My Dad was a Marine and served our country proudly. His father was a Sea Bee in the Army, and my grandfather on my Mom's side served as well. In fact, he was pretty severly wounded in WWII. With all of this military history, I was brought up to take great pride in our flag. It's a symbol of the freedom that we all share (and most of us take for granted every day). I also grew up with the understanding that that freedom was won with blood and sacrifice, and is guarded by brave men and woman who risk their lives every day for this country. As a result, I often looked up at the flag as I entered school, a government building, or at a ball game with great pride and silently thanked those that gave their lives for my freedom.

Recently my feelings of pride have changed, however. It began as it became more and more clear that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. We had gone to war under false pretences. Why? How? I had seen Col. Powell's slide show. I had seen the trucks that transported them, the mobile labs, the warehouses. Was our intellegence-gathering capability to blame? More and more I found myself unable to listen to the President's explanations and accept them without question. I started noticing contradictions, and how rare it was that he'd give a definitive answer about anything. Then along came the 911 panel and their investigation. He wanted to get to the bottom of the intelligence failure that lead to the successful terrorist attacks, but he resisted letting every single member of his staff testify. Finally allowing it, but only under severly restricted circumstances (time limits, private hearings, etc.). It started looking shady, and it all started sinking through my layers of Ameican pride, and unwavering support for our Commander in Chief. -He's holding prisoners in Cuba so he's free to disregard the protections that the Constitution provides to the accused. And we're all buying it because of our pride?

Sometimes pride can be a bad thing. Sometimes we need to re-evaluate our positions. We are free to do so... Election time seems as good as any!

See, I've always voted Republican. I voted for George W. Bush four years ago. I grew up in a Republican household. I've been a member of the NRA on and off (as I could afford it) since I was maybe 16? I've campaigned for Republicans, and I still hold onto many of their values. But what it comes down to is that flag...

I don't have the same sense of pride that I used to have when I look up at her. We've let down our long-standing allies. Whatever you think about the UN, we've spat in their face. We are the bully on the playground showing everyone that we can do whatever we want. I feel lied to. I never thought that government was not corrupt, but I guess I've never seen it so blatent. If it was truly a lapse in intelligence, why can't our President stand up and say so? -I want my trust (and admoration for) Colon Powell back. I want my pride in that flag and the country it represents back. That's why I'm voting for Kerry. I'm not a Kerry fan, he's simply the only (real) alternative to what has become, in my opinion, a big embarassment.

The End.

A note to John Kerry: Mr. Kerry, please don't take away my guns.