Dr. Charles Frederickson

I was born and raised in the Buckle of the Bible Belt, taught to respect and
honor the democratic values of fair play, liberty and justice for all
humanity. As a Peace Corps Volunteer, I became a very independent pragmatic
idealist, chronic optimist and heretical make-do believer, appreciative of
the free opportunities and conveniences I had for too long simply taken for
granted, but also emotionally disturbed and perturbed about the indignities
and inequities suffered by those circumstantially less fortunate, determined
to somehow make a positive impact.

With a Ph.D. in International Education, I have enjoyed working in or
traveling to 206 countries, always trying to treat the people I met with a
warm smile, calm tolerance, compassionate dignity and heartfelt caring. I
have been welcomed with generous hospitality and made some truly wonderful
loyal friends. That is until the Century of Disillusionment dawned, overcast
with a dense fearsome dark cloud cover of Bush-whacking bullyrag in-denial
faked bluffs, true lies, deceptive intimidation and uncompromising
aggression.

The overwhelming global condolences and expressions of sympathy following
the horrific September 11th tragedy were squandered by the unilateralist
policies of an elitist neo-con administration which duped and misled the
gullible American populace by waging an unnecessary, costly and senseless
wrong time, wrong place pre-emptive war for the wrong reasons and wrong
ambitions, with serious long-term negative consequences for the US. Vested
interest powerbrokers and immoral crusaders, fomenting anti-Arab biases,
hate and fear, subjected those of us advocating peaceful or diplomatic
solutions to petty denigrating labels, arrogantly dismissed as anti-American
unpatriotic saboteurs.

Previously, I was rather apathetic about politics, but the importance of
this election has made me become a progressive rebel with an honorable, just
because cause. If we want to put an end to curtailed uncivil liberties,
torture abuse horrors, ghost detainees and the mindless humiliation pranks
of the past four years, we must restore a rainbow of hope and trust,
renewing passionate belief in the American Dream we still hold dear by
re-defeating clueless Bush and reprioritizing insurance claims for a safer,
saner, more secure future by electing a more intelligent, aware and
perceptive Kerry.

Pax vobiscum.