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• Saturday, August 23, 2008 07:54 PM

  I'm thrilled with the choice of Biden

  I was an early financial supporter of Biden and would have voted for him if he had still been in the race for California's primary. My differences with Biden are no greater than my differences with Obama and some of the recent positions that he has taken.

  His biggest blemish seems to be the plagerism charge. My understanding is that it was a quote that he frequently used in his speeches with attribution and that they found and highlighted the one time he was captured not attributing the quote. Since plagerism has nothing to do with sex, its hard to imagine how significant it will be. (Although with the apparent intelligence level and ease with which a signicant number of Repug voters can be manipulated, I'm sure they will find some way to equate it to homosexuality or abortion.) This charge seems to me to be very similar to the charge against Gore that he claimed to invent the Internet.

  We think of Obama's determination to not be influenced by special interests as a progressive position. But for Biden, that is business as usual. Obama, with questions about how he got his house, doesn't come close to the standard set by Biden. The reason that I have more assets than Biden (other than my retirement is in a 401k and IRA rather than a pension) is that he has never taken special interest money. Try that for 35 years in the Senate.

  I am willing to have politicians in office that I do not always agree with, provided they are smart, willing to listen to all stakeholders when making a decision, don't have a hidden agenda or are beholden to special interests, and that they have integrity when it comes to "doing what is right".

  I am more concerned with restoring democracy in this country than in any single decision. That means reasserting that politicians serve at the pleasure of citizens, that we are a country of laws, that we are not owned by special interests, that there is accountability in government, that we take back running this country from the contractors who are unaccountable to us, and that we restore integrity to our media.

  I want leaders who will improve our educational system and reteach our citizens that education should not teach someone what to think but rather, how to ask questions and learn and to think for themselves. That listening to multiple points of view and analyzing them is an obligation of a participant in a democratic society and not a sign of weakness and most certainly not an anti-American act.

  I want politicians who will restore quality and integrity to our government agencies with leaders like Joe Wilson and Richard Clarke. How will we get rid of the anti-American, anti-democratic infiltrators and convince skilled people of integrity to join the government.

  I don't know of anything in Biden's background to indicate he would be anything but an asset in meeting the requirements that are most important to me.

  —Pacifica Read Pacifica's other letters
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