A Letter to the Editor

Dear Bush Haters;
I am deeply saddened by your lack of compassion. Wasn’t September 11th reason enough
to declare war on terrorism, or some three hundred children who were held captive for several
days without food or water. Their parents desperation ended with an explosion that nearly killed them all. Perhaps we should wait until these terrorists commit the same crimes against our own country as they’ve been committing against theirs, and many neighboring countries for years. Maybe if we allow them to posses nuclear war power they will just stop killing people. Alright, while were still dreaming lets pretend that we live in a country that has been ravaged by KKK members. They are threatening our way of life, they are murdering us by the hundreds of thousands. None of us are safe. Mothers lay dead in the streets, clutching their babies that they would’ve done anything to save from the nerve gas that was spread over our entire country. We are defenseless because our government doesn’t have the power to stop this from happening. Wake up, this is a reality. There is a reason we are the greatest country in the world, its because we believe in humanity. We live by the concept that says those who can, should. We value every life, not limited to, but including an American one. Also, lets not forget the president whether republican or democrat can’t declare war without the permission of congress and who is congress; one of us, voted in by majority of us.

Sincerely,
E Pluribus Unum



My Reflection and Analysis

In my letter to the editor, I decided to respond to the many of writers in the ‘Arizona
Republic,’ who have felt that President Bush has lead our country to a war we have no business
being in. I was especially irritated by the ignorant comment of Jim Taylor of Scottsdale who said, “President Bush was responsible for more Iraqi deaths than Saddam”. Perhaps Mr. Taylor was on vacation in outer space when the pictures of the thousands of dead Kurd babies graced our television screens. Must it be great to live in a country where you can call your president a mass murder without being put to death, like the thousands of Iraqi’s who fell to this very fate; some of them which were publicly televised in order to remind Iraq of the punishment for “treason”. Here we live with the right to seek truth, and to question our leaders, but most Americans vote without ever doing either. The one right we Americans have that we often exercise is our freedom of speech, everyone has something to say.
I am aware that the ‘Arizona Republic’ is mainly a liberal newspaper. My first reaction was to rip all of these articles to shreds, by using stats and facts; by yelling and forcing the truth as I see it down their throats. Though this would’ve been a fun approach, I took in consideration the nature of my readers. I felt that despite political views people could identify with human life. Though we are different in many ways, we all feel love the same. I guess you could say my appeal was a pathetic one. I wanted to let America know that we are warring for humanity. The right to live, and to let live. These terrorist can’t be negotiated with, their senseless acts of random violence come without thought or reason. Also, the authors of the articles I read tried to make emotional appeals. There was very little to no facts, and nobody claimed to be a soldier or a military general. The only one logic that I couldn’t argue with is that war kills. I could’ve established my ethos better by saying that I have family members and friends who are currently in Iraq. I could’ve let my readers know that I am educated in politics or that I attend college. I chose to use my ethos in a different way, by admitting that I am human which may seem a little silly, but I feel relating to your readers on an intimate level is more important than an intellectual one. I further established ethos by letting the readers know that I am an American with Christian values, by saying that I value life, not just American life.The logos in my letter was shown when I talked about September 11th or the hundreds of Russian children who were taken hostage while attending school. My logos was easier to portray then my ethos due to the many disturbing facts that surround this war. Even if you disagree with the war you can’t deny the hundreds of thousands of innocent people who have died for no reason. I also tried to let people know that one man is not responsible for the entirety of this war. It is easier to point a finger at one person than to blame a whole nation. I tried to reaffirm that congress is men and women from our own states that we appointed to be our voices. My largest appeal, pathos was shown through my love for both our nation and human life. I talked about dead children, for people to see that is not just American soldiers and terrorist who are dying, it is families with children. Families like our own, I wanted to help people identify with this crises by placing themselves right in the middle of it. Sometimes it is hard for us to empathize with these people because we have no idea what its like to live as they do; to fear as they do.
In conclusion, I feel I could have done a better job defending the president and the war if I
were writing a longer paper. After realizing my limited space to respond to these to articles
criticizing Bush, I noticed my response would be as open to criticism as the articles themselves.
Also ethos, logos, and pathos are extremely important in these letters to the editor, because you
only have a very short time to make a point, to change a mind, or make a difference.