A little Dickens in reverse

A very unusual thing happened to me recently. We all remember Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" where Scrooge is a miserly self-centered man with no concern for the less-fortunate people, going as far as to say if they cannot make it "they should just die and decrease the surplus population." He then had a dream in which he was visited by three spirits who convinced him of the errors of his ways. He awoke on Christmas Day a totally changed man, much more concerned with all citizens of his town.

A very similar thing happened to me; however, it was the exact opposite. I used to be a Democrat, concerned with the less fortunate in society. One night I had a dream where I was visited by three visions who appeared to be Glenn Beck, Shawn Hannity and Bill O'Reilly. They convinced me of the errors of my way. They told me instead of being concerned with the less fortunate, I should be much more concerned with myself. I should be against big-spending, Democratic social plans. They also convinced me the billionaires of this country spend way too much on taxes. After all, it is very difficult for them to scrape by on a mere $100 million to $200 million a year or more.

I awoke the following morning a staunch Republican. I realized that liberal big government and big-spending social plans are terrible for our country, and therefore I sent letters to Congress stating we should immediately repeal Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid. After all, these are the largest liberal plans and are also the largest drain on our country's budget. I would suggest all other Republicans stand up for their beliefs and send similar letters to Congress.

Phil Williams

Palatine