Gasoline Holiday

There is an email going around asking people nationwide to not buy any gasoline or gasoline products on Sept. 1st, so stocks can back up a little and force the price down a little.

I think that's a great idea. Better than that, I think Baby Bush should enforce it with a "Gasoline Holiday" and close all outlets. After all, didn't Roosevelt save the nation and the banks with his famous "Bank Holiday" during the depression? I guess the difference was Roosevelt had guts and intelligence, and Bush has Rove and Cheney.

King George

Dear editor:

In order to break an impasse that has evidently happened with the writing of the constitution for Iraq, Mr. Bush has personally called upon the leaders of the Shiite community to force a compromise on the subjects of federalism, oil revenues and religious doctrine.

This makes one wonder if during the writing of the American constitution, over a long period of time, did King George of Great Britain call the U.S. president and tell him how to write the document. Probably not, for he recognized it to be an American document and didn’t concern him. I guess the new King George doesn’t think that way.

In A Nutshell

Extracted from an editorial in today's Washington Post. All I can add is "well said."

History will deal with George W. Bush and the neoconservatives who misled a mighty nation into a flawed war that is draining the finest military in the world, diverting Guard and reserve forces that should be on the front line of homeland defense, shredding international alliances that prevailed in two world wars and the Cold War, accumulating staggering deficits, misdirecting revenue from education to rebuilding Iraqi buildings we've blown up, and weakening America's national security.

So Be It

Letter to the New York Times:

Dear Editor:

Your editorial of August 23rd, Iraq’s Unsettling Constitution, speaks of the needs of that country and the United States in order to fulfill Mr. Bush’s “course” that he wants so desperately to stay. Why all the discussion?

What we seem to forget is that it is their constitution, and if they want federalism, so be it. If they want Islamic law to have a place in their government, so be it. If they want to split up the oil revenue so that the Sunnis receive practically nothing, so be it. And if all this causes a problem over there, even to the point of civil war, so be it. It is their country and their constitution and our president and the American ambassador have no right to force them on any part of it just to meet our desires. Hell, we shouldn’t be there in the first place.

Johnny-One-Note

Dear editor:

Someone ought to check out the president’s knowledge of music. He has turned into that famous song “Johnny-One-Note.”

All we ever hear is a repetition of 9/11, terrorism, staying the course, finish the job, and safety at home. But nothing changes. American troops are still dying in a country that had absolutely nothing to do with 9/11, nothing to do with Osama-bin-laden, we really don’t know what “staying the course” actually means, and all we are doing is making America less safe from terrorists the world over.

We are getting tired of hearing the same rehash of the same routine that has been going on for over two and a half years, and even many Republican lawmakers are getting confused and tired of the whole thing.

But, “Johnny-One-Note” sings on with his out of tune story.

Safety At Home

Dear editor:

Mr. Bush continues to push his mistaken war with the excuse that our troops know what the problem is. He says that "They know that if we do not confront these evil men abroad, we will have to face them one day in our own cities and streets, and they know that the safety and security of every American is at stake in this war, and they know we will prevail." He's not very original.

We've heard those words before when our leadership tried to explain the "Domino Theory" and our safety at home. Writing in Collier’s magazine in January 1954, GOP Senate leader Knowland of California said, “We must not fool ourselves into thinking we can avoid taking up arms with the Chinese Reds. If we don’t fight them in China and Formosa, we will be fighting them in San Francisco, in Seattle, in Kansas City."

Strange how we recognized Communist China, import billions annually from them, and they didn't attack San Francisco, Seattle or Kansas City. Senator Knowland was wrong in 1954 and Mr. Bush is wrong now.

Re-election Worries

Letter to the New York Times:

Dear Editor:

Re: Your article of Aug. 18th, Bad Iraqi News Worries Some in GOP for '06, shows the sad state of politics in this country, and the true desires of our representatives.

Do our GOP representatives in Washington (House and Senate) worry about the number of Americans dying in Iraq? Evidently not. Do they worry about the cost of gasoline for the average American? Evidently not. Do they worry about the forces starting to cause an inflationary spiral for our economy? Evidently not. Are they worried about our huge and growing deficit? Evidently not. Are they worried about us at all? Evidently not.

What are they worried about? Their re-election chances and holding onto power in the '06 elections. That is evidently their only concern about the Americans dying in this ridiculous war.

Butting In

Letter to the Washington Post.

Dear Editor:

Your article (Gunmen Attack Political Meeting in Ramadi, Aug. 18th) points out that the American and British ambassadors met with a Sunni member of the committee drafting the new Iraqi consitution. There have been many reports of Americans taking part in this process to insure the completion of the document as close to "on time" as possible.

It makes one wonder. Do you think there were any British officials at the drafting of the American constitution? Or was this an all American document? Why in the world are we butting into the writing of their constitution?

U.S. Lowers Sights

Letter to Washington Post:

Dear editor:

Your article of Sunday (August 14, 2005) headlined "U.S. Lowers Sights On What Can Be Achieved In Iraq" cannot help but lead someone to beg the question, "Why are we still there?" Or better still, "Why were six more American troops killed there this morning?"

What in the world is happening to this country? The administration out and out lied (or out of ignorance and incompetence didn't know the truth) to the country about the reasons for going to war, and now we are told that we will not "accomplish" what we are supposedly there to do. The answer to these doubts and questions only lead to a simple solution....let's get the hell out.

Bush vs Evolution

Dear editor:

President Bush has weighed into the controversy of “Intelligent Design” vs. “Evolution.” He stated in answer to a Crawford, TX news question, "I think that part of education is to expose people to different schools of thought. You're asking me whether or not people ought to be exposed to different ideas, and the answer is yes." Brilliant.

It doesn’t seem to matter to Mr. Bush that Intelligent Design (ID) is theory with no scientific backing, and is based upon religious belief. Evolution (Darwin’s work) is proven scientific fact backed up with physical evidence as the basis of life on this planet, and is not just a “theory.” To compare the two is equivalent to comparing the “known fact” that two plus two is four, and not the competing “theory” held by some that two plus two in a “different school of thought,” is sixteen. Even a grammar school student understands that.

Theory and scientific fact are not comparative, at least until the theory is proven and becomes fact, and students should not have both presented as equals to confuse them. It is a shame that the President of the United States doesn’t (or doesn’t want to) understand this. Politics makes strange bedfellows.

Saudi Arabia and Oil

This letter is a comment on a column in the New York Times:

Dear Editor:

Agreed with the column titled "Why America Is More Dependent Than Ever on Saudi Arabia" (August 6, 2005), but really think you missed the true meaning of our sending such high powered figures over to Saudi Arabia. The article should have been titled "Bush Protects Family Investments."

Bush vs. Science

So now President Bush believes that Raphael Palmiero, the suspended Baltimore Oriole’s star first baseman, didn’t use steroids, even though scientific testing has proven he did. Bush stated, "He's the kind of person that's going to stand up in front of the klieg lights and say he didn't use steroids, and I believe him. Still do." This is in the face of positive testing that has landed a ten day suspension from the game for the all-star player whose outstanding record is now in question. For Palmiero it is a sad statement. For Mr. Bush it is true to form. Look at his record.

Mr. Bush doesn’t believe that science and chemistry prove that Palmiero took steroids. He also now doesn’t believe that evolution is a proven, physical fact and not a religiously inspired crackpot theory like “intelligent design.” That all falls in line with his belief in WMDs in Iraq, global warming is not a proven scientific concern and worry, Hussein had mobile chemical warfare labs in his arsenal, and stem cell research will not help anyone.

Evidently this president doesn’t believe in proven science, and his “born-again” religiosity is smarter and better than fact. It is a shame that “No Child Left Behind” policy didn’t work for him.