KCTS Channel 9 will telecast on Wednesday, Oct. 25, the film “My Country, My Country!” In this movie, filmmaker Laura Poitras portrays the trials of a Sunni family in Iraq with whom she lived for several months. I have seen excerpts from this film, which poignantly portrays the difficulties and dangers of daily life in Iraq, something our politicians don’t generally talk about.

In a similar vein, I don’t think the Bush administration is in “sync” with the trials and frustrations that the average American family experiences either. This is one reason I am excited at the prospect of electing Darcy Burner as our 8th District Representative to Congress. Rather than staying the course and voting with the Bush administration (when the votes really counted) as our current representative usually does, I think Ms. Burner would be able to “think outside the box” in searching for a viable way to bring our troops home from Iraq without worsening the already desperate plight of the average Iraqi family.

Darcy’s election and that of others with similar philosophies would enable the new Congress to place more emphasis on issues that are of daily concern to those of us living in the Snoqualmie Valley and in towns and cities throughout our country – the cost of higher education; the development of new energy resources so gasoline costs are less volatile; the reform of Social Security without privatization; an emphasis on securer ports and national infrastructure and a Congress that will truly help the nation come together by working on issues that affect all of our futures, rather than wedge issues that divide us.

These tough, complicated issues take someone with a quick mind and a compassionate heart. I think Darcy Burner has an abundance of these qualities. She’s someone who really sees the difficulties that America and Americans are going through and is willing to work toward a better reality. That’s why I’m excited to be voting for her as my representative in Congress. I hope you will, too.

Mary Brown

North Bend