There are no words

Here's what we have to deal with in the Williamsport Sun-Duhzette. Frequently we see right-wing derangedness, but in this particular letter, with one bit of right-wing idiocy lurching drunkenly into another with no rhyme or reason, we really get a perfect encapsulation of why I don't write letters to the editor anymore: you can't have a rational public forum with stupidity like this around. There would be no point in trying to address this thing's "points," because, come on. However, the most notable point must surely be the part about how "they" "bombed" "us" "first." I suppose by "they" she must just mean A-rabs in general. 'Cause, you know, they're all the same. Neca eos omnes; Deus suos agnoset. My brother noted the "grandson" bit and posited that this was all down to rampant senility. But frankly, I'm less charitable--I think "stupid fucking bitch" is more likely.

Editor, Sun-Gazette:
My answer to Gail Shane [don't ask me; I don't know]:

First misstatement: Bush did not involve us in war under false pretenses. If I remember right, they bombed us first. As a matter of fact, several times. If you are talking about the weapon search that failed, there is no doubt that they have them, otherwise why did they not like our inspectors continuing to search? They just kept moving them from place to place. You talk about the cost of the war. If Clinton hadn’t tried to erase our military bases, Bush would not have to rebuild them. As for jobs moving to foreign countries, that has been going on for years, long before Bush was even here. What about John Kerry’s wife’s Heinz companies that are everywhere but in the U.S.? As for our environment, God has taken care of this old world for a long time and I think he is still very capable, more so than government.

You say Bush favors the wealthy with tax cuts. How do you know? Do the wealthy tell you what they pay? As far as Social Security is concerned, people have been griping about it ever since F.D.R. started it. The only thing about Social Security is we have too many people on it who won’t work and think the government owes them.

About assault weapons, I think every law-abiding citizen should be issued one. If people like John Kerry keep us on, we will be needing them to protect our own homes. What is wrong with healthcare is lawyers, if they had to hear malpractice cases for free and doctors didn’t have to pay outrageous insurances, they could lower their rates so people could afford them.

I am also on Bush’s side when it comes to gays. If they want to be gay, that’s ok with me, but do not infringe on my territory. I am against abortion 100 percent, why don’t they call it what it is, murder. Too many people are using it for birth control. As for stem cell research, it hasn’t even been proven yet. And the only thing Bush said about it is the government shouldn’t have to pay for it. People are too dumb to see what the government has to pay for comes out of their pocket.

By the way, I had one stepson who lost an eye in Germany, a son who lost his hearing in Korea and a son who died from agent orange, all over fighting for freedom. I couldn’t be more proud of them. Right now, I have a grandson and grandson-in-law and two nephews in the service and I thank God every day that they have a leader like George Bush.
Geraldine Phillip
Williamsport