I am appalled by the imbalance in the points of view that are being published in the Port St. Lucie News "Opinion" section, specifically in the letters to the editor. Recently this section has been filled with the view points of the most extreme right-wing rhetoric that is commonly spewed by the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Bill O'Reilly. Much of these opinions are filled with under cover racism, xenophobia, homophobia, religious intolerance, and extreme right wing nationalistic political views bordering on the bizarre. Most of those who accuse Democrats, progressives, and yes even "liberals" as having "socialist" or "communist" ideas don't even have a basic understanding of these two political philosophies or the differences between them. If they did have this understanding they wouldn't be throwing around such callous remarks.
What these people seem to forget is that 56% of St. Lucie county voted for Obama, as did 51% of the state of Florida, as well as 53% of the nation. According to Gallup, President Bush's approval rating at the end of his term was one of the lowest in modern history at 34% with only Truman and Nixon having lower ratings. His disapproval rating is the second highest at 61%, and only 5% higher than Nixon's. Bush still holds the record for the lowest ever recorded approval rating at 19% (2/16/2008 to 2/19/2008 during the Iraq insurgency). Again, according to Gallup, an average of 36% of Americans identified themselves as Democrats and 28% as Republicans in 2008. That eight-point advantage is the
largest for the Democratic Party since Gallup began regularly conducting its polls by telephone in 1988. Yet, if you pick up a copy of the Port Saint Lucie News and read the letters to the editor you'd think you were living in a world that was headed towards impending doom with the dawn of the Obama administration.
The election results of 2006 and 2008 should have sent a message to the right wing and to the media. The country, its opinions, and its politics have changed and the political ground beneath your feet has shifted. Conservatives and their philosophies have ruled the day for 8 long years and they failed miserably. Get over it, you lost, and it is now our turn to lead the country in a better direction. There is a new majority and it is not the right wing but is instead made up of progressives and moderates who want their country back.
It's a free society and everyone is entitled to their opinion. However, it is high time that the Port Saint Lucie News recognize that not all of us watch Fox News, listen to Rush Limbaugh, or believe the sky is falling now that President Obama has taken office. Many of us watch Keith Olbermann on MSNBC, listen to Air America Radio, read Mother Jones magazine, and most of us think that President Obama has the country headed in the right direction. In fact, in recent polls, President Obama has an incoming approval rating of 79%. That means that most of us are quite happy with him and his ideas, but who could tell by reading the Letters To the Editor?
Joe Goedereis
Port Saint Lucie