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America deserves better, our grandchildren deserve better

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By Susan Leukhardt

Ms. Arsham says that the Tea Party is a radical movement the same as the John Birch Society. If you are talking about radical beliefs and behavior, quite frankly I can think of no more radical statement than that which our President made when he promised to “fundamentally change” America. Or the actions he has thus far taken to create his vision of a “fundamentally changed” America, actions which have resulted in even more financial misery and divisiveness in our country.

I think it would be great if Ms. Arsham attended some of the educational forums she scorns because when it comes to the Tea Party she doesn’t know what she is talking about. It would be good for her education and enlightenment. I don’t think we consider anyone an enemy. She would be quite welcome and well treated.

She might learn about our Constitution. She might hear what life was like under Communism, as we did when we listened to Igor Birman, Senator Tom Mc Clintock’s chief of staff, when he spoke about the oppression he and his family lived under in his homeland of Soviet Russia before emigrating to the freedom of America. She might hear a speaker tell of living in a country under repressive leadership and a culture that practices extreme cruelty against women, such that found in the much of the Middle East. She might hear speakers who are running for office, so that she can make informed decisions about who she will vote for. She might learn emergency preparedness. She might learn how the unions affect our wallets and influence elections. Just to name a few topics.

She would learn that the people who attend Tea Party events and forums are from all walks of life: teachers, doctors, housewives, laborers, business owners, parents, grandparents, students, truck drivers, lawyers, engineers, salesclerks, pilots, nurses, police officers, accountants, active military, ex-military, and people of all ethnicities and religions. Scattered in the audience she will see the veterans of various wars who risked their lives and invested their time so that she has the freedom to write a letter to the editor of her newspaper.

She would learn that the Tea Party consists of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. I think our creed reflects a quote made by our 41st president: “I take as my guide the hope of a saint: in crucial things, unity; in important things, diversity; in all things, generosity.” She would not hear profanity or racist talk. She would see people behaving respectfully toward one another. She would hear and see a huge crowd of people stand up with hands over heart as they look with pride at Old Glory and recite the Pledge of Allegiance. Maybe she would learn that we still use and believe the words, “under God.”

Mainly she will learn that there are a heck of a lot of decent, caring, ordinary people who love America and its children enough to get out of their easy chairs and make a positive effort to preserve our liberties for our grandchildren and the generations to come; people who do not want our great country “fundamentally changed” for the worse. That is why I am a member of the Tea Party.

Thank you, Ramona Sentinel, for printing various points of view.

Susan Leukardt is a Ramona resident.

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