The Manhattan Reichstag Review:
Noteworthy Correspondence Received
I. About Saddam's
Doubles (Gareth K.'s letter concerns the article:
Three Saddams Down, Two to Go )
Eric:
My name is Gareth K. Im 18
and am living in the UK. I just was woundering while I was reading your artical
on Saddam Husain today that if his son killed him in 1990 following the
conclushion of the Gulf War, then why has he being captured? HOW? I know that
he had may dubbles but if he was dead then why was he still claimed to be the
leader of Iraq. Why did this war start. Was this war not a campain to rid the
Iraqi people of saddam, why did so many soldiers die trying to kill a dead man?
If he was dead then a new presedent should have being given his duties and we
would not have lost so many of our soliders for the 5 doubles of a dead leader?
How can a dead man be Americas Most Wanted, I dont think he can. Thank you for
taking the time to read this a reply would be appricated.
Thanking you
Gareth K.
***
Dear Gareth:
My article was satire. It is not a real news article, but a parody of a news
article.
E.M.
***
Eric:
Our men are dying in Iraq for this war against
Saddam. It is better not to write things that are not true and that will
confuse people. Try not to write these things in the future
Gareth K.
***
Dear Gareth:
I'm sorry if you are confused. But note: There are different kinds of
writing in the world. Some of it is
even more confusing than mine.
Cheers,
E.M.
Friend:
Mystic River, the new movie being
released this Wednesday is starring Sean Penn and Tim Robbins who have been
known to spew hate speech against our current President, assaulting his
character for doing what he is attempting to do with the war on terror, to
protect Americans from further attack.
Which has been very successful so far.
These 2 liberal actors have sided with Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden and
against our own country, as demonstrated by Penn's going to Iraq prior to the
war in protest of our pending attack to remove the terrorist regime of Saddam
Hussein, saying that we have no right to attack innocent people and that it was
the Bush administration that is starting this war.
Let us not forget 9/11/2001. We have no
way to let the liberals in Hollywood know that they are just actors .... and
not representative of mainstream America. But if each one of us routes this
note to all of our friends who support our troops and the administration, and
make sure that they do not go to this movie, that is a start . Encourage all
you know ...... not to go to it. By doing this .... these actors won't be able
to get a job. Look what it did for Alec Baldwin's career! He's a washed up
actor that watches his mouth these days.
We have 2 days until this movie starts.
Let the boycott begin. Route this to every loyal patriotic person you know and
stay away from this movie with these anti-American activists. These are 2 very
outspoken hate ministers and we can make a difference.
***
Friend:
This note about Mystic River is much appreciated. While in L.A. last year I heard from
someone in the know that Sean Penn is actually a secret Muslim fundamentalist and
that he once read part of a book on Marxist gorillas in Central America!!! Did you notice how he often appears
with a short beard recently?
Penn isn't the half of it, however. I'm working on an article right now
about various Hollywood figures who are actually Baathist spies or Al Qaeda
operatives. I won't name any
names, but Al Qaeda has for years been secretly training many of the actors you
see in major motion pictures.
For now my article on Bush's State of the
Union speech is all I can forward you.
As follows: Bush Says Era of Terror
Unfinished (A Disassociated Press Report)
But I'll stay away from that movie Mystic
River! I wouldn't be surprised if they find
subliminal verses from the Koran in it!!!!
E.M.
From: blackandwhite@comcast.net
To: flammingooo@wi.rr.com, Rome4u@cs.com,
inthemargins03@hotmail.com, notme@wi.rr.com, graced@wi.rr.com, ok@netwurx.net
Subject: Fwd: Fw: John Kerry is a Saint
Date: Sat, 02 Oct 2004 02:36:56 +0000
-------------- Forwarded Message:
--------------
From: typist@cs.com
To: blackandwhite@comcast.net,
danwiffle@charter.net, steve_rankweed@compuserve.com
Subject: Fwd: Fw: John Kerry is a Saint
Date: Fri, 1 Oct 2004 21:22:22 +0000
Subject: John Kerry is a Saint!
John Kerry was scheduled
to visit the Catholic National Cathedral outside Washington as part of his
campaign. Kerry's campaign manager made a visit to the cardinal and said to
him, "We've been getting a lot of bad publicity among Catholics because of
Kerry's position on abortion and the like. We'd gladly make a contribution to
the church of $100,000 if during your sermon you'd say John Kerry is a
Saint."
The Cardinal thinks it over for a few
moments and finally says, "The Church is in desperate need of funds and I
will agree to do it."
Kerry pompously shows up
looking especially smug today, and as the Mass progresses the Cardinal begins
his homily..... "John Kerry is petty, a self-absorbed
hypocrite and a nitwit. He is a liar, a cheat, and a low intelligence
weasel. He wrote a book and portrayed himself in the best light when
he was a traitor to his fellow servicemen. He has lied about his military
record and had the gall to put himself in for a medal. He married for
money and is using it to lie to the American people. He is the worst example of
a Catholic I've ever personally known. But compared to Ted Kennedy, he is a Saint."
--I received this joke October 2. Having also read three or four pro-Bush
email Forwards that day that made no sense whatsoever, I decided to write the
following letter, paste it to the end of the joke, and then return it to the
good pro-Bush folks who were forwarding me all this stuff. In truth I thought the people who read
it would see my letter for what it was: a satire of all the absurd arguments
I'd been reading in email Forwards for months. But I was mistaken. --E.M.
After
writing so much against the Bush Administration during these past years, I'm
finally coming to see the serious disadvantages of John Kerry and his
flip-flopper thinking. And now that
the election is coming, I really ought to admit openly what I think------- Kerry
really IS dishonest, isn't he?
Kerry's
policy initiatives will almost certainly lead to failure. And at this point America can't afford
such failure.
In
fact the first debate made many things clearer for many of us. Bush is obviously the stronger
candidate. I'm slowly coming to
change my mind on many of the issues that previously seemed clear.
The
way I see it now, the reasons for voting Bush instead of Kerry are many. I'll only mention a few here: the ones
that turned the table in my thinking.
As follows:
1)
The Iraq War
The
war in Iraq was in fact the right move for America. As time goes on, this becomes more and more obvious. We were right to go into Iraq rather
than spend more time securing Afghanistan. And there are good reasons this war was undertaken.
Those
who complain that no evidence has been found linking Saddam's Baathists to bin
Laden are just carping on unimportant details. Such critics are risking America's future by ignoring the
obvious--- Saddam and bin Laden were linked. After all,
they both shared the same evil designs on America: they both actively sought
our destruction as a nation. This
means that a war against Saddam was justified just as much as a war against bin
Laden would be justified. Just
because no evidence of a connection between them has yet been found doesn't
mean much in terms of political realities, or in terms of political expediency
either. For one thing: How easy
would it have been to keep such clandestine connections secret? And another: How easy would it have
been to burn the evidence of their meetings? In point of fact, the Baathists and al Qaeda were linked
just as surely as Hitler's Nazis and the Mafia were linked in the 1930s and
40s. Such movements must be fought
no matter what the costs!
But
this is not all either. In
conducting this war the Bush Administration was right to ignore the advice of
the experts. In occupying Iraq,
there is no need for academics and experts when you've got a staff that
includes men like Dick Cheney, Don Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz. The Administration's repeated refusals
to take advice from the State Department and others, their refusals to take
more seriously the warnings of our allies over Iraq--this does not show
reckless irresponsibility, as many would have us believe, but rather it shows
something else: it shows a true STRENGTH OF CHARACTER. The current Administration at every
turn has shown the strong character of someone who knows they are right and who
is not going to be stopped by mere academics and nitpickers. Some expert on the Middle East with his
facts and theories is no match for our strong-willed leaders who know what is
right and wrong and who are only doing things to bring about a good
outcome. This is my sincere
opinion.
In
fact the rightness of the Iraq war can be demonstrated on various fronts at
this point in our history. As has
been said: "We don't need a permission slip to defend our nation." The war was necessary in our fight
against terror. But this is not
all. Consider the outcome of the
war. Just consider: Where once we
had a dangerous enemy, we now have a new ally rising up. The Iraqi people will become democratic
and they will become America's allies.
Thus the investment we've made has been well worth it, not only in
security terms but in diplomatic terms as well. As long as we stay the course, this reality will come
about!!!
Many
say that we have alienated much of the world with our conduct in the War on
Terror. They say that much of the
world suspects the war in Iraq is really about oil. Let them suspect what they want. The truth is that we don't need such allies. Who needs cooperation if your allies
are not willing to go along with your plans? Our CIA and our military are all we need to defeat the
terrorists, not cooperation and support from leaders whose own hearts are
corrupted by their greed and their wrong thinking.
2)
The Economy or the Environment: You Choose
Many
people working to fight global warming or working to protect the environment in
other realms have said that the Bush Administration's policies have been
nothing short of a disaster. But
what they don't say is something that has become increasingly true: Global
warming is not really happening.
But also: Biodiversity and protecting our natural environment is not
really all that important, because Nature can mutate and protect itself. After all, who are we to protect Mother
Nature? She is powerful and can
take care of herself.
The
Bush Administration has chosen to undo a lot of the environmental protection
because they see that it puts a damper on our economy. It hinders our timber industry, our
auto industry, etc., etc. Air and
water pollution laws hinder our factories and prevent them from making
money. A robust economy is
necessary for a happy America, and so in choosing economic expansion instead of
environmental fantasy the Bush Administration has made the right choice. This is really my heartfelt
opinion. I have the right to my
opinions too, just as anyone.
What's
right is right. Why should
Americans stop buying and driving SUVs?
Cars are an important part of our culture. If the Chinese can drive cars (and they have over a billion
people!) why should Americans be hindered in the kinds of cars they can drive?
Global
warming has not been proven, and there are some scientists who even say it
might not be true. So it is much
better to support Bush and his policies in order to keep up a rubbish, I mean
robust, economy.
3)
Conclusion
In
both it's principled decisions in the War on Terror, and in it's choosing of
the right choices--economy or environment--the Bush Administration has proven
it makes the right choices. That's
why I've decided to vote Bush instead of Kerry this time. I know he is the Right Man for the
Job. As I've said, America cannot
afford a slip up at this crucial historical juncture. Too many serious slip ups have been made already. So it's time for people to stop carping
and stand by this President!!!
E.M.
October
2, 2004
--This, verbatim, is the letter I sent out. Consider its logic (nonexistent),
consider its marshalling of facts (none).
Consider the reference to a "rubbish economy"--could that have
been a typo? Regardless of all
this, within a day of sending my letter out I'd already received three
congratulatory replies! How
utterly depressing. In fact this
whole thing has taught me a lot about America. As follows:
JMB wrote:
YOU GO BOY!
My only comments to
your's is... DITTO!
JMB
H.S. wrote:
It is hard to know for sure who is good to support in this election. The President? We've heard so much about what he's been told, the intelligence and such. But I'd much rather believe that the man in the White House has his heart truly set on fighting these terrorists. It's important we have a President whose heart is in the right place.
F.N.I. wrote:
Here here, Eric! It's
good to see you've abandoned your wayward thinking and are adopting a more
positive conservative ideology. The only candidate able to protect our country
is George W. Bush. Welcome on
board!
--Three positive
responses! It really does make one
think. And I have thought about
all this quite a bit. And so it
is, Reader, that I have decided this 5th of October, 2004 to finally and truly
give up my writing against the Bush Administration. My above letter may have been satire, but this final word is
not. I hope my friends and
supporters will not be too disappointed.
I've taken this decision
for various reasons. First, I've
taken it because I've learned that anyone who supports George W. Bush cannot
really read what I write anyway, and so my attempts at persuading people are
fruitless. But there is a second
and more important reason. I've
realized with the above letter on "Second Thoughts" how incredibly
easy it must be to be a Bush speechwriter. And so: If I can get such immediate approbation and support
for the illogical nonsense I typed out in my letter, imagine what I could accomplish
if I put some work into it. As a
Bush insider, my salary would quadruple and I'd go from being a suspicious
"radical" to being a respected patriot. I imagine town houses in D.C., state dinners, high-class
Texas call girls. It's time that I
stopped fighting against historical necessity. The fate of a nation hangs in the balance, my own future
prospects are an issue: it's time I did my part.
Anyone reading this who
has any upper-level connections in the Bush campaign, please send me information
on whom I might contact. I'm
looking to send in a CV. --E.M.
Email: inthemargins03@hotmail.com
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