Letter: President’s failed policies don’t take vacation (Aug. 8, 2008)
Editor:
[A response to Robert J. Lothrop, Sr.’s open letter to the President of the United States upon his visit to Kennebunkport printed in the Aug. 1 issue]
Dear Mr. Lothrop, Sr.,
I’m sure President Bush and his family appreciated your open letter to him, calling on the town of Kennebunkport to show “respect and dignity,” during his weekend visit to Walker’s Point. It was quite considerate and I mean that sincerely.
You will, however, excuse me if I offer up one of those dissenting political views which you noted some people in our community hold.
You say that the residents of Kennebunkport should show the visiting president “respect and dignity,” during his stay, however many citizens in Maine and throughout the nation do not believe President Bush has demonstrated such qualities to his fellow Americans, or to the citizens of Iraq and Afghanistan.
President George W. Bush sent us to war in Iraq based on false pretenses and more than 4,000 U.S. service men and women have lost their lives as a result (not to mention the deaths of more than one million Iraqi civilians).
He has authorized and condoned the use of torture against so-called enemy combatants imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the innocence or guilt of whom can never truly be determined given the unfair nature of the military tribunal courts these inmates are tried in.
President Bush conducted an illegal, citizen surveillance program without obtaining a court warrant that violates Americans’ right to privacy, and he has routinely flouted or outright ignored the rule of law in regards to compelling his former aides to comply with Congressional subpoenas to appear in court.
In summary, one could argue, that President Bush long ago gave up his right to “gather in peace,” through his un-Constitutional and immoral actions here and around the world. The First Amendment in the Bill of Rights grants citizens “The right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
Given the crimes of the current president, it would be, Constitutionally-speaking, highly negligent to simply cower and look the other way while President Bush is in town, bestowing upon him a respect and dignity many of us do not believe he deserves.
Adam Marletta
Kennebunk
[A response to Robert J. Lothrop, Sr.’s open letter to the President of the United States upon his visit to Kennebunkport printed in the Aug. 1 issue]
Dear Mr. Lothrop, Sr.,
I’m sure President Bush and his family appreciated your open letter to him, calling on the town of Kennebunkport to show “respect and dignity,” during his weekend visit to Walker’s Point. It was quite considerate and I mean that sincerely.
You will, however, excuse me if I offer up one of those dissenting political views which you noted some people in our community hold.
You say that the residents of Kennebunkport should show the visiting president “respect and dignity,” during his stay, however many citizens in Maine and throughout the nation do not believe President Bush has demonstrated such qualities to his fellow Americans, or to the citizens of Iraq and Afghanistan.
President George W. Bush sent us to war in Iraq based on false pretenses and more than 4,000 U.S. service men and women have lost their lives as a result (not to mention the deaths of more than one million Iraqi civilians).
He has authorized and condoned the use of torture against so-called enemy combatants imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the innocence or guilt of whom can never truly be determined given the unfair nature of the military tribunal courts these inmates are tried in.
President Bush conducted an illegal, citizen surveillance program without obtaining a court warrant that violates Americans’ right to privacy, and he has routinely flouted or outright ignored the rule of law in regards to compelling his former aides to comply with Congressional subpoenas to appear in court.
In summary, one could argue, that President Bush long ago gave up his right to “gather in peace,” through his un-Constitutional and immoral actions here and around the world. The First Amendment in the Bill of Rights grants citizens “The right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
Given the crimes of the current president, it would be, Constitutionally-speaking, highly negligent to simply cower and look the other way while President Bush is in town, bestowing upon him a respect and dignity many of us do not believe he deserves.
Adam Marletta
Kennebunk
Comments