A Higher Level Of Discourse

To the Editor:

I think it’s safe to say that on this Tuesday night, no one will be watching the presidential election results with bated breath waiting for the results from Connecticut. Why is that? And, why is it that little, if any, presidential electioneering aside from a few signs here and there goes on over here? Well, judging by the ratio of Kerry-to-Bush support letters The Bee has printed (which I’m assuming reflects the ratio of the actual number submitted), there aren’t many minds to be made up. This is unfortunate for Connecticut, because that combined with our relatively declining population (and loss of Congressional district), makes us less and less significant.

What’s really troubling, though, is that the level of discourse seen in these pages reflects a decided lack of seriousness of thought. Maybe if more of us got our news from sources other than The New York Times, MTV, and Michael Moore movies, we’d be more aware of the serious, thoughtful criticisms of the Iraq war effort and there’d be less of this reflexive, hyperbolic, Bush-bashing rhetoric and overheated quibbling over the minutiae of what was said in the debates.

We in Connecticut need to improve the quality of our debate. A good starting point would be in accepting that the Bush administration had nonsinister motives for invading Iraq. Then, we can move into a debate on their merits. Of course, maybe some people in Connecticut need a bogeyman to fight and will continue chanting the same old tired slogans, but since the rest of the country won’t be taking them seriously, why should we?

Sincerely,

Bruce Terry

64 Robin Hill Road, Newtown                                  October 25, 2004