country they loved so we could live and prosper in another amazing country that welcomed us. And does calling ourselves "citizens of the world" disqualify us as Americans? I married a man from the rural parts of eastern Ohio, near the Pennsylvania and West Virginia borders, where his family was insulted by Obama's "bitter" comments. But some of them came to forgive Obama because they still identify with his belief in a fair tax code, in the very Christian commitment to being your brother's keeper, and the basic promise of America: that it is a meritocracy, not an aristocracy. Obama and I are products of such a meritocracy; our parents came with every disadvantage and we work each day with their struggles in mind. So we continue to fight for this exceptional democracy, and I cannot imagine any more common ground that you and I share. Anoka Faruqee Los Angeles, CA http://anokafaruqee.com/
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