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Letter to the editor
As published Feb. 18, 2009
Responding to Feb. 4 Nan’s World
I felt compelled to respond to Ms. Brown's article titled "I Just Don't Get It" in the Feb. 4, 2009 publication of the Mt. Airy Messenger. While I don't disagree with all the assertions she made in her article regarding the state of our country, a few require a response.
Ms. Brown suggests that "Bush Bashers" should pay Mr. Bush some respect simply because he held the office of the President for 8 years. I have the highest respect for the office of the President but it doesn't necessarily follow that the office holder deserves unfettered, unquestioned respect simply because he's the President.
Shouldn't we expect the office holder to behave in a way that warrants the respect that comes with the office? And if the office holder is to be respected, shouldn't he, in turn, respect the people who elected him? If Mr. Bush had shown the same respect to the American people that Ms. Brown suggests we should show to him, then perhaps we wouldn't find ourselves in our current predicament.
Where was Mr. Bush's respect for the American people when hurricane victims were dying on their rooftops waiting to be rescued after Hurricane Katrina? Mr. Bush reserved his respect for the head of FEMA, whom he slapped on the back while telling him he was doing a good job. Meanwhile, the people of New Orleans were losing their homes, their livelihoods, their neighborhoods, their families and, for many, their lives. I just don't get that.
Where was Mr. Bush's respect for the American people when he stood before us and the rest of the world, claiming there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and that Saddam Hussein was tied to Al Qaeda? Where was his respect for American soldiers (and their families) whom he sent into harm's way on a wild goose chase looking for weapons that didn't exist? I really just don't get that.
Where was Mr. Bush's respect for the American people when he shredded the U.S. Constitution and illegally listened to our phone conversations and monitored other forms of communication all in the name of the "war on terror"? Or when he allowed his administration officials to fire U.S. attorneys because their political views weren't in line with his? Where was his respect when he allowed the rich to get richer while the middle class struggled and the poor went without? I just don't get any of that.
I applaud Mr. Obama's reversal of Mr. Bush's errant policies, particularly pertaining to Guantanamo Bay. How on earth can we call ourselves a force for good in the world when we sink to the level of the terrorists by torturing people?
There is ample scientific and anecdotal evidence to prove that torture is an ineffective method of gathering intelligence. Ms. Brown suggests that "we should use whatever force is necessary" to get a terrorist to share whatever information he may have. This is exactly the mindset that has led the world to now look down upon America as hypocritical and arrogant.
What we must understand is that we are a country of laws and rights but those laws and rights are not reserved just for the people we think deserve them. Leaders of other countries are prosecuted for doing some of the very same things that are going on at Guantanamo. How can we say it's acceptable for the United States to ignore basic human rights but not the rest of the world? I just don't get that at all and I don't think I ever will.
Ms. Brown did make some valid points in her article, particularly related to Bernie Madoff, Rod Blagojevich and the various recipients of the bailout money. But her views on Mr. Bush, his administration and policies are antiquated and misguided and the very reason why Mr. Obama's election is a cause for joyous celebration.
I was proud to tell my 10-year-old son that our country was able to see beyond its dubious past and elect an African-American as President. But it wasn't just in electing an African American that we should rejoice.
We elected a qualified, well spoken man who respects the rule of law, the U.S. Constitution and the American people, proving once again that democracy works. Now that, I get.
K.L. Pulliam, Mt. Airy
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