Bush is operating on an outmoded premise, that we have to punish those who disagree with him. Democracy is not about punishment but about fairness and equality. It's about treating people around the world with the guiding principles of our country, a right to vote, a right to live comfortably, a right for inclusion of all our citizens, a right to a decent standard of living with health care, a tolerance and understanding that makes us progressive and a right to free speech and to disagree with our government without reprisals. This is the American way.

When newspapers, radio and TV stations report only that which is safe and answer only to the corporate powers that finance them, they are not
truly reflective of an open society with real freedoms. When dissent is repressed, this is indicative of an undemocratic society. This is what Tom Paine wrote about in his "Age of Reason".

When a pre-emptive war based on false premises inflicts damage on a foreign country, we need to re-evaluate what America really stands for.
We are not an oppressor even though we are being taken in that direction by an outmoded foreign policy.

Bush is just a figurehead of the past. To demonize him is futile but to realize that there is a more American enlightened way to deal with international difficulties is to reclaim our country from the fear-mongering and saber rattling.

There is someone out there in the political arena who can effectively articulate the position of justice, equality, the pursuit of happiness, the expression of free speech, the right to worship or not and the inalienable rights of every citizen regardless of race, religion, and sexual preference. Discrimination on religious grounds is what was fought against in the American Revolution.

America has always aspired to be a good neighbor in it's better moments in history. Alienation of our foreign allies is not an American principle but a power grab that benefits only a few of our more well-heeled citizenry.

It's time to replace the rigid, outmoded, narrow-minded, stringent ideologues in the government with those who have the vision and intelligence to raise the standards that we have always embraced.

Frank Hamilton