[Written in response to the SotU Address, Jan. 20 2004]

Mr. President:

It is my duty, my honor, my privilege and my onus to vote this November.

November of 2000 saw a Presidential election that was contentious and, at times, divisive. It proved, to anyone who did not yet believe, that one vote is important.

My vote, then, by conclusion, is important. It is as important to your re-election campaign as it is to the election campaigns of Sens. Kerry, Dean et al.

You, clearly, appeal to a few set demographics, or at least this was your clear intent as I watched and listened to your State of the Union address: the elderly; conservative Americans; low-income families (and especially those with children); the religious.

I cannot help but imagine that you knew, as did those who prepared this statement to the American people, that as many people sat disagreeing with part, or most, or all of what you said. Liberal Americans shook their heads at you. Those who take to heart the separation of Church and State took issue with your appraisal of the status, both present, past and your hopeful future of faith-based initiatives and charities. The gay community (which is very much not restricted to the GLBT citizens of this country) understood very clearly what your beliefs are both religiously and secularly. Fiscal conservatives wondered where you would find the money, among these tax cuts, a costly war and a recession (despite your notes otherwise; basic economics and a knowledge of the Federal Reserve dictates that when the economy is doing poorly, interest rates will be lowered), to continue to feed what are, make no mistake, important initiatives, but while seemingly ignoring (again, despite your comments to the contrary) the fact that spending more than we earn is not conducive to eliminating the national debt you propose to eliminate in five years.

It is my responsibility, my job, my joy and my choice to vote this November.

You, and every other person running for the Presidency of this country, need my vote. You, along with every other candidate, must strive to earn it.

You have done the opposite and with flying colors. You have labeled non-conservative judges and would-be reformers as partisans who seek to place arbitrary definitions on marriage.

And you would deny, to my people and yours, what you said yourself we have taken as a special entity. You would forsake, and have forsaken, equal rights for all to earn more time as President. You, sir, have traded your soul for a job. You have replaced secular law and reason with religious and inapplicable reason where neither had any basis for standing in the way of what should have been, from the beginning, as inalienable a right to some of your people.

They are mine and they are yours; you called on us all to be good citizens, yet you yourself fall far short and rise to criticize those who would right wrongs.

And you would so ignore the separation of Church and State as to allow those who not only carry religious emblems but hold to religious beliefs that discriminate against others. An organization that does not allow a woman to hold a certain position is in violation of law if it is federally funded by so much as a mill. An organization that discriminates against an atheist endorses a religion and denigrates those who hold to no religion; if it is federally funded one iota it is violating law, and you would have both organizations federally funded.

You would rip the Constitution to shreds, you would desecrate the words, minds and symbolically the very graves of those founding fathers who had seen with their own eyes the problems that can (and do) arise with a church and state joined.

It is my plan, my ability, my decision and my position to vote this November.

You, and every other person for whom I am eligible to vote, need that vote. Because this is a democracy, you need my vote to tell my state’s electors to cast their ballot for you. Four years ago this November will mark the four-year anniversary of an election wherein you did not garner half of those votes cast.

That should have told you that something of your methods, your beliefs, your plan needed work. That you are in office now and your approval rating is low should tell you that your plan does not meet with the approval of those whose votes you require to stay in office come next year.

And yet your State of the Union address has seemingly ignored that in favor of what you have espoused and emphasized since you entered office.

Your economic model has drawn comparisons to one espoused in the 1980s by then-President Ronald Reagan. If it is your plan to eliminate any amount of debt, spending by the federal government must not exceed what money it draws. Yet in your proposed tax cuts and other financial incentives you have made that responsibility more difficult, and further endangered the shrinking of this deficit by assuring increased spending and increased services to those who will pay less for them.

Beyond rising in stark contrast to the letter and spirit of the law, you stand to disprove both simple and complex economic theory. While seeking to unify America you have done its polar opposite. I can only imagine what you power and your administration feel you have over professional sports.

From my perspective, you should be striving for my vote. From an objective perspective you should be seeking to uphold the documents that form the foundation of this country while heeding both what is neglected in this country and what is given undue attention.

Both see you failing.