Faith should have stayed constant

I should have had more faith

Six months ago I wrote a letter disagreeing with two "articles" in the Bee encouraging folks whom "hate Bush" to attend functions in Sandpoint. I pointed out that Idaho was supposed to he too great to hate." In the letter I suggested that hate was wrong regardless of one's political feelings. I also predicted that Bush would win because he is the better man. I had faith my guy would win.

In the months leading to the election, I began to lose faith. The mainstream press was giving Kerry a pass on all his weak points. He admitted to being a war criminal. His "position" on taking both sides of every issue. His smooth presentation void of truth, etc. Then we find in Ohio, Peter Pan registered to vote. Many precincts had more registered voters then legal citizens. One Democrat bragged to a reporter that he had registered more than 100 times.

Republican offices throughout the United States (including Sandpoint) were burglarized or sacked. Then Hollywood liberal fanatics weighed in — Barbara Streisand, Robert Redford, Larry Flint, Howard Stern, Ben Affleck, the list goes on. Locally, we had Carole King weighing in for Kerry.

Of course Kerry never had a chance in Idaho. I felt bad for the local girl whose dad paid her $1 for each Bush sign she stole. It smacks of George Soros on a lesser level. George had deeper pockets though and supplied the funding for endless lies played repeatedly in the swing states. He also supplied paid helpers to get out the vote. He was hoping he could buy the election for Kerry since his wife evidently could not purchase it for him.

The print press (including the Bee) were also supporting Kerry. I began to lose faith. Could the most important election in my life time be bought or stolen? Would Move On work. The press could give Kerry a 15-point advantage in an election that was predicted to be close. What about Hollywood? By Nov. 2, I was very frightened. I then heard P. Diddy on television say "we made history today." Then the exit poles predicted a big Kerry advantage in many swing states. We saw high fives at the DNC and in Boston they were starting to celebrate. We had MTV "rocking the vote." We had BTV "rapping the vote."

On the afternoon of Nov. 2, the Kerry folks were getting giddy. The only problem as no votes had vet been counted. I stayed up until 2 a.m. After the actual legitimate votes were counted, the party in Boston was quiet as a graveyard. The next day the Bee's publisher reported "democracy won."

Fair enough, but so did George W. Bush. A historic win not seen since Johnson. The Republicans also picked up four seats in the Senate, something not even Rush Limbaugh predicted. We also picked up seats in the House. In the end, I realized I should have had more faith. More faith in God, the American citizen, George W. Bush and our party.

CARL OLDING

Hope