yes we can?

Read this today & felt pretty similar...


Dear Friends:
>
> My name is Joe Porter. I live in
> Champaign, Illinois. I'm 46 years old, a born-again
> Christian, a husband, a father, a small business owner, a
> veteran, and a homeowner. I don't consider myself to be
> either conservative or liberal, and I vote for the person,
> not Republican or Democrat. I don't believe there are
> 'two Americas ' but that every person in this
> country can be whomever and whatever they want to be if
> they'll just work to get there and nowhere else on earth
> can they find such opportunities. I believe our government
> should help those who are legitimately downtrodden, and
> should always put the interests of America first.
>
> The purpose of this message is that
> I'm concerned about the future of this great nation.
> I'm worried that the silent majority of honest,
> hard-working, tax-paying people in this country have been
> passive for too long. Most folks I know choose not to
> involve themselves in politics. They go about their daily
> lives, paying their bills, raising their kids, and doing
> what they can to maintain the good life. They vote and
> consider doing so to be a sacred trust. They shake their
> heads at the political pundits and so-called 'news',
> thinking that what they hear is always spun by whomever is
> reporting it. They can't understand how elected
> officials can regularly violate the public trust with pork
> barrel spending. They don't want government handouts.
> They want the government to protect them, not raise their
> taxes for more government programs.
>
> We are in the unique position in
> this country of electing our leaders. It's a privilege
> to do so. I've never found a candidate in any election
> with whom I agreed on everything. I'll wager that most
> of us don't even agree with our families or spouses 100%
> of the time. So when I step into that voting booth, I always
> try to look at the big picture and cast my vote for the man
> or woman who is best qualified for the job. I've hired a
> lot of people in my lifetime, and essentially that's
> what an election is - a hiring process. Who has the
> credentials? Whom do I want working for me? Whom can I trust
> to do the job right?
>
> I'm concerned that a growing
> number of voters in this country simply don't get it.
> They are caught up in a fervor they can't explain, and
> calling it 'change'.
>
> 'Change what?', I ask.
>
> 'Well, we're going to change
> America', they say.
>
> 'In what way?', I query.
>
> 'We want someone new and fresh
> in the White House', they exclaim.
>
> 'So, someone who's not a
> politician?', I say.
>
> 'Uh, well, no, we just want a
> lot of stuff changed, so we're voting for Obama',
> they state.
>
> 'So the current system, the
> system of freedom and democracy that has enabled a man to
> grow up in this great country, get a fine education, raise
> incredible amounts of money and dominate the news, and win
> his party's nomination for the White House that
> system's all wrong?'
>
> 'No, no, that part of the
> system's okay we just need a lot of change.'
>
> And so it goes. 'Change we can
> believe in.'
>
> Quite frankly, I don't believe
> that vague proclamations of change hold any promise for me.
> In recent months, I've been asking virtually everyone I
> encounter how they're voting. I live in Illinois, so
> most folks tell me they're voting for Barack Obama. But
> no one can really tell me why only that he's going to
> change a lot of stuff 'Change, change, change.' I
> have yet to find one single person who can tell me
> distinctly and convincingly why this man is qualified to be
> President and Commander-in-Chief of the most powerful nation
> on earth other than the fact that he claims he's going
> to implement a lot of change.
>
> We've all seen the emails about
> Obama's genealogy, his upbringing, his Muslim
> background, and his church affiliations. Let's ignore
> this for a moment. Put it all aside. Then ask yourself,
> 'What qualifies this man to be my president? That
> he's a brilliant orator and talks about change?'
>
> CHANGE WHAT?
>
> Friends, I'll be forthright with
> you I believe the American voters who are supporting Barack
> Obama don't have a clue what they're doing, as
> evidenced by the fact that not one of them - NOT ONE of them
> I've spoken to can spell out his qualifications. Not
> even the most liberal media can explain why he should be
> elected. Political experience? Negligible. Foreign
> relations? Non-existent. Achievements? Name one. Someone
> who wants to unite the country? If you haven't read his
> wife's thesis from Princeton, look it up on the web.
> This is who's lining up to be our next First Lady? The
> only thing I can glean from Obama's constant harping
> about change is that we're in for a lot of new taxes.
>
> For me, the choice is clear. I've
> looked carefully at the two leading applicants for the job,
> and I've made my choice.
>
> Here's a question - 'Where
> were you five and a half years ago? Around Christmas, 2002.
> You've had five or six birthdays in that time. My son
> has grown from a sixth grade child to a high school
> graduate. Five and a half years is a good chunk of time.
> About 2,000 days. 2,000 nights of sleep. 6, 000 meals,
> give= or take.'
>
> John McCain spent that amount of
> time, from 1967 to 1973, in a North Vietnamese
> prisoner-of-war camp.
>
> When offered early release, he
> refused it. He considered this offer to be a public
> relations stunt by his captors, and insisted that those held
> longer than he should be released first. Did you get that
> part? He was offered his freedom, and he turned it down. A
> regimen of beatings and torture began.
>
> Do you possess such strength of
> character? Locked in a filthy cell in a foreign country,
> would you turn down your own freedom in favor of your fellow
> man? I submit that's a quality of character that is
> rarely found, and for me, this singular act defines John
> McCain.
>
> Unlike several presidential
> candidates in recent years whose military service is
> questionable or non-existent, you will not find anyone to
> denigrate the integrity and moral courage of this man. A
> graduate of Annapolis, during his Naval service he received
> the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart and Distinguished
> Flying Cross. His own son is now serving in the Marine
> Corps in Iraq . Barack Obama is fond of saying 'We
> honor John McCain's service...BUT...', which to me
> is condescending and offensive - because what I hear is,
> 'Let's forget this man's sacrifice for his
> country, and his proven leadership abilities, and talk some
> more about change.'
>
> I don't agree with John McCain on
> everything - but I am utterly convinced that he is qualified
> to be our next President, and I trust him to do what's
> right. I know in my heart that he has the best interests of
> our country in mind. He doesn't simply want to be
> President - he wants to lead America, and there's a huge
> difference. Factually, there is simply no comparison
> between the two candidates. A man of questionable
> background and motives who prattles on about change,
> can't hold a candle to a man who has devoted his life in
> public service to this nation, retiring from the Navy in1981
> and elected to the Senate in1982.
>
> Perhaps Obama's supporters are
> taking a stance between old and new. Maybe they don't
> care about McCain's service or his strength of
> character, or his unblemished qualifications to be
> President. Maybe 'likeability' is a higher priority
> for them than 'trust'. Being a prisoner of war is
> not what qualifies John McCain to be President of the United
> States of America - but his demonstrated leadership
> certainly DOES.
>
> Dear friends, it is time for us to
> stand. It is time for thinking Americans to say,
> 'Enough.' It is time for people of all parties to
> stop following the party line. It is time for anyone who
> wants to keep America first, who wants the right man leading
> their nation, to start a dialogue with all their friends and
> neighbors and ask who they're voting for, and why.
>
> There's a lot of evil in this world.
> That should be readily apparent to all of us by now. And
> when faced with that evil as we are now, I want a man who
> knows the cost of war on his troops and on his citizens. I
> want a man who puts my family's interests before any
> foreign country.
>
> I want a President who's qualified
> to lead.
>
> I want my country back, and I'm
> voting for John McCain.