The Workday Liberal

Click the title for the story from Yahoo news. The president gives a speech trying to revive flagging support for the war on Iraq, on the same day we mark the 2000th American death in Iraq. Wouldn't a more somber approach have been appropriate here Mr. president?

Let us just ponder the politics of this administration and how it has affected the lives of thousands of our service members who have died and been grievously wounded to lead us to this point. The milestones this administration wishes us to celebrate, the constant barrage of corners turned and number twos apprehended... Yet when we as a nation reach a milestone of tragedy that affects local communities and families, we are invited to witness yet another speech from our president rallying the nation. And this administration wishes for us to ignore this landmark of grief and tragedy that the day truly represents.

No amount of resolute cheerleading can make us forget this hallmark of your presidency Mr. Bush. The graves of the fallen can not be hidden even though your lying administration will not allow the caskets to be photographed. Long after you have left the oval office and your domestic and international disasters have been repaired, or mitigated by your successors, the families of these men and women will be there to remind us of the son that never returned. The father who will miss the child growing to adulthood. The mother who will never see the baby she left go to school the first time. The family member who must be cared for by their loved ones as they are wracked by pain and not able to care for themselves long after this disastrous cabal cut the programs that support our veterans. We will be reminded of this for many generations to come by witnessing the victims of your policies Mr. president.

These are families ruined by your ideological zeal in a cause without one shred of reality in its foundation. Your determination to create your own reality has cost these families unimaginable grief. It is this reality that you have spawned through your steely resolve and willfull ignorance of basic truth. When will you face this Mr. Bush? The answer is you never will if you can help it. Just so long as the handlers insure that everybody in the crowd you address has signed the loyalty oath, and doesn't have the wrong bumper sticker on the car they drive to the event. Your internalized reality consists of Iraqi children throwing flowers, and flowering democracy in the Middle East, and you will never face the truth. Even as the facade crumbles and we see the true scope of the disaster you have administered to this nation, you will resolutely cling to your own reality. And American families pay for this absolutely horrendous abomination of your creation with their flesh and blood.

Of course, not your family Mr. President. Your family lost all sense of duty to country in wartime as soon as your dad was discharged. You and the vast majority of those in your administration somehow were able to avoid the bloodshed wrought on the armed forces in your generation. In spite of your protestations to the contrary, it is obvious you do not understand the crushing grief borne by the families of the victims of your misbegotten failure of leadership. How could you? It never has hit home in your world. You were shielded from this unfortunate reality, so when you were prevailed upon to go to war it wasn't a soul searching agoninzing moment for you Mr. president. A last resort? All alternatives exhausted to avoid war? Hardly. And now look where you have brought us. The reality on the ground as the bombs explode and the medics try to save the lives of the victims of your ineptitude may not be the reality you identify with, but it is the reality of the nation.

We will not ignore this landmark Mr. president. You may have done yourself a favor, if only you had the dignity to acknowledge just for this one day, the caskets coming into Dover. By asking the nation to avert our eyes, to not notice the dead while only noticing the artificial benchmarks and rah rah balderdash being posited for our daily consumption, you demean the very sacrifice these Americans have made. Yesterday would have been a very good day to attend the burial of one of these people Mr. president. Instead you chose to give another speech.