Questioning Our Motives
By EMILIE HANNON

December 3, 2003

Dear Editor,

      Several recent letters have questioned the motives of my husband, Sean Hannon’s letters.  I think it is time to make them clear.  We believe, as his opponents profess to (and they seem to have become HIS opponents, and not simply opponents of his ideas), that the United States is the greatest country in the world because of its form of government.  One of the basic tenets of this government is that the people are responsible.  We are the government.  It is our responsibility to make it the best government it can be, not just by voting, but by speaking out when we believe it is on the wrong path.

      The question was raised about where our outrage is at wrongs done by other nations and leaders.  It is there believe me.  But what Castro does, I am not part of.  What Arafat does I am not part of.  I am part of the detention of people at Guantanamo Bay.  I believe my country should treat people fairly.  If they have evidence these people are terrorists, charge them.  At least treat them with basic human decency.  I do not wish to be party to legalistic evasions of the Geneva Convention, so I speak out and tell my representatives to stop it.

      I do not wish to be part of telling the world that if any country thinks it is threatened by its neighbor it is okay to attack them.  As leaders of the free world we lead by example and that is what we have taught.  You bet I’m going to speak out about it.

      I do not wish my country to support unaccountable despots, as they supported the Shah of Iran, Saddam Hussein (pre 1990) and Ferdinand Marcos.  I think it undermines our moral authority and makes the world question our motives.  You bet I’m going to remind people that we did it, so we won’t do it again.

      I do not wish to lose my liberties, so I tell my representatives to return to me the right to have my medical records and library records kept private.  I tell them to repeal the Patriot Act so that the FBI cannot, as it can now, secretly search my house simply because they tell a judge that they think I might be linked to a terrorist investigation and he is required to give them a secret warrant.  And you bet I try to tell everyone else that this is going on, assuming that they, like I, will be outraged at these infringements on our liberty.

      I believe, along with our state’s Attorney General, that the President’s proposed energy bill is a blatant give away to special interests that would devastate our environment.  I will speak out against this President’s destructive environmental policies whenever I have the opportunity.

      So, these are our motives, for those of you who question them.  We want to preserve our freedom.  We want to preserve our environment.  We want to make our country safe and secure.  We want the United States to lead the world, not just because we are the strongest, but because we have the moral authority to do so.  We expect to disagree on how these things are accomplished, but questioning our motives and implying that we do not love and appreciate our country is simply wrong.