Your endorsement of George W. Bush is an endorsement for squandering our resources.

First. The Bush administration has squandered our military resources. A great military power never, ever uses its military power except when absolutely necessary. The potential use of military power as a tool of diplomacy is much more effective than its actual use as a tool of war. The Bush Administration refused to look back to our prior attempts at “nation building” which were nothing but dismal. This coupled with the neo-conservative desire to refight the Vietnam War has led us into an Iraqi quagmire and diverted us from the legitimate war on terrorism. Now we are left isolated from our allies and exposed as militarily vulnerable. Even if we wake up in time and elect Senator Kerry, his ability to carry out foreign policy has been severely circumscribed.

Second. The Bush administration has squandered our natural resources. In its abdication to the market and the corporation, the Bush administration has opened up our public lands to private entities that are extracting their resources at below market cost. This has not only robbed the public treasury, but many of these lands are areas of stunning natural beauty that have intrinsic value in their own right. But a reverence for nature is anathema to an administration focused solely on material present value at the expense of intangible values such as “beauty” that can be enjoyed by present and future generations.

Third. The Bush administration has squandered our domestic resources. The Reagan Administration encouraged private gain at public cost and elevated greed into an art form. The Bush Administration has continued this trend, while also raising deceit to the level of an art. This trend toward privatized greed and deceit has destroyed our domestic integrity. Now we are not only a nation divided against each other, but also a nation divided against its own government. Part of this administration’s skill in deceit is its ability to declare that government is the problem while at the same time exploiting fear as a means to make that very government more intrusive into our lives. This has led to a radical decline in trust at all levels of society, which may help explain the trend toward being “born again”. A nation that has a large segment of its citizens focused on being “born again” runs the risk of being stuck in infantile paralysis, which prevents the development of a mature citizenship.