oldvamp's Blog

I just received this e mail and thought I'd pass it on for your reading pleasure.

Subject: Letter to the Editor
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>>The following letter appeared in Letters to the Editor in the Richmond
>>Times Dispatch, Richmond, VA on July 7, 2008.  Its well written and worth
>>thinking about during this political season.
>>
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>>Beware Charismatic Men Who Preach 'Change'
>>
>>Editor, Times-Dispatch:
>>
>>     Each year I get to celebrate Independence Day twice.  On June 30 I
>> celebrate my Independence Day and on July 4 I celebrate America's.  This
>> year is special, because it marks the 40th anniversary of my
>> independence.
>>     On June 30, 1968, I escaped Communist Cuba and a few months later I
>> was in the United Sates to stay.  That I happened to arrive in Richmond
>> on Thanksgiving Day is just part of the story, but I digress.
>>     I've thought a lot about the anniversary this year.  The
>> election-year rhetoric has made me think a lot about Cuba and what
>> transpired there.  In the late 1950s, most Cubans thought Cuba needed a
>> change, and they were right.  So when a young leader came along, every
>> Cuban was at least receptive.
>>     When the young leader spoke eloquently and passionately and denounced
>> the old system, the press fell in love with him.  They never questioned
>> who his friends were or what he really believed in.  When he said he
>> would help the farmers and the poor and bring free medical care and
>> education to all, everyone followed.  When he said he would bring justice
>> and equality to all, everyone said "Praise the Lord."  And when the young
>> leader said, "I will be for change and I'll bring you change," everyone
>> yelled, "Viva Fidel!"
>>     But nobody asked about the change, so by the time the executioner's
>> guns went silent the people's guns had been taken away.  By the time
>> everyone was equal, they were equally poor, hungry, and oppressed.  By
>> the time everyone received their free education it was worth nothing.  By
>> the time the press noticed, it was too late, because they were now
>> working for him.  By the time the change was finally implemented Cuba had
>> been knocked down a couple of notches to Third-World status.  By the time
>> the change was over more than a million people had taken to boats, rafts,
>> and inner tubes.  You can call those who made it ashore anywhere else in
>> the world the most fortunate Cubans.  And now I'm back to the beginning
>> of my story.
>>     Luckily, we would never fall in America for a young leader who
>> promised change without asking, what change?  How will you carry it out?
>> What will it cost America?
>>     Would we?
>>
>>Manuel Alvarez Jr.
>>Sandy Hook, VA
>>
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