Bush

Hypocrisy of Faith; Deciphering God’s Will in an Election Year
By: Lanni Alecia Lantto

Here it comes.
He is going to say it soon. The intentions. This is usually where my heart starts skipping beats. Okay, alright, this happens every week, just breathe.
"We pray for the sick and those afflicted with addictions, that they may come to find peace in your loving arms."
"We pray for our men and women in the military and for their swift return."
No one else around is moving. For the most part, aside from some small children, the congregation stands erect, their faces forward, pale and solemn. They repeat in unison, "Amen".
So far so good. But, it's coming I know it is…
"We pray for an end to abortion. That the sanctity of life be preserved."
If my toes could curl in these shoes they would. My head flops forward and my hair dangles over my mouth as I mutter, "…and an end to killing of innocent life in war". The person to my left shifts their eyes in my direction. I don't actually see this but I sense it.

Often times when confronted with the cesspool that is modern politics, I am reminded of a line from one of the Star Wars movies. "So this is how liberty dies. With thunderous applause." It isn't quite thunderous applause that bothers me as I write this, but rather a 68-29 Senate vote. The Senate has passed President Bush's FISA Bill, complete with Mr. Bush's protection for his precious telecoms. Once again, our spineless Senate has given the Sith Lords in the White House exactly what they have asked for. Once again, politicians who were elected on the premise of standing up to Bush are doing his bidding. But there is, to continue the Star Wars metaphor, a new hope, and that is the House of Representatives. And Mr. Bush doesn't like the threat these Jedi pose.

"People are wondering why companies need liability protection. Well, if you cooperate with the government and then get sued for billions of dollars because of the cooperation, you're less likely to cooperate." President Bush said.

And, of course, businesses cooperating with our government can be a very good thing. But what about when it isn't? What if our government was asking these companies to break laws? What if this was just another overstepping of the powers allotted to Mr. Bush? And why would these corporations have to worry about being sued "for billions of dollars" if they hadn't broken the laws?

When I was in college I checked out from the library a book by Hedley Donovan, a renowned political reporter, entitled Roosevelt to Reagan. It was written in the 1980s, and it described his experiences with 9 Presidents. Based on that experience, Donovan made a list of 32 qualities that he looked for in a person that was running for the Oval Office. I photocopied that part of the book and kept it all these years, looking at it in every Presidential election since 1988, a useful guide to judging the candidates during the primaries. As a liberal Democrat, I’ve always gone for the Democratic candidate during the general elections, but I’ve learned about political leadership qualities that I admire even from Republican Presidents whom I strongly disagreed with. Like Donovan, I would like to reflect upon the qualities that make my favorite Presidents.

Written just after Reagan was reelected to a second term, Donovan gave this evaluation of the 9 Presidents that he presided over:

Creative condemnation of the Bush years. He is certainly one of if not the worst the President we've ever had.

Found Time magazine picture with Bush on the Battleship with "Mission Accomplished" behind him. and a quote from former White House aide Dan Bartlet saying "If there ever was a do-over that would be it."

...how 'bout doing over the whole going to war thing Dan? How 'bout doing over the thousand of American lives lost and tens of thousands of Iraqis? Unfortunately there are no do-overs when it comes to war and peace, life and death. Thankfully, this Presidency and this terrible mode of thinking are daily becoming more discredited.