To The Editor:

In Carol Adams’ reply to my column (“Proud to be an American … sort of,” SMN Sept. 5, 2012) she asks “Where have you been been these nearly four years, sir?” I would answer that I’ve been closely watching our government and Congress waste time in gridlock, while the president has been trying to clean up the mess G.W. Bush left this nation. Almost from the day Obama took office, the Republican members of Congress signed a pledge to stall any and everything he tried to accomplish in an effort to make him appear as a “do-nothing” leader.

She decries the efforts of the president’s campaign and PACs that have “thrown everything they can conjure up at Mitt Romney,” conveniently forgetting that Karl Rove, the Koch brothers and Sheldon Adelson’s PACs have spent many millions of dollars smearing the president and his efforts, while offering little in substance and few details as to how they would fix things.

She goes on to present her statistics of how much worse off people are, forgetting that the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy have served to increase the national debt, how deregulation of banks and Wall Street has served to increase poverty and trash many people’s retirements, destroyed home values and sent many families to the financial brink — and shaken Americans’ confidence in our government. Does she really think the president controls the price of gasoline?

As a GOP communications chairman, she has an obligation to promote the party’s message, so rather than an opinion of her own we got a regurgitation of the party line which appears to center around “trash and deride the president, without presenting anything substantive or specific about our candidates.”

I also notice the Bushes are somehow missing throughout this campaign, and I can only wonder why.

I thank Ms. Adams for her comments since I feel it only adds to my position that re-election of our president and dumping the Washington do-nothings is the best choice for America.

John Beckman

Cullowhee