As you may recall [New York Sun, “Living in a Closet,” September 8, 2004], I’ll be voting at my Upper West Side polling station for President Bush on November 2.And as we all found out from the response to that earlier piece, it appears I will not be alone [New York Sun, Letters, September 15].I was heartened to read the many articulate writers out there who argued with facts and common sense to make their points, sometimes with wit and humor, and dispensed with knee-jerk jingoism. Thank you for that. Since that piece, an e-mail from one of my siblings compared me to a Nazi and told me that our grandparents, who have been dead for more than three decades, would hate what I wrote.

Yesterday, I went into a card shop on Broadway near Columbia that contained a display of buttons and those refrigerator magnets that compare Mr. Bush to, among other things, monkeys and pigs. And on Monday morning, I heard another classic: the No. 1 train was delayed and a very loud lady (why are these people always so loud?) blamed not just the president and Governor Pataki but all Republicans for the delay. Honest, I don’t need to make these things up – there is a wealth of material in this city. However, since I couldn’t recall any train delays during the Clinton administration I suppose she had a point.

I wish, now, to extend my earlier thoughts. I am pleased with what the president has said throughout the campaign. I probably would have gone further but realize that if a candidate said what I really wanted to hear, he or she would probably never get elected.

Oh, if only the president had looked at his opponent and then looked directly into the camera during one of those debates and said the following:

“On Friday, January 21, 2005, the day after my second inauguration, I intend to push for the following measures:

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  We are at war. It is not a war on terrorism. It is a vicious war against Islamic fundamentalism. Although some may, I don’t need another attack on our shores that will devastate another 3,000 families or more next time to remind me of this fact. Accordingly, I will continue to prosecute this war using EVERY means necessary.



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  I will continue to take this war to the enemy. That may mean North Korea and Iran as well. I hope these people come to their senses but I am not optimistic.



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  It would be nice to have a broad coalition in this endeavor. But I am prepared to go it alone if necessary. The people of Europe didn’t “get it” in the 1930s until they suddenly found their local affairs directed by German-speaking overseers. If they haven’t learned anything from that experience, I’m not going to waste my time teaching them now. One more time, folks, this is a war, not a game.



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  Accordingly, I will ask for the reinstatement of the draft for all 18-year-olds in this country for compulsory service of a period of two years. There will be no deferments and this will include both men and women. Eighteen-year-olds will have three choices: military service, homeland security, which will include immigration work, or national service, which would include working in schools and assisting local police departments, writing tickets, and directing traffic, thus freeing up police officers to concentrate on everything else. It is fundamentally unfair for us to rely on a small fraction of our population to carry the water – everyone must contribute.



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  I will instate a large federal tax on every gallon of gasoline, which will serve three functions: (1) it will push all consumers to use less gas, (2) it will push Detroit to once and for all make more fuel-efficient vehicles and (3) it will encourage someone out there who wants to make a lot of money to come up with alternatives to oil.



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  With the huge windfall of money from that tax, I will abolish all federal income tax for anyone earning less than $30,000 a year – those who would be hurt most by the gas tax. I will also direct the money to reduce our federal deficit and help pay for the war and the administration of the draft. If, by the way, you don’t like the concept of all this money going to Washington, let me ask you just one question: Would you rather it continue to flow to Riyadh and Tehran?



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  I will continue to fight to abolish the death tax because I don’t think folks who work hard throughout their life and pay their taxes ought to be taxed a second time when they die. Most of these people are earning this to leave something to their children. What kind of message are we sending by penalizing Americans who play by the rules?



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  While we are on the subject of taxes, I will institute a special, one-time only, draconian tax on all billionaires who emigrated from Hungary, made their fortune off currency speculation and, although unelected, tried hard and failed to impose their bizarre views on the rest of us.



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  Before this country sends one more dime to the United Nations, I will demand a full and complete house cleaning. Let’s start at the top. After the multibillion dollar oil-for-food fraud, I want a new secretary-general to replace the one who allowed this to happen under his watch. I want an alleged genocidal killer, Callixte Mbarushimana, not only brought to justice but I want him to stop receiving his U.N. back pay. And I want countries like Algeria, Cuba, Iran, and Zimbabwe off the Commission on Human Rights until they become democracies. This is no longer your father’s U.N.- it’s not the idealistic postwar institution of the late 1940s with a noble mission to feed the starving masses and lead colonized countries to independence. It is, instead, a corrupt, anti-democratic, and hypocritical little social club that lives quite well off other people’s money while it abets dictators and terrorist regimes.



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  Oh, and France? You’re off the Security Council.

Finally, this country has given all of us so many blessings. We have all lived well. We are all fortunate to be Americans. Now we must all rise to the task, as generations have before us, and protect her in this time of great danger.We must do this so we can continue to be what we are – the beacon of freedom and democracy in a troubled world.

We will get through this dark night. We will prevail. The enemy that wants to kill us, an enemy that believes not just in death but megadeath, will not succeed. The only way we can lose this war is if we lose our focus and our faith in ourselves. AND I WILL NOT LET THIS HAPPEN.”

On second thought, I’d bet a candidate who said these things just might get himself elected.