Reason Instead Of Bombs

By Letters To The Editor

Published: July 4, 2008

I don’t know that Barack Obama is the right person to be president, but I do believe he’s right when he says it’s time for a change. It’s time for this country to be governed by consensus instead of fiat and subterfuge. It’s time to realize that a country that squanders its moral standing and financial wealth can never be secure.

It’s time for President Bush and Vice President Cheney to understand that they do not own the truth. We, as citizens, need to make it abundantly clear through our elected officials and with our individual voices that their paranoia and self-righteousness will not lead us into another war, in Iran or whatever other country is the enemy-of-the-day.

A great and powerful country such as ours can fool itself into believing that power makes us invincible and right. History provides many examples to the contrary. The world will not do as we please just because we stamp our foot and demand that it be so. I hope that we, as a people and a country, can see that reason and persuasion can be just as effective and gratifying in their results as bombs and bullets.
The Lord gave us heads to hold a brain, not just as a place to grow hair. Shall we use those brains?

John Michal
Abingdon, Va.