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You�re
a Republican???
In today�s America, ask a growing number of high
school and college students; their teachers and professors; the self-anointed
media elite and/or hard working men and women of all ethnicities, the question,
�What is a Republican?�, and you�ll be told �� a rich, greedy, egotistical
individual, motivated only by money and the desire to accumulate more and more
of it, at the expense of the environment � the working poor �.and all whom they
exploit��
I am a Republican
� I am none of those things� and I don�t know any Republicans who
are.
WHAT I AM � first and
foremost, is a loving husband of some 52 plus years, the father of four and an
American who�s proud of his country� and his country�s
heritage.
WHAT I AM � is
the grandson of immigrants who risked everything, including their lives and
those of their children, to escape tyranny in search of freedom.
WHAT I AM � is a man who
grew up during the Depression and witnessed, first hand, the effects of the
Stock Market crash and the soup lines that followed. I watched as both my
parents and grand parents, who had very little themselves, share what food they
had with a half dozen other families, who had even
less.
WHAT I AM � is
someone who worked his way through college by holding down three and four jobs
at a time and then used that education to build a better
life.
WHAT I AM � is a
husband who, at age 24, started his own business for the �privilege� of working
60, 70 and 80 hours a week, risking everything I had, including my health, in
search of a better life for myself and my loved ones.
WHAT I AM � is a businessman whose blood, sweat and
tears�. and plenty of them�, made it possible for me to provide a secure living,
not only for my family and myself, but also for literally hundreds of my
employees throughout the years. Employees, who in turn, were able to buy their
own homes, raise their own families and give back to their communities and their
country.
WHAT I AM � is a
man who believes in God; a God who has blessed this country� and all for which
it stands.
WHAT I AM � is
someone who knows, if you doubt miracles exist in today�s world, you need only
to look into the face of those who received them � and the eyes of those who
give them.
WHAT I AM � is
an American who�s proud that his President embraces a belief in God; proud of a
President who understands, as �politically incorrect� as it may be, there is
evil in this world and for the security and safety of all freedom loving people
everywhere, it must be confronted� and it must be
defeated.
WHAT I AM � is an
American who takes comfort in the knowledge that our President refuses to allow
decisions concerning the very safety and security of this nation, to be governed
by the political whims of foreign governments.
WHAT I AM � is tired of hearing from leading Democrats
who see only negativity in America; racism in her people; class
warfare in her society and �political incorrectness� in her
character.
WHAT I AM � is a
former democrat who now understands that it is the soldier and not the reporter
that guarantees us our freedoms of press, speech and
dissent.
WHAT I AM � is a
man who believes in the sanctity of life. A man who is repulsed by the pandering
of the political left for votes, at the expense of the
unborn.
WHAT I AM � is a
husband and father who believes in the sanctity of marriage and the preservation
of the family unit.
WHAT I
AM � is a movie go-er who is repulsed by those insecure, socially inept,
elementary thinking, ego-inflated �entertainers� who have appointed themselves
�experts� in the fields of national security and geo-politics and then use their
forum to attack this nation, its leaders and its actions�. much to the delight
and encouragement of our enemies.
WHAT I AM � is an American who understands the
difference between �censorship� and �choice�. Evidently, these individuals do
not, because when these same �celebrities� receive public ridicule for their
offensive actions, the first thing they yell is �Censorship!�. What they seem
incapable of understanding is� the right of free speech and dissent is shared
equally by those offended� as well as those who offend. I support and will
continue to support those films and performers whom I choose to � and refuse to
support those I don�t. It is my right as an American � a right I will continue
to enthusiastically exercise.
WHAT I AM � is a voter, tired of politicians, who,
every time their voting records are subjected to public scrutiny, try to divert
attention from their political and legislative failures by accusing their
opponents of �attack ads� and �negative campaigning��. and the news media who
allow them to get away with it.
WHAT I AM � is a Catholic who loves his
God and his Faith� and who�s been taught to respect all religions whose
teachings are based in love, peace and charity. As such, I am embarrassed and
ashamed of those individuals, in both private and public life, whose decisions
and actions are devoid of any sense of character or morals; individuals who are
only driven by what�s best for them � rather than what�s right � often times at
the expense of many �. including our national
security.
WHAT I AM � is a
realist who understands that the terrorist attack that murdered hundreds of
innocent Russian children could have occurred here, in our heartland. That�s why
I sincerely believe America needs now, more than ever, a President who sees with
a clear and focused vision and who speaks with a voice when heard by both friend
and foe alike, is understood, respected and believed.
WHAT I AM � is eternally grateful to Ronald Reagan for
having the bravery to speak out against Communism and the courage of his
convictions in leading the fight to defeat it; and George W. Bush for the
vision, courage, conviction and leadership he has shown in America�s war on
terrorism amidst both the constant and vicious, personal and political attacks
both he and his family are made to endure.
WHAT I AM � is a human being, full of numerous faults
and failures, but a man nonetheless, who, though not always successful, has
continually strived to do �what�s right� instead of �what�s easy�. A man who is
challenging the religious leaders of all faiths, to not only preach to their
congregations the fundamentals of �what�s right� and �what�s wrong�, but to also
then hold them accountable for their actions in both the public and private
sectors.
WHAT I AM � is
disgusted with the Courts who, on one hand, call the murder of a pregnant woman
a �double homicide� but then refer to the abortion of her baby as,
�pro-choice�.
WHAT I AM �
is someone deeply troubled by a political party which embraces a candidate whose
primary �leadership� qualities center around his protesting of the Vietnam war
and his labeling the honorable men and women who fought in it, (50,000 of whom
gave their lives in that action), as rapists, and war criminals. That same
political party then stepped forward this year to block the appearance of a true
Vietnam war hero, retired Admiral and former United States Senator, Jeremiah
Denton, (a man who spent seven years and seven torturous months in a North
Vietnam prison), from speaking before an open session of the California
legislature as part of that state�s 4th of July celebration. The reason
Democrats gave for refusing to allow this American hero to speak before their
state legislature was because of the �conservative� nature of his views. As an
American, that troubles me deeply �.as well it should
you.
WHAT I AM � is a man
who feels the need to spend, $104, 655.60,(tax paid) of his own money, to
purchase this advertisement, in order to set the story straight. Some may say
this money would have been better spent feeding the world�s poor. At the risk of
sounding self-serving, as an American and as a Republican, for the last six
decades of my life, I have done exactly that� and more. Following the examples
of my parents and grand parents, I have used my earnings to feed the poor,
shelter the homeless, provide housing for the elderly and medical care for the
sick�.. and continue to do so� and I�m not alone in that
work.
WHAT I AM � is
someone who is paying for this announcement, at my sole expense, in hopes of
opening the eyes of those led blindly by ill-informed elements of our great
nation, who, through either ignorance, or malicious intent, repeatedly attack
and belittle those of us who belong to a political party that holds true to the
belief, �� the rights of the governed, exceed the power of the government�. For
those interested, I am speaking only as a tax-paying individual who is in no way
associated with The Republican National Committee, nor with any of its
directors, or delegates.
WHAT I AM � is a man who understands, �the American
way of life� is a message of self-empowerment for all.
WHAT I AM � is an American
who is grateful that our nation gives each of us the opportunity of
self-determination and the right to benefit from the fruits of self
achievement.
WHAT I AM � is
an American who wants to preserve that way of life for all who seek
it.
WHAT I AM � is blessed
to be an American�. and proud to be
Republican.
George
J. Esseff, Sr.
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
For
a free reprint of this �Open Letter,� go to www.whatiam.net
