Saddened for the Republican Party

Dear Editor,
   As I have written on several occasions, I am a disenfranchised Republican who cannot, in good conscience, vote for this administration this election season. I was hoping to watch some keynote speakers at the opening of the Republican National Convention to address some of my concerns regarding job growth, a $450 billion deficit, and our plans for Iraq. Instead, we got a rehashing of the emotional trauma of 9/11 and justification for the war in Iraq. For sure I thought Sen. McCain and ex-New York Mayor Giuliani would be the leaders and patriots I presumed them to be but instead, we got Cold War, antiquated rhetoric from Sen. McCain, and SNL schtick from Giuliani. Yes, 9/11 was a deep tragedy for all Americans, and going after al Qaeda in Afghanistan was the right thing to do. But as we all know now, Iraq had nothing to do with the 9/11 attack, and we should have never invaded this country. It's sad when two senior politicians try to justify Iraq by saying Saddam Hussein was the weapon of mass destruction. On top of further classifying Islamists as evil doers who must be vanquished and they will hear from us. It's sad when I hear campaign speeches include the insulting of Germans and Italians who were blamed for releasing Munich Olympics and Achille Lauro terrorists many decades ago and that Europe is complacent in the offense on terrorism. And this was only day one. I'm saddened for the party I grew up with! This "your either with us or your with the terrorists" attitude and "taking the offense" on the war on terrorism does not bode well for our respect as a member of good standing in the world.