In spite of eight years of appalling Republican leadership ...

And in spite of a Republican campaign bereft of any hope of cleaning up the unbelievable, worldwide financial mess they have made with their “unregulated capitalism” and “deficits don’t matter” and their spendthrift attitude ...

And in spite of leading the world’s richest country into bankruptcy and piling up trillions of dollars of debt and turning our capitalist economy into a socialist financial system as soon as they got into trouble (and Sen. Jim Inhofe sat right there and let it happen) ...

And in spite of their mismanaged and unaffordable war ...

And in spite of conducting the most negative Republican campaign in memory ... those plucky Republicans fought on as though winning would erase their guilt and cleanse the unholy alliance between sincere Christians and the corruption of Wall Street.

Deny it if you will, but they have placed America in a situation our country conceivably may not be able to survive as a democratic republic. Still, Republicans insulted the American people by asking for re-election and our continued support. It will be hard enough to clean up the damage they have already done without letting them do more.

And don’t complain to me about taxes. When debt gets this high, they must be repaid, if that is even possible. America indebted itself, and Americans will pay for their waste. Bush said, “Go out and shop.”

Now it is either raise taxes or inflate the value out of the dollar. Which is worse?

Fred Gibson

Tahlequah