A Letter From a Passenger on the Ship of State

PPPS (adrift at sea)—Today we received a letter from a new reader, one Passenger Pete, who claims to be aboard the metaphorical Ship of State.  Pete apparently posted his letter on Facebook. He has included one comment to his post, and his response, both of which we found interesting. In the interest of protecting personal identities, we have listed Passenger Pete's comments as PP and his commenting Facebook friend as FF.

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PP -   

Fellow Passengers: 

NOW is the time to Right the Ship of State, which is listing so far to the Left as to be in imminent danger of capsizing.

In order to save ourselves, we must immediately throw overboard the largest burden of dead weight, Obamacare.

Then we must seize the rudder of government and set a new course with the Constitution as our compass.

—Passenger Pete, September, 2013

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FF - 

The fact that I disagree with you does not make me wrong or you right. It does mean that open debate is the foundation upon which our democracy rests. Open contentious "war in Washington" is not. Peace and Blessings to all.

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PP -

I love that you are my friend and that we can debate issues from time to time. I think that open, honest debate is wonderful, and that there should be more of it - for instance in the U.S. Senate right now regarding the merits of Obamacare. 

But I disagree a bit that a contentious "war on Washington" is not necessary. 

You see, because I have been involved in the peaceful protests and lawful campaign activities of the Tea Party movement, and in doing so, have many times disagreed with the policies of the President and the majority party in Washington (and at times the leadership in the minority party as well), I have been labeled a racist, a mobster, an anarchist, a terrorist, a fraud, an extortionist, an extremist, a child hater, a grandmother killer, and a teabagger (to name just a few) by our leaders in Washington, DC. 

Not a single one of those labels is even remotely true of me or anyone else I know of who is involved in the Tea Party movement. 

So forgive me, if at times, I speak using words or metaphors which might elicit an image of a "war on Washington".

Frankly, it feels as though "Washington is at war with the citizens", certainly the ones, like me, who wish to reign in a bit of the overreach of power, out-of-control spending, and assault on freedoms that is the daily regimen in DC.

And if I go too far at times, please understand my frustration, and then let me know gently, as you have. God bless you my friend.