In 2004, The Lone Star Iconoclast published an editorial that literally rocked the world. It consisted of a presidential endorsement of John Kerry with a negative critique of the first George W. Bush administration. The newspaper was published in Crawford, Texas, home of then-President Bush.

The result was — on one end — a massive boycott, threats, and attempts to uproot the publication. On the other end was praise and new subscribers who felt that the honesty portrayed in the editorial was genuine and needed.

The editorial was picked up in daily newspapers worldwide, on Internet blogs, on television and radio networks, in magazines, and elsewhere. Reporters from nearly every country poured into the Iconoclast office to interview the editors. The Iconoclast website went down several times over several days because of the enormous amount of traffic, so additional sites carried the editorial to keep it available for the public to read and contemplate.

This massive worldwide readership for a single editorial put it in league with the yearly favorite “Yes Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus” written in the 1800s. That particular editorial was actually entitled “Is There a Santa Claus?” It appeared in the Sept. 21, 1897 edition of The New York Sun, as written by Francis Pharcellus Church. It is annually republished during the Christmas holidays and will probably never be surpassed for its single-editorial readership.

The Iconoclast editorial, co-written by W. Leon Smith, Don M. Fisher, and Nathan Diebenow, appears below; but, first here is a smattering of a few of the thousands of e-mail comments (pro and con) received by the Iconoclast upon running the editorial:

“You sir, are a dunderhead.”

H.H.

“Your endorsement of John Kerry took guts. You should be commended for placing the well being of the United States over geographical or political allegiances.”

B.F.

“Awesome!! The only word to describe your editorial endorsing Kerry. Reading it helped to restore my faith that good sense just might prevail. “Thank God for your courageous stand!!!”

L.B.

“Good for you! You are on the AP wire section of the NY Times website.”

A.L.

“Obviously you must have studied journalism in school as no other curriculum could produce such an idiot who writes that the President is responsible for high oil prices. Have you ever heard of the free market and supply and demand?”

F.B.O.

“Great endorsement with W practicing debating and swaggering just down the road! I hear W couldn’t walk a country mile without stepping in a prairie dog hole, much less coordinate to windsurf or downhill ski. Wouldn’t it be great if Kerry and Bush would just compete in some kind of a special decathalon to decide the next President instead of having to endure the general media torture as backdrop to our increasingly dysfunctional electoral democracy!?! One can only hope for an iconoclasm.”

D.L.

“As the daughter of a “‘straight shooting” Texas father, let me thank you! Thank you for displaying the kind of values I was brought up with when you spell out why you will not support George Bush for another term. “My father has very simple beliefs-no lying, no cheating, no stealing-no exceptions. George Bush isn’t fit to shine my Dad’s workin boots!  “Thank you for your assessment of ole “all hat, no cattle” G.W. Bush!”

M.R.H.

“Eat dirt and die!!!!”

P.D.

“Your newspaper is a joke. No one cares what your editorial board thinks or writes. You liberal dumbasses are a disgrace to Texas.”

E.S.

“I encourage you to boycott The weekly Lone Star Iconoclast in as much as your advertising and or purchasing or subscriptions of the paper.  Out here in Wyoming we honor our President and the Vice-President and after reading about The Lone Star Iconoclast smearing our president and giving comfort and aid to the traitor John Kerry I decided to see if Texans in Crawford felt the same as your local paper.  If not please encourage your fellow businessmen to follow your example and protest by pulling your advertising.”

G.S.

“I want to say,  what courage you have!!  To put your ethics and morals, above your corporate interests is an example to us all.  Not just Democrats, but Independents and even open-minded Republicans thank you. Know that the Republicans have a network, called Freerepublic.com,  where they email their entire membership to send hate mail, so you are on the receiving end of their tactics.  For every one of them, there are 100 of us who admire you and wish you well. Sorry I had to send email via this address, but your website is too busy to let one through. Thank you again.You have my respect,”

P.B.

“As a citizen of Crawford, I would like to congratulate Leon on his courage.  I applaud his editorial, partly because I agree with him, but even more, because he has exercised his freedom in a way that all of us should.  Those who disagree should rise above their petty, local interests and think about the larger issues that are involved.  Right on, Leon!

M.M.

“It takes guts to make an unpopular stance in a small town—particularly if you are the local newspaper that depends on local advertisers for your livelihood and existence. I want you to know that people all over the country—and the world–applaud you for your courage.”

J.A.B.

“Congratulations…. . not only for your endorsement of John Kerry but for an excellent article, well thought out and well written. Who would have expected such thoughtful analysis from a small town paper – in Texas of all places? The big media should bow their heads in shame. Good for you!!

S.M.O.

“Just saw on CNN.com that you’ve endorsed Kerry for president. You’re taking on a brave fight, standing for your principles in the heart of Bush country. Good for you. It’s comforting to know that journalists somewhere still know that presses run on integrity and courage.”

H.W.

“Take it from a fellow publisher and 30 year veteran technology journalist who is also based in Texas. (In the Hill Country). That was very brave and excellent journalism. Keep up the great work.”

J.A.M.

“Sorry to hear that your advertisers are catching heat. But that is also free speech at work. You wanted some publicity and you got it. Deal with the consequences. We can all vote with our feet and wallets.”

N.J.

“Thank you.  Thank you.  You tell it like it is …you represent your industry the way it used to be..unafraid to follow the pack…wish you would buy out our local newspaper!”

K.M.

“Adios, bye-bye, see-ya……………….. Glad to see you will be out of business soon.”

K.C.

“Your paper wrote one of the most powerful and timely editorials I have ever read.  I’m sorry for the consternation this is causing you in Crawford but please take solace in the fact that you came down on the right side of history. I am dreading what I will tell my children when they ask me why we let this happen on our watch.  Thankfully, there are heroes such as yourselves that keep us fighting. You have my utmost respect and admiration.  Thank you.”

M.M.

“Nothing like the free market to determine who lives and who dies!”

J.O.

“Nice to see someone who has the stones to stand up to this guy in his own backyard. Bravo, Lone Star Iconoclast!”

C.R.

“The article you wrote about President Bush is terribly flawed. I am not going to answer each of your complaints, but I will address one of them just for an example. A company that sends thousands of jobs overseas does so so the company can survive. With a work force of say: forty-thousand people, a company may send ten-thousand of those jobs overseas so that the company doesn’t have to shut down, leaving the other thirty-thousand employees still drawing a salary. I bet you don’t have the integrity to run this e-mail or the attached article.”

D.B.

“I applaud you actions on behalf of the nation.  The direction we are going with the Bush Administration is likely to place our country into a third world situation in the not to distant future.  I see a country much like Mexico with an upper class and a lower class – and not much of a middle class.  Money is likely to flow to the best return on investment like it does in Mexico which will not be in the native country.  Thank you for standing up for my children and my children’s children.”

M.L.

“Your editorial renouncing your previous endorsement of Mister Bush is reaching far and wide in journalistic and other circles. Given the moral courage and integrity it took to write it so, that dissemination is resonantly proper. I cannot begin to imagine the repercussions this may have for you and your paper, sir. I would expect you will be hounded, driven from your position, and most advertisers thereabouts will suddenly desert you. The only solace I can offer to you is to tell you that persons of integrity, far and wide, will always have undying respect and admiration for what you have done. I wish you Godspeed, and confusion unto those who now believe in their shallow, vindictive minds, you are their ‘enemy.’ Highest Regards,”

B.A.T.

“Your editorial was the worst excuse for dribble that I have ever read.  I can’t believe you would use as your website header that you are the home for George Bush and follow with the trash you wrote.  Among other of your topics, your discussion about Social Security is your usual four year scare tatic, that has been used for years.  The other items mention are all invalid and you know it.  Why don’t you move to Iraq and set up shop and maybe you might get a clue.”

R.C.M.

“You must be the biggest idiot newspaper in the whole country!!!”

B.H.G.

“This country was built by people who spoke and acted for the greater good against tremendous odds.  Thanks for following in the footsteps of our Founders.”

J.S.

“Thank you thank you thank you !!! A ray of hope to those of us who a re living a dejavu experience ! From the German Enabling Act of 1933 aka Patriot Act  copied almost verbatim by Karl Roevere, sorry Rove, (You can google the German enabling act of 1933 ) from the burning of the Reichstag to the Trade Towers, from the Homeland Security…HOMELAND of course HEIMATLAND so much warmer and fuzzier then “Country” on and on. Wake up America !!! I have already seen some of the papers criticizing you….You stepped on a hornets nest I think. Keep it up !!!!”

F.B.

“With the loss of the Sears and Wards catalogues, and since I plan to go back to my roots, I will find your paper useful. I can read and laugh and clean up in three stages. Thanks for providing materials useful for three operations. Few papers offer as much.”

J.G.

“Hey there………. Just read your editorial (via the New York Times) endorsing John Kerry.  Support you whole heartedly!!! Please send your rates for mailed subscriptions.  I live in Tyler,  (East Texas, the heart of the Bible belt and a den of radical Reps. and it seems your paper might be a breath of fresh air. Thanks…….

S.R.

“Mr. W. Leon Smith, You are a brave sole. Thank GOD! Respectfully,”

J.F.

“Sold your soul to the devil.”

R.G.

“Hello, I am writing to you from Los Angeles, California. I have never written to a newspaper before, but I just had to let you know that your open letter regarding Mr. Bush was like a light at the end of a tunnel. The publishers of the Iconoclast are my heroes! What nerve and true patriotism you showed in publishing your endorsement for John Kerry. Bravo. I was losing hope but then you came along and wrote down everything that has been shockingly ignored by the media and the general public. In these scary times where the media is afraid to speak out and where there is no healthy dissent, you declare for all to see, the words that we dare not speak. You are truly a wonder and a beacon to Democracy and truth. Thank you.”

A.M.

You are IDIOTS!!!  I hope you rot in HELL for such shamefull tactics!!!!

F.W.

“Man, you have a fantastic set of cahones (sp?). It makes me smile but I hope the fire storm from your red-necked neighbors doesn’t hurt badly.”

J.A.

“Your paper needs to be delivered to all the outdoor shit houses in Crawford.”

K.A.S.

“Watch out for the flyswatter!!!”

C.M.R.

“Your eloquent and expert comments should be read by everyone from sea to shining sea…I have yet to see a commentary which has been better expressed as yours. Congratulations!”

T.L.

“Some ask… ‘Where is the village Idiot???…the village idiot runs a newspaper…you knucklehead.”

K.M.

“It’s wonderful to see David standing up to Goliath and serving the truth instead of the special interests. Your editorial is all over the Internet, and I am asking for permission to print it out and pass it around to my friends and neighbors.”

J.B.

“I can’t believe your paper doesn’t support one of you home town people George W. Bush. I hope you get your belly full of that Liar John Kerry Flipper. Hope you paper goes belly up.

G.K.R.

“Thank you for the editorial you have written and the chance — via the web — to be able to read it here in France. You achieve many things through having written this. Among those is restoring my faith in the good judgment of so many Texans.”

T.M.

“Get out of Texas! That’s what I would love to tell your paper. You disgust me and I hope that your joke of a journalistic entity goes belly up. Endorsing a shell of a candidate instead of your home town’s greatest living man is sickening. I live in Houston and I know how ashamed you have made the residents of Crawford. Shut your horrible operation down and save yourself some face.”

J.T.

“By speaking the truth and taking the very brave stand of endorsing John Kerry for president, you have become one of my few true heroes.  My late father was in the D-Day invasion.  He fought to preserve our democracy.  I fear that if George Bush is in office for another four years, the very foundations of our democracy will be threatened as they never have been before.  Thank you for displaying the cajones that are sadly lacking in the vast majority of our mainstream media. Respectfully yours,”

B.N.

“George W Bush has presevered, doing what is necessary rather than what is popular.  The Afghan people undoubtedly blessed him this week as they voted for their first freely elected president.  I am sure the Iraqi people feel the same, and will openly demonstrate this as they move toward democracy.  Social Security trust fund.  I think the president puts forth a good argument about letting people have a say in a portion of what they invest.  I would say that historically, the stock market has by far, outperformed, the lackluster simple interest maybe, performance of social security as an investment. You should be ashamed of yourselves.

W.S.B.

“We in the Marines have an expression that is the highest praise that can be given.  ‘WELL DONE.”  You can hold your heads high and be proud that you wrote what had to be written….Not what the people wanted to hear.  God Bless.”

D.D.

“I hope all your advertisers pull from your paper, so you can see how big of an idiot you really are……dumbasses.”

M.J.

“Have read (and forwarded) your editorial and fervently hope that it makes a difference; I’m not afraid of terrorists; I’m afraid of those in this land going through my pockets and looking in my windows.”

J.B.

“I guess, from reports of your lost advertising revenue, you never learned what I figured all Texan’s knew from about age five….don’t shit where y’eat.”

K.M.

“Thank you for your strong and gutsy stand against President George Bush.  I have read your editorial which was reprinted in the The Denver Post and I am convinced there are many of us around the country who agree with just about everything you’ve said. Today the Press is often intimidated into nothing but a fan club for this administration because of the pressures on those who speak out against them. You have restored my faith in democracy by risking the support of your advertisers in order to tell the truth.  I commend you!

S.M.

“You have shown that you are nothing but a los-life leftist supporter of treasonous collaborating lying scum.  you are nothing but a dirty toilet licking, pig feces eating, limp wrist, lace panty wearing, tampax using fudge packing scumbag propagandist traitor, who like that vile reprehensible kommie ketchupboy kerry, should be strun up by the testicles and beaten by all true american citizens with steel rods. Eat shit and die you scum vermin faggot democRAT asslicker.

M.C.

“Tell that fat-fuck Leon Smith that he is probably single handedly going to bring your liberal-rag too an end. At least many people do. Good job, losers.”

T.S.

“I say, you should be hung, tarred, and feathered.”

K.W.

“We have called our friends and we will rally with them against your endorsement of Kerry. We will also start as soon as possible of boycotting all those who advertise within your paper!! You and your paper is a disgrace to us locals and we will see that you pay dearly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

D.P.

“We ran across a link to your paper’s recent editorial outlining the downward spiral of our great country since President Bush took office and wanted to let you know that it is one of the most cogent, comprehensive, well-supported arguments we have seen. You have basically taken the increasingly uneasy feelings of many, many people and given them language, language so powerful it cannot be ignored.”

J.L.B.

Now, the editorial:

Kerry Will Restore

American Dignity

 2004 Iconoclast Presidential Endorsement

Few Americans would have voted for George W. Bush four years ago if he had promised that, as President, he would:

• Empty the Social Security trust fund by $507 billion to help offset fiscal irresponsibility and at the same time slash Social Security benefits.

• Cut Medicare by 17 percent and reduce veterans’ benefits and military pay.

• Eliminate overtime pay for millions of Americans and raise oil prices by 50 percent.

• Give tax cuts to businesses that sent American jobs overseas, and, in fact, by policy encourage their departure.

• Give away billions of tax dollars in government contracts without competitive bids.

• Involve this country in a deadly and highly questionable war, and

• Take a budget surplus and turn it into the worst deficit in the history of the United States, creating a debt in just four years that will take generations to repay.

These were elements of a hidden agenda that surfaced only after he took office.

The publishers of The Iconoclast endorsed Bush four years ago, based on the things he promised, not on this smoke-screened agenda.

Today, we are endorsing his opponent, John Kerry, based not only on the things that Bush has delivered, but also on the vision of a return to normality that Kerry says our country needs.

Four items trouble us the most about the Bush administration: his initiatives to disable the Social Security system, the deteriorating state of the American economy, a dangerous shift away from the basic freedoms established by our founding fathers, and his continuous mistakes regarding terrorism and Iraq.

President Bush has announced plans to change the Social Security system as we know it by privatizing it, which when considering all the tangents related to such a change, would put the entire economy in a dramatic tailspin.

The Social Security Trust Fund actually lends money to the rest of the government in exchange for government bonds, which is how the system must work by law, but how do you later repay Social Security while you are running a huge deficit? It’s impossible, without raising taxes sometime in the future or becoming fiscally responsible now. Social Security money is being used to escalate our deficit and, at the same time, mask a much larger government deficit, instead of paying down the national debt, which would be a proper use, to guarantee a future gain.

Privatization is problematic in that it would subject Social Security to the ups, downs, and outright crashes of the Stock Market. It would take millions in brokerage fees and commissions out of the system, and, unless we have assurance that the Ivan Boeskys and Ken Lays of the world will be caught and punished as a deterrent, subject both the Market and the Social Security Fund to fraud and market manipulation, not to mention devastate and ruin multitudes of American families that would find their lives lost to starvation, shame, and isolation.

Kerry wants to keep Social Security, which each of us already owns. He says that the program is manageable, since it is projected to be solvent through 2042, with use of its trust funds. This would give ample time to strengthen the economy, reduce the budget deficit the Bush administration has created, and, therefore, bolster the program as needed to fit ever-changing demographics.

Our senior citizens depend upon Social Security. Bush’s answer is radical and uncalled for, and would result in chaos as Americans have never experienced. Do we really want to risk the future of Social Security on Bush by spinning the wheel of uncertainty?

In those dark hours after the World Trade Center attacks, Americans rallied together with a new sense of patriotism. We were ready to follow Bush’s lead through any travail.

He let us down.

When he finally emerged from his hide-outs on remote military bases well after the first crucial hours following the attack, he gave sound-bytes instead of solutions.

He did not trust us to be ready to sacrifice, build up our public and private security infrastructure, or cut down on our energy use to put economic pressure on the enemy in all the nations where he hides. He merely told us to shop, spend, and pretend nothing was wrong.

Rather than using the billions of dollars expended on the invasion of Iraq to shore up our boundaries and go after Osama bin Laden and the Saudi Arabian terrorists, the funds were used to initiate a war with what Bush called a more immediate menace, Saddam Hussein, in oil-rich Iraq. After all, Bush said Iraq had weapons of mass destruction trained on America. We believed him, just as we believed it when he reported that Iraq was the heart of terrorism. We trusted him.

The Iconoclast, the President’s hometown newspaper, took Bush on his word and editorialized in favor of the invasion. The newspaper’s publisher promoted Bush and the invasion of Iraq to Londoners in a BBC interview during the time that the administration was wooing the support of Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Again, he let us down.

We presumed the President had solid proof of the existence of these weapons, what and where they were, even as the search continued. Otherwise, our troops would be in much greater danger and the premise for a hurried-up invasion would be moot, allowing more time to solicit assistance from our allies.

Instead we were duped into following yet another privileged agenda.

Now he argues unconvincingly that Iraq was providing safe harbor to terrorists, his new key justification for the invasion. It is like arguing that America provided safe harbor to terrorists leading to 9/11.

Once and for all, George Bush was President of the United States on that day. No one else. He had been President nine months, he had been officially warned of just such an attack a full month before it happened. As President, ultimately he and only he was responsible for our failure to avert those attacks.

We should expect that a sitting President would vacation less, if at all, and instead tend to the business of running the country, especially if he is, as he likes to boast, a “wartime president.” America is in service 365 days a year. We don’t need a part-time President who does not show up for duty as Commander-In-Chief until he is forced to, and who is in a constant state of blameless denial when things don’t get done.

What has evolved from the virtual go-it-alone conquest of Iraq is more gruesome than a stain on a White House intern’s dress. America’s reputation and influence in the world has diminished, leaving us with brute force as our most persuasive voice.

Iraq is now a quagmire: no WMDs, no substantive link between Saddam and Osama, and no workable plan for the withdrawal of our troops. We are asked to go along on faith. But remember, blind patriotism can be a dangerous thing and “spin” will not bring back to life a dead soldier; certainly not a thousand of them.

Kerry has remained true to his vote granting the President the authority to use the threat of war to intimidate Saddam Hussein into allowing weapons inspections. He believes President Bush rushed into war before the inspectors finished their jobs.

Kerry also voted against President Bush’s $87 billion for troop funding because the bill promoted poor policy in Iraq, privileged Halliburton and other corporate friends of the Bush administration to profiteer from the war, and forced debt upon future generations of Americans.

Kerry’s four-point plan for Iraq is realistic, wise, strong, and correct. With the help from our European and Middle Eastern allies, his plan is to train Iraqi security forces, involve Iraqis in their rebuilding and constitution-writing processes, forgive Iraq’s multi-billion dollar debts, and convene a regional conference with Iraq’s neighbors in order to secure a pledge of respect for Iraq’s borders and non-interference in Iraq’s internal affairs.

The publishers of the Iconoclast differ with Bush on other issues, including the denial of stem cell research, shortchanging veterans’ entitlements, cutting school programs and grants, dictating what our children learn through a thought-controlling “test” from Washington rather than allowing local school boards and parents to decide how young people should be taught, ignoring the environment, and creating extraneous language in the Patriot Act that removes some of the very freedoms that our founding fathers and generations of soldiers fought so hard to preserve.

We are concerned about the vast exportation of jobs to other countries, due in large part to policies carried out by Bush appointees. Funds previously geared at retention of small companies are being given to larger concerns, such as Halliburton — companies with strong ties to oil and gas. Job training has been cut every year that Bush has resided at the White House.

Then there is his resolve to inadequately finance Homeland Security and to cut the Community Oriented Policing Program (COPS) by 94 percent, to reduce money for rural development, to slash appropriations for the Small Business Administration, and to under-fund veterans’ programs.

Likewise troubling is that President Bush fought against the creation of the 9/11 Commission and is yet to embrace its recommendations.

Vice President Cheney’s Halliburton has been awarded multi-billion-dollar contracts without undergoing any meaningful bid process — an enormous conflict of interest — plus the company has been significantly raiding the funds of Export-Import Bank of America, reducing investment that could have gone toward small business trade.

When examined based on all the facts, Kerry’s voting record is enviable and echoes that of many Bush allies who are aghast at how the Bush administration has destroyed the American economy. Compared to Bush on economic issues, Kerry would be an arch-conservative, providing for Americans first. He has what it takes to right our wronged economy.

The re-election of George W. Bush would be a mandate to continue on our present course of chaos. We cannot afford to double the debt that we already have. We need to be moving in the opposite direction.

John Kerry has 30 years of experience looking out for the American people and can navigate our country back to prosperity and re-instill in America the dignity she so craves and deserves. He has served us well as a highly decorated Vietnam veteran and has had a successful career as a district attorney, lieutenant governor, and senator.

Kerry has a positive vision for America, plus the proven intelligence, good sense, and guts to make it happen.

That’s why The Iconoclast urges Texans not to rate the candidate by his hometown or even his political party, but instead by where he intends to take the country.

The Iconoclast wholeheartedly endorses John Kerry.

— Written By W. Leon Smith, Don M. Fisher, Nathan Diebenow