I've had some recent conversations via e-mail with Cathie's Uncle David, who has spent multiple tours in Iraq and has a view into the war and the people that I don't have. It's been a good conversation and made me think. I believe at the core that President Bush is a great man. I know a lot of people will laugh at me for saying this. I believe that he is a President who is not swayed by what is popular but sticks to his convictions, even though I don't always agree with them or see the consistency. I read this great article in the WSJ today entitled The President Comforts a Marine Mom. I think it's a great view in to the heart of President Bush. William McGurn starts with this:
In my years in the West Wing, I read many horrible things about this president. Some were by former military officers who ought to know better, especially the one who accused him in print of not caring about our war dead. More frequently, legitimate differences over the war led some to indulge in hateful accusations about the man who led it. Few came from people like Julie, who spoke directly with the president about a subject painful for both: the brave young lieutenant who was born to one and laid down his life under the command of the other.
The article talks about Bush's extended conversation with the soldier's Mom and the burden of being the one who sends others sons and daughters to die. I can't imagine carrying that around. As I think of Christmas and the redemption that Christ brings to me and to the world, I continued to read this:
These days our public discourse finds it difficult to handle such talk, and any presidential mention of God is cheapened into a caricature of a man who launches wars on direct orders of the Almighty. In a particularly moving moment, the president spoke of what he did pray for, including the hope that through this "opaque piece of glass," as he put it, people might catch a glimpse of what Christ wants us to be.
That too can be ridiculed, but in fact and in context it was a statement of humility -- a completely orthodox acknowledgment of the responsibility each Christian has to live a life that bears witness to the redemptive love we trace back to that Bethlehem manger.
Merry Christmas!
4 comments:
Interesting article in the Washington Times here...
http://washingtontimes.com/news/2008/dec/22/bush-cheney-comforted-troops-privately/
Talks about how Bush & Cheney have sent hand written letters to each of the families of soldiers that died in Iraq & Afghanistan.
I'm sure that is of great comfort to those families, as letters are a fantastic replacement for dead children, brothers, husbands, sisters, and wives. i think cheney and bush are on to something there.
Son, we live in a world that has walls and those walls need to be guarded by men with guns. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Lieutenant Weinberg? I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for Santiago and curse the Marines; you have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know: that Santiago's death, while tragic, probably saved lives and that my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives. You don't want the truth because deep down in places you don't talk about at parties you want me on that wall, you need me on that wall. We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use then as the backbone of a life trying to defend something. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom I provide and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said "thank you," and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest that you pick up a weapon and stand a post. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you are entitled to.
Nice speech, Jack... a little misdirected, though.
Don't mistake the objects of my sorrow and anger. I weep for Santiago *and* for the Marines, *and* for the innocents who suffer and die because of our transgressions; I curse only those who send us to die, and to kill, for reasons unworthy of the requested sacrifice and of our country.
i also find it odd that those who are responsible for the deaths of so many others are singled out and congratulated when performing what i'd consider the absolute minimum required by their position. Wow, Bush and Cheney are *talking* to the people whose families were devastated by Bush and Cheney's decisions? Really? That's somehow extraordinary and worthy of praise? What should we think of them had they *not* done it?
Still, nice speech.
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