Thursday, January 9, 2020

A Letter To The President

As is often the case, I've been thinking about political stuff.  This letter concerns American actions in the Middle East, and certain presidential statements.  I have sent it, in an abridged fashion (apparently, the e-mail form was not designed for long messages....heh) to the White House.

Now, my liberal friends may be a bit surprised by what I have to say....but here goes!

(Text of letter follows)

Dear Mr. President,

I hope this letter finds you and your family well, and that you are having a productive new year so far.

Here in Fairfield County, I have found myself as being one of your biggest defenders, at least among my group of friends.  I generally support your efforts to make and “keep America great”, and thank you for them.

Yesterday, I watched as you delivered a speech explaining our actions in the Middle East.  I believe these actions to be not only justified, but necessary. As President Ronald Reagan once pointed out, when American lives are threatened, it is our duty and right to respond in self-defense.  Nevertheless, a few things that you said yesterday have given me pause, somewhat.

First (although missing from the online transcript of your speech), you said that ISIS has been eliminated.  That is, unfortunately, not the case. Although dormant at the moment, this terrorist group still seems just as strong as ever.

Second, you stated that “America has achieved energy independence”.  Whether we need Middle Eastern oil or not, this is also false. There is still a great deal of talk about solar and wind plants, as well as the cost of electricity.  If we were truly energy independent, these issues wouldn’t be as frequent a concern as they currently are. All the while, there are many sources (at least in my area) that continue to use massive amounts of oil and gas.  I’ll leave the question of that use to the environmental experts among us.

Finally, I have to somewhat question the timing regarding our takedown of Soleimani.  As I said before, I believe that our action against him was justified, and necessary. However, if we previously knew of Soleimani’s plans for attacks, our forces could’ve (and probably should’ve) made their move months ago.  As such, I am not completely certain of your transparency in this matter. After all, it unquestionably benefits you to have America watching Iran, rather than impeachment.

Please don’t misunderstand me; I absolutely oppose the Democratic Party’s push to remove you from office, and hope I am wrong about transparency concerns.  Nevertheless, something doesn’t seem completely right to me. Rather than stay silent about these issues, I have chosen to directly address them. I believe this to be part of my civic duty as an American.  To quote an old teacher of mine, it is sometimes necessary to not just “answer the questions”, but “question the answers”.

Thank you very much for your dedication to America, and attention in reading this message.  I would greatly appreciate a reply, if possible.

Sincerely,

Mr. Matt Boland
Fairfield, CT