Double your Dubya

Jack Lessenberry has it right ("Lansing's closet reds," Sept. 6) — almost. The Republicans are Republicans qua Marxist-Leninists: They are functioning in the capacity of Marxist-Leninists, even though that is not, of course, their conscious intent. This has been going on for a long time. Dubya did more to raise consciousness, radicalize and mobilize people than his opponents (e.g. a nonentity named "Kerry" — or something like that) ever could. In fact, the Democratic "opposition" does the reverse: It puts people to sleep. The Bush years saw the growth of a robust anti-war movement (now collapsed under the delusion of a "progressive" Obama), and even many self-described "conservative Republicans" were so disgusted that they left the party, or flocked to Ron Paul, or began subscribing to The Nation. Bottom line: We need more Republicans in office — the more batshit, the better! Palin, Romney, Bachmann, whoever. Vote for a progressive awakening! Vote Republican in 2012! —Alan Lewis, Ann Arbor

Would it were

Re: Jack Lessenberry's "What Might Have Been" (Sept. 14), a great column, but missing some important historic points.

For example, "to eliminate the leverage that often-antagonistic nation-states hold over the United States," and "to ensure ours is a generation our descendants can respect," Gore pushed through the Renewable Energy Infrastructure Act of 2002, a $1.5 trillion initiative financed with the functional equivalent of war bonds. A decade later, the United States now enjoys an unchallenged global lead in new energy technology development and production, trade surpluses with China and India, primarily in the form of solar panels and wind turbines, and a high-speed rail network, which, while incomplete, is recognized as the world's most advanced. It's projected that by 2020, half the U.S. automotive fleet will either be electric, natural gas or have an average fuel economy of more than 50 mpg. Due to plummeting demand for oil, the average price of gasoline is now less than $1 per gallon.

Internationally, in 2005, the Islamic government of Iran collapsed due to massive pro-Western popular sentiment inspired largely by the construction of hundreds of hospitals, schools, and roads in neighboring Afghanistan. The "Carter Plan" has been a boon to many an American construction firm, and a contributing factor to the lowest U.S. unemployment rate since 1944.

Barely worthy of note is the passing of former Vice President Dick Cheney, who died in a fire when his Hummer collided with a gasoline tanker. Fortunately the tanker's driver, an Iraqi immigrant and father of three, escaped uninjured. —John Dancoe, Lake Orion

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