To the Readers' Forum:
Recent letters show little graciousness in victory and considerable misrepresentation. Romney's performance was disappointing, but it was a close election. We are a very divided nation. Since popular vote was first recorded (1824), only George W. Bush has been re-elected with such a small percentage margin.
My mother grew up during the Depression/WW II/''Greatest Generation" era. Today she is appalled at a $16 trillion debt, Solyndra, Fast-and-Furious, a leftist president that attacks small business and traditional marriage, and a Supreme Court claiming the federal tyranny of Obamacare is constitutional.
Our first president added "So help me God" to the oath of office, then kissed the Bible. Recent letters denigrate the very principles that made America great.
For many generations there was an intimate relationship of Judeo-Christian law, morality, and religion to our government. Our Founders believed religion and morality "indispensable" to governing and national success; no patriot would subvert those pillars (Washington); enemy of God equals enemy of our country (Witherspoon).
John Adams (1798): "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people." Jefferson (1809): "We all agree in the obligation of the moral precepts of Jesus."
Attacking Republicans for "actively blocking gay marriage" is ridiculous; Obama is the first president to support it. 32 states have already banned it. Things may change, but currently it's only been approved by a handful of very blue, liberal states.
Obama's handling of Iran, Syria, and the recent Libya disaster can be described as a "solid handle on foreign affairs?" No, it's Carteresque. Republicans are anti-education? Hardly. We want reform because the more we spend, the worse public schools seem to perform.
Our local representative Tom Reed believes in basically the same ideals and policies as Mitt Romney.
I think Obama's win was more based on personality than policies and performance. Unemployment has been 7.8 percent or higher his entire term. He increased spending from the typical 20 percent of GDP to 24 percent, giving us more debt in four years than Bush did in eight. And the economy remains stagnant.
Republicans are "extreme" on abortion and stem-cell issues? Gallup (May 2012) found 50 percent of Americans now identify as pro-life, and a record-low 41 percent as pro-choice.
Overall, we are slowly shifting from what is truly American toward the ways of secular, socialist Europe. But the liberal "Utopia" hasn't quite arrived yet.
Randall S. Braley, M.Div.
Jamestown