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Edited by o_____________o: 3/20/2013 6:22:30 PM
59

Letter to Obama from 95 year old veteran

[quote]Dear President Obama, My name is Harold Estes, approaching 95 on December 13 of this year. People meeting me for the first time don’t believe my age because I remain wrinkle free and pretty much mentally alert. I enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1934 and served proudly before, during and after WW II retiring as a Master Chief Bos’n Mate. Now I live in a “rest home” located on the western end of Pearl Harbor , allowing me to keep alive the memories of 23 years of service to my country. One of the benefits of my age, perhaps the only one, is to speak my mind, blunt and direct even to the head man. So here goes. I am amazed, angry and determined not to see my country die before I do, but you seem hell bent not to grant me that wish. I can’t figure out what country you are the president of. You fly around the world telling our friends and enemies despicable lies like: ” We’re no longer a Christian nation” ” America is arrogant” – (Your wife even announced to the world,” America is mean-spirited. ” Please tell her to try preaching that nonsense to 23 generations of our war dead buried all over the globe who died for no other reason than to free a whole lot of strangers from tyranny and hopelessness.) I’d say shame on the both of you, but I don’t think you like America, nor do I see an ounce of gratefulness in anything you do, for the obvious gifts this country has given you. To be without shame or gratefulness is a dangerous thing for a man sitting in the White House. After 9/11 you said,” America hasn’t lived up to her ideals.” Which ones did you mean? Was it the notion of personal liberty that 11,000 farmers and shopkeepers died for to win independence from the British? Or maybe the ideal that no man should be a slave to another man, that 500,000 men died for in the Civil War? I hope you didn’t mean the ideal 470,000 fathers, brothers, husbands, and a lot of fellas I knew personally died for in WWII, because we felt real strongly about not letting any nation push us around, because we stand for freedom. I don’t think you mean the ideal that says equality is better than discrimination. You know the one that a whole lot of white people understood when they helped to get you elected. Take a little advice from a very old geezer, young man. Shape up and start acting like an American. If you don’t, I’ll do what I can to see you get shipped out of that fancy rental on Pennsylvania Avenue . You were elected to lead not to bow, apologize and kiss the hands of murderers and corrupt leaders who still treat their people like slaves. And just who do you think you are telling the American people not to jump to conclusions and condemn that Muslim major who killed 13 of his fellow soldiers and wounded dozens more. You mean you don’t want us to do what you did when that white cop used force to subdue that black college professor in Massachusetts , who was putting up a fight? You don’t mind offending the police calling them stupid but you don’t want us to offend Muslim fanatics by calling them what they are, terrorists. One more thing. I realize you never served in the military and never had to defend your country with your life, but you’re the Commander-in-Chief now, son. Do your job. When your battle-hardened field General asks you for 40,000 more troops to complete the mission, give them to him. But if you’re not in this fight to win, then get out. The life of one American soldier is not worth the best political strategy you’re thinking of. You could be our greatest president because you face the greatest challenge ever presented to any president. You’re not going to restore American greatness by bringing back our bloated economy. That’s not our greatest threat. Losing the heart and soul of who we are as Americans is our big fight now. And I sure as hell don’t want to think my president is the enemy in this final battle… Sincerely, Harold B. Estes[/quote]

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  • [quote]retiring as a Master Chief Bos’n Mate[/quote] [quote]Master Chief Bos'n Mate[/quote] [quote]Master Chief[/quote] Spartan II Project confirmed.

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    • Already deduced the contents of the letter before I started reading. A few points: -Being old doesn't make you infallible. -Being a veteran doesn't make you infallible either. -Neither makes you beyond reproach.

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    • I find that I can agree with him on most of those points.

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    • If this man were chastising Bush, everybody would be calling him a hero. You filthy hypocrites.

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      • [quote]If this man were chastising Bush, everybody would be calling him a hero. You filthy hypocrites.[/quote] This is the most true sentence Iv read on this site

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      • TL;DR - The rantings of a conservative old man who probably sits around watching Fox News all day.

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        • I remember this thread...

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        • Edited by Madman Mordo: 3/20/2014 8:03:30 PM
          Blah blah blah Obama is evil blah blah blah Obama's the antichrist It seems like I can't even go a few days without some unintelligible conservative spewing their "OBAMA H8s CLAPMERICA" rhetoric. I can't even tell which is actual opinion and which is satire at this point. FYI guys, Obama didn't really have anything to do with half the shit you have so much beef with. He inherited a lot of cluster-blam!- policies from GEOOGE DUBLE YEAH BOOSH II. If you want to point the finger at someone, point it at him and ramble about freedumbz until the cows come home.

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        • [b]Damn Right[/b]

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        • [quote] but I don’t think you like America,[/quote]stopped reading there.

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          • Oh look, another bloke who thinks that serving in the military means he knows everything.

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            • lol

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            • This is absolutely true. What I wouldn't give to see the look on the presidents face.

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            • Oh cool, some old guy's opinions.

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            • [quote]BACK IN MY DAY WE HAD VALUES! YOU DAMNED KIDS THESE DAYS HAVE NO RESPECT FOR YOUR ELDERS! SO I'M GONNA SPEW OUT BULLSHIT REASONS FOR WHY YOU'RE RUINING THIS COUNTRY![/quote] summed it up in 3 sentences.

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              • Edited by Crash: 3/20/2013 6:38:15 PM
                You're just begging for a flamewar aren't you.

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                • Bill I Reilly thinks Obama treats vets alright [url=http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/02/03/216774/foxs-bill-oreilly-finds-something.html]o_o[/url]

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                • Edited by john5550: 3/20/2014 10:39:31 AM
                  *sighs*This reads like something from a Tea Partier. I don't think Obama said most of these things and this guy doesn't get how things are now. I thank him for his service but he's just wrong.

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                • A fantastic breakdown of the letter.

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                  • [quote]retiring as a Master Chief Bos’n Mate[/quote]

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                  • Edited by Elrond Hubbard: 3/20/2014 5:51:43 PM
                    The letter itself complains about statements that were deliberately taken out of context.

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                  • Obama seems to acknowledge the rest of the world's view of the US and take it into account. He also seems able to see where American ideals are actually in practice and where they are in fact just being spoken about. One of the latter is freedom. The US has the highest rate of imprisonment of any country, including police states. One ideal that Obama has also introduced is the human responsibility to help and support others who cannot support themselves; this is shown most clearly in free national health care, a humanitarian need that most civilised countries introduced in the 20th century, with a corresponding leap in life expectancy. Furthermore Obama's point about "not being a Christian nation" is, I believe meant to show that unlike Republican politicians he is not under the influence of religion and it does not mar is policies. Many Republicans are against Contraception and gay sex on the grounds of religious beliefs that much of the country does not share. Being anti-contraception is also dangerous and against scientific consensus. I would rather the most powerful nation in the world had a leader who turned to facts rather than religion when deciding his policies.

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                  • 1
                    So moral of the story.. If you're old and served in the military you can spout off on any silly notion you want. And if the president is on the other end of that rant.. You get national exposure. God I hate when I'm forced to defend Obama.

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                    • Funny to see a split people here. People who think this guy is right, and Obama should listen to him. And people who say this guy is wrong because he's old and he glorifies himself because he was in the military. [spoiler]I think he's correct. Obama isn't the leader he should be, that we need him to be. And he does kinda have a right to say what he wants and glorify himself because he laid his life on the line to protect America and the world. He doesn't know everything, but he deserves respect.[/spoiler]

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                    • I'm starting to think that it's not America that's got worse, it's that on the whole the rest of the world has got better.

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                    • Oh look. A forum filled with stupid liberal teenagers bashing a war veteran. Seems about right.

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