I've done some different writing over the past two days.

I wrote a letter to the editor of the Seattle Times yesterday in response to an editorial they published. Their editorial expressed opposition to the estate tax, or as they insist on calling it, the "death tax."

I got a response saying they wanted to publish my letter, but it was too long. They asked if I could edit it down.

This is the final version:

Dear Editor,

Your editorial, "A death-tax rate we can live with" is misguided and disappointing. The estate tax is among our fairest and most progressive taxes.

Theodore Roosevelt, the Republican President who proposed the estate tax, said, "The man of great wealth owes a peculiar obligation to the State because he derives special advantages from the mere existence of government." Wealthy business owners in this nation earn their fortunes thanks to people who are educated in American schools, who drive to work on American highways, and who are nourished by the products of federally-subsidized farms.

The estate tax enables those who have benefitted most from the services our government provides to pay back some of that debt when they die.

You suggest that the estate tax is a punishment to the inheritors of wealthy businesses. But those who inherit vast wealth should have no grievance when they accept their bounty minus a large percentage to repay the nation that made their wealth possible.

The greatest benefit our nation achieves by aggressively taxing large estates is to prevent our political, social, and economic life from being dominated by upper-class families who pass their large fortunes down to each succeeding generation. The estate tax helps preserve the American way of life.

Then today, after hearing about the upcoming vote in the US Senate on the flag burning amendment, I wrote to Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell.

Dear Senator ________:

I'm writing with regard to the Amendment to outlaw burning the American flag. Please do all you can to prevent this desecration of our Constitution from taking place.

What makes the flag a powerful symbol is the very fact that we can legally burn it if we choose to--and we choose not to. To take away that right is to weaken the symbol.

The Bush administration and his supporters in Congress have already attempted to steal the flag from us. They have tried to make it a symbol of support for this misguided war they are fighting in Iraq. John Kerry, in his speech at the Democratic Convention last year, reminded us that it's our flag too.

Please don't let them take it away from us.

Thank you.

I feel that it's important to be involved in the political fight to save our country. This is my small way of doing it. I'm going to try to do more. I've also signed up to volunteer to work on Maria Cantwell's reelection campaign. The Republicans are going to make her a target, and I feel compelled to pitch in and help her.