BEAUTIFUL RESPONSE TO MY POEM

DEAR READERS: I RECEIVED A WONDERFUL LETTER FROM ANOTHER ANTI-WAR GRANNY, LIZ AXTELL, WHICH I WANTED TO SHARE WITH YOU:

"Dear Joan,

I read your most recent post on the Anti-War Granny website, and felt empathy for you as you expressed your disappointment and dashed hopes regarding President Obama.

Now that it is official that he is escalating our military involvement in Afghanistan, I thought it an appropriate time to tell you some of what I am thinking. Perhaps you may not like what I have to say, but if I were meeting with you and the other grannies in New York, I would be saying the same things.

Let's face it, by and large, the policies and actions of the Obama Administration and the Democratic controlled Congress have been a disaster. Not just regarding Afghanistan-Iraq-Pakistan, but also regarding health care reform, the banking situation, home foreclosures, unemployment, etc. The Democrats in Congress and the Obama administration have no balls; they keep backing down and caving in to the Republicans, Wall Street, insurance companies, etc., and thumbing their noses at the very people who got them elected.

Several years ago, I changed my voting registration from Democratic to independent ( called unaffiliated in North Carolina). Like many people, I have called members of Congress, written letters, signed petitions, called the White House, etc. Folks in Washington D.C. are not listening--they are in a world of their own, divorced from the American people. The only thing they are interested in is remaining in power. It is time to think about a change in tactics. Cindy Sheehan spoke here in Raleigh a few weeks ago to a large audience and said the same thing.

Above all, the anti-war/peace movement must be independent and not be an appendage of the Democratic Party. I refuse to lift a finger to help any candidate get elected who supports our continued occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq and votes to fund our wars there. I am tired of the rhetoric; actions (or inactions) speak louder than words.

Sincerely,
Liz Axtell
Raleigh, North Carolina"