How One Girl Lost Her Faith in America-and Then Found it Again
Dear President Bush,
I'm glad you are leaving. You have singlehandedly done more than any individual in this nation to try and destroy what little faith I have in our country. You have lied, tortured, disrespected the American people, the Constitution, and human rights. You are the president that I have come of age under. I don't remember the prosperity of the Clinton era, the only other era I have been alive for. This has been my christening into American politics and I have been disappointed so far.
Perhaps you tried your best. I rather think you didn't, or else your mediocrity is such that you must fail at everything you set out to do. I don't think your purposes were noble, and you have betrayed the trust America put in you by electing you to office, if I can honestly say that you were ever "elected" (you weren't-not the first time, at least). You have helped to create a very cynical, skeptical woman out of me. I ought to be too young for that, but I suppose growing up under a President who lies to the nation in order to cavalierly kill hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis will do that to a person, if only the pay attention to the world around them. And this is but the most striking examples of the errors you have committed while holding the position of leader of the free world.
It was not until the night Barack Obama was elected that I have felt love, pride, faith in my country. We elected you, a failure at everything important-and we did it twice. Yet now America, a country where slavery was acceptable not two centuries ago, elected a black man as President of the United States of America. I watched said black man, not an African-American but an American, make one of the most powerful speeches I have heard so far in my lifetime. No speech you have ever made could compare, especially as his was full of truth. But more than not being lies, the words carried hope, and change, and a faith in this country. America elected this man. We have finally realized what mistakes we had made in the past two elections. We have made the right choice for the first time in eight years.
I cried that night, because, for the first time in eight years, I had faith in the power of this country to make the right choices, to be a positive force in the world. Your attempts to twist this country into a country of politics and pundits, of death and destruction, of torture and treachery, of extremists and egoists, and of lies and larceny will not succeed in the long run. Your effort to change this country into something it has never been intended to be has been your greatest sin while in office, and I am not sure I can ever forgive you for it. I will not forgive and I will not forget, but I will watch as our new president starts to clean up the mess that you made, as he cleanses America of the sins of the past eight years. It will be hard work, but America will be with him every step of the way. I know I will, and I look forward to voting for his reelection in four years, the first time I will actively participate in our democracy.
For this is, despite your best efforts to the contrary, still a democracy. And I am proud at what our democracy has now achieved, and I look forward to seeing what successes we will have in the future-a future without you.
Goodbye, President Bush. I hope you enjoy seeing your legacy being torn down-I know that I will.
Sincerely,
Caiti
Get used to it.
Sounds to me like you have a lot of growing up to do, Caiti.
We started down the path that Bush followed a long time ago. Bush was simply furthering the American empire, and Obama will do the same, albeit with exponentially less scrutiny from the media. He may go about it in a different manner (and he won't be getting us out of our wars anytime soon, either), but the end result will be the same.
As all Americans should, I hope Obama does very well as president, though I doubt the job he will do will equate to a "good job" from my point of view.
Welcome to American politics, Caiti! We have just elected another member of our ruling class, the Democrats and the Republicans, the only difference is that this time they have convinced the vast majority of us to be happy about it.
It amazes how brainwashed neo-cons can somehow still think of Obama as on the same level as silver spooned Bushie, or even Clinton. Obama, a man who grew up in a single-parent household, no family connections, on the lower-end of the middle class ladder, and managed to make a life for himself by getting into Ivy Leagues of his own merit (which can hardly be said for Bushie Boy)... a man who only a couple of years ago, in his mid-40s, just finished paying off his student loans. How long did it take Bushie to pay off his student loans? Yeah, they're exactly the same. Keep deluding yourself, or find a new reason to consider the black man "uppity."
on the lower end of the economic scale.....you should really read more...his black father left him like 70% of them do, his mother was on welfare because she was going back to school. his white grandmother raised him...she was VP of a bank in Hawaii.
You have voiced my thoughts in a most eloquent fashion. You do not have alot of growing up to do, you have done so in what will probably be remembered as one of the darkest times in American history. Like you, my heart was set free by the November elections. There is a wonderful song by Peter, Paul & Mary called "Light One Candle". Listen to it if you can, it has sustained me over the years. Like you, many of us have been desperately hoping that democracy's candle would not be snuffed out. It came very close.
I came of age during Vietnam, while Nixon was president. Lies and carnage then, too. It bred in me deep cynicism that has, unfortunately, often proved to be a very reliable guide to understanding politics.
You might be a bit disappointed in Obama. I fully expect to be. I'm disappointed in the entire nation.
But more important, I think, are the lessons of George W. Bush. Don't forget how he turned the attack on the World Trade Towers into a so-called "war on terror", a war on Iraq, and a war on the Constitution. Don't forget the cheerleading from the people, the media, and the politicians that let him do it. Don't forget the torture in Guantanamo, how but for the release of some photos there would never have been any real outcry. Don't forget how very slowly and incompletely the wheels of justice turn. Those in his administration responsible for these abuses will never, ever pay any significant price for what they've done. Reflect on these things from time to time, and watch for them. There will be another George Bush someday.
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