To the editor:

On Thursday morning, my husband and I awoke to find that our anti-Bush sign had been taken; on Sunday morning, we awoke to find that two potted plants were missing from our front porch. While it is possible these events are related merely by coincidence, we don’t believe that. These are cowardly acts of vandalism and petty theft designed to intimidate us and to silence our political voice.

Perhaps those responsible feel they are performing a community service by removing such “unpatriotic” material as political signs and geraniums, but these actions in themselves constitute a lack of both patriotism and common courtesy. It seems that at this moment of war and economic difficulty, we desperately need intelligent discussion about and a critical appraisal of our government’s actions, both positive and negative. Instead, people on both sides of the political spectrum resort to divisiveness, polarization and bullying.

As Democrats, we are angered and saddened by this attack on our home and on our freedom of speech; Republicans, too, should be upset by these scare tactics as they reflect poorly on both the party and on Bush supporters in general. We certainly do not believe that all Republicans or Bush supporters support this sort of approach, but the events of this week are not doing anything to convince us that this is not true. This attack has only made us more resolute in our desire to create political change and to make a case for dialogue.

Kirsten Drickey

and Lupe Ramirez,

Lawrence