Voting is vital, but know what you're voting for

Dear editor:

When I turned 21 years old in 1960 I was a young Airman stationed at Lockbourne AFB, Columbus, Ohio. That was a special age for Americans back then because we finally became adults, we could legally buy alcohol, and most importantly, we were eligible to vote!

I voted in my first presidential election in 1960 and I have voted in every election since. I am not a registered Republican or Democrat and I'm not an independent because that's a guy who greases his own car.

Although I feel some of the elected officials we have in Congress, both federal and state, who claim to be Republicans and Democrats, are really independents. They have their own agendas and, yes, some grease their own cars.

I am an American first and foremost.

Being in the military for 27 years, I guess I was supposed to be a Republican, because history shows that the majority of the military do in fact support Republican presidential candidates. My voting record would indicate that I have voted for the Republican presidential candidates in every election except two, my first in 1960 when I voted for Kennedy and the last one when I voted for President Obama. In all elections I have voted for the people who I thought was the best person for our country. I voted for George W. in his first election and I voted for a write-in on his second run for office. No, I didn't vote for Al Gore! But I did vote. I wrote in my wife's name.

You are probably asking yourself what this old retired chief master sergeant is leading up to or talking about. I remember when the Vietnam conflict was going on and we had a lot of our young Americans heading for Canada rather than serve their country. A civilian asked me at base function if I was offended by them and their reluctance to serve their country. I replied that I did not approve of their actions, but I would defend their right to do it! I took an oath and I believed the words then and I do now.

I also believe all the people who have their own ideas on how to make America better today have every right to their opinions, and since I'm no longer wearing the uniform, I have my rights and can now express my opinions. We will more than likely not agree, but at least we can respectfully agree to disagree.

The truth of the matter is I look at our country today and I get very worried. No, I get scared.

We as a people are so divided in our politics not because the president is a Democrat, but mainly because we have elected an African-American with a funny sounding name and that scares the heck out of a lot of Americans.

The Republican Party that I grew up with has somehow disappeared -- all they want to do now is vote against everything put out by the administration, even if it's good and even if they thought of it! They just want him to fail.

Our representatives from Idaho, including that Democrat, have voted no on nearly all the things put forth by the administration. Yet when the monies they voted against came to Idaho they proudly said "look what I did for you."

The interesting thing is when you track the PAC money they have received and from whom, you have to ask yourself if they are voting for us or the contributors of the money that they received?

Everyone says Nancy Pelosi is not the brightest light bulb in the box, which I wholeheartedly agree with, however the alternate choice for Speaker of the House, John Boehner from Ohio, is the dull bulb that all the other dull bulbs were patterned after.

He says he is a veteran and he is -- he served 8 weeks in the U.S. Navy and was medically discharged under honorable conditions. Yet he will tell you how proudly he served.

He has been in Congress for 20 years and he has been the task master in congress who wants to hinder this administration and America.

Have you listened to what they really want to do, they being the Tea Party Republicans who won their primaries and are running for office in November and the ones who are still in Congress?

Here are a few of the things I have gleamed from the media sources:

(1) Do away with Social Security and privatize it,

(2) Do away with the VA and privatize it.

(3) Do away with Medicare and privatize it.

(4) Do away with the new healthcare and vote in the same program with their name on it.

Bottom line is they really want to take us back to the old ways of George W. Bush. Darn it, I sound like a Democrat.

I'm retired. I'm a veteran. I'm on Social Security and Medicare and their ideas just scare the heck out of me. I would love to go back to the '50s and the '60s as the TEA party folks want to do, but if you remember correctly is was a white America and I sincerely believe the American people of today are smarter than that!

Enough said. God Bless America.

-- Aaron Dicello