The following letter has been redacted and the name of the actual writer has been obmitted and replaced by "Mr. X" to avoid any embarrassment to the writer or to his family.
My wife recently mentioned that there was an article in the newspaper that attacked me personally. Brenda was referring to a Guest Column written by Mr. X titled “Clearing up issues for guest columnist.” Mr. X apparently wanted to be certain that I was put in my place for having the audacity to attack the Bush administration and I congratulate him for being brazen enough to openly support Bush Administration Policies over the last eight years.
Let me give you some background on this issue. In the article Mr. X referenced, I used the word Republican only once, and that was to describe the former Chairman of the Federal Reserve. I did not use the word Democrat at all. I purposely did not make this a Republican vs. Democrat issue. “Mr. X,” on the other hand, uses the word Republican on three occasions, all of which are to defend the party and he refers to Democrats on FIVE different occasions and blames them for our current dilemma.
Mr. X begins his diatribe with two paragraphs of sarcastic platitudes. He next implies that the people responsible for our current banking crisis included Bill and Hillary Clinton along with Democratic members of Congress that supported Fanny Mae and Freddie Mack. His comments are at least partially correct because the origin on the deregulation that I had discussed is rather complex and controversial. As with most issues regarding regulations during the Bush years, abuses of existing laws were rampant and enforcement was almost non-existent. Nowhere in his discussion does Uric even remotely discuss Republican fault in this fiasco.
In his next act, Mr. X attacks my position on big oil and explains that “the last thing that big oil wants to see is sustained high prices of oil, ” because these high prices provide incentives for alternative forms of energy and unjustified regulation and taxes.” Let me see if I have this straight. BIG OIL DOESN’T WANT HIGHER SUSTAINED PRICES and they don’t want UNJUSTIFIED regulations. Mr. X obviously needs to get in touch with industry officials and set them straight on this issue; especially since last year EXXON had the largest profits of any corporation in the history of the world! After the last eight years of being gouged at the gas pump, the rest of us need to ponder the question of whether the oil & gas industry actually need to be regulated. My response would be a resounding YES!!
Mr. X next took issue with a statement I had made in another article that pointed out that many of the supporters of the policies that led up to our current dilemma were some of the biggest losers when the bottom fell out of the stock market. This week the Dow Jones Industrial Average was HALF of what it was at its peak last year and those of us who are baby boomers are seeing most of our retirement money disappear and our prospects for the future are dim indeed. All Americans, both the wealthy and less affluent, both Republicans and Democrats, are suffering from the failed policies of George Bush.
Mr. X initiated the Republican vs. Democrat discussion and would have us believe that the Democratic Party was somehow responsible for this dilemma and actually ran the country during the Bush Presidency. He is obviously wrong, and he knows better. This is not a mainstream Republican vs. Democratic issue, and the vast majority of Americans, regardless of their party affiliation, would not support the policies that led up to our current problems. This was clearly illustrated in the last election.
The facts remain that a group of Right Wing Fanatics took over the Republican Party and used lies and deceit to manipulate issues and left us with an economic disaster. These lunatics did not represent the majority of Republicans and much of their Republican support was based on the lies they fed to their own family.
Mr. X can defend these individuals and their activities if he chooses. However, his bias on behalf of the right wing politicians who created these problems is as surprising to me as it is disappointing.
Michael Robichaux