Dear Mr. President

Times are tough right now, I feel for you. So many of your own are turning on you and now criticizing you in public. It must be hard seeing so many in your own party distancing themselves from you as though you are radioactive. I am sure you can’t help but wonder where all that love and complete unquestioning devotion and obedience you used to enjoy is.

Well maybe I can brighten your day a little. I am writing you, not to pile on, but to thank you. You see, I used to be a Republican, but you sir, helped me see the light. You helped me see that I am absolutely, positively NOT a Republican. You helped me realize that I just don’t hold dear any of the values that you and your party hold near and dear to your hearts. You helped me realize that I have probably been in the wrong party my entire life. Wow, do you know how much painful introspection you have saved me? You opened my eyes and made me ask myself some really, really difficult questions about my country and what I feel is best for it, about my family and what I feel is best for them, about what my duties and obligations as a good American citizen are, and about our world and what our global obligations as Americans are. None of my answers to those issues even remotely matched the policies you have in place. You helped me realize that I am not on board with any of the Republican philosophies or values. I really do owe you. I needed the wake up call you provided me. And I am not the only one who owes you a big debt of gratitude, my husband thanks you, my mom thanks you, my 3 voting-age kids thank you, 3 of my 4 siblings and their wives thank you, many of my friends thank you, and half my bunco group thanks you. It feels so good to see things clearly now. And you are responsible. Thank you.

Now I would be remiss if I did not mention one teensy little detail that actually started our transformation in motion. That catalyst, so to speak, was learning that we have a gay son. But up until about November or December of 2003 when we learned this little tidbit of info I actually thought our family was the perfect American family as per the specs set forth by the Dobson, Falwell, Robertson crowd and the Republican Party. Imagine our horror learning that one of our sons was one of those nasty, dangerous homos that you incessantly talked about while campaigning for a second term as President of the United States. It was just devastating to know that we had one of those horrible threats to American families and the sanctity of marriage living right under our roof. He looked so harmless, so normal, and so sweet. He even acted like a typical teenager preparing for college and worrying about grades and SAT scores, and his social life, and what he was going to do on the coming Friday night. We were completely fooled. It was at that point I realized that we were really the antithesis of the perfect American family and the perfect Republican and the perfect Christian as defined by you and your base. So that was actually what first set things in motion, but don’t you fret, you sealed the deal and get credit for everything else. The only thing I am having a tough time figuring out at this point is what could possibly have triggered about 60% or more of the rest of the country to reach the same conclusions we have reached. They can’t all have gay children, can they?

Hat tip to AMERICAblog for the pointer to the article that inspired this thank you note.