Scarletwine
New Yorker
This soldier has the right idea. Of course the local and state authorities screwed up too, but the President slapping "Brownie" on the back and saying good job makes me want to 
puke.
An Irate Soldier’s Open Letter Regarding George W. Bush
[Ed Note - I am advised that the author of this essay may be facing court martial for writing this item. I have removed the name and rank so as not to incriminate the author.]
09/05/05 "ICH" -- -- If you’re not pissed off, you’re not paying attention.
George Bush is going to go down in history as the President Who Destroyed America.
Oh sure, there were problems before he ever took office. Every nation has problems. But in the year 2000, the USA was at a fairly high point. The economy was growing. Science was moving forward. International relations were fairly good. The future looked bright. And then, an election was rigged, and a "President" who was never properly elected took office.
We all know how all the different stories about inappropriate election practices during the 2004 election. The cheating. The manipulation of the polls. The fact that people from largely Democrat demographics were prevented from voting. If you don’t know about all this stuff... then you weren’t paying attention. We also know that the 2000 elections were bullshit. But it’s too late for that. We got the chimpanzee in the Oval Office, and we’ve got to deal with him. Too bad the War-Monger president, who doesn’t even know HOW to run a war in the first place, also doesn’t know how to run a country. The disaster on September 11th, 2001 was handled very well... not by Bush, but by Rudy, the esteemed former mayor of NYC. The only reaction from Bush to the whole fiasco: LET’S GO TO WAR! But... that’s in the past. What about now?
Our country is already hurting financially because of the actions of our "president", or inactions, as the case might be. Our international relations are shot to hell - EVERYBODY hates us. The education system is hurting. Our entire economy is likely to fall into recession, if not an actual depression to rival the crash of the 1920s. The average citizen can’t even afford gasoline - but if we’d invested in cars that used non-petroleum fuel sources (a technology we’ve had for a couple of decades but never developed) we wouldn’t have this problem in the first place! (Hmm, does anyone else detect a connection between the oil companies, the government who funds research, and the car companies?)
The progress of the scientific community is being thwarted by Chimp-Boy’s religious convictions. Bush was too busy "stopping the fags from destroying our nation" to bother running the nation. I wonder how much money went into his "Protect Marriage" campaign. How much money and resources have been spent on a war overseas, when our own infrastructure needs desperate help? DID YOU KNOW that Bush wanted to implement a universal health-care system in Iraq, funded by our own tax dollars, when we don’t even have universal health care here? I don’t have health coverage, but MY MONEY is going to help give medical care to some Iraqi. THIS IS BULLSHIT!
Now, not all of these things fall solely on the shoulders of George W. Bush. It’s his entire pathetic administration, but he’s the man with the final say. He’s the guy who was given all sorts of extra powers of authority by the Patriot Act. He’s the idiot leading the pack. I’m sorry, "leading" was the wrong word. Leadership is a quality he doesn’t have.
Let’s look at the situation we have right now. Our National Guard is overseas when we need them at home. Yes, they’re calling them back home now, but they should have been here in the first place. People are dying, in America, of dehydration, hunger, and disease, because we took too long to respond to an emergency. The US Army can drop a bomb with pinpoint precision overseas within an hour of receiving the mission, and they’re telling me it took our leaders THREE FUCKING DAYS to drop food and water on our own soil?
MORE BULLSHIT! American citizens are dying, on American soil. Oh sure, the "president" went to visit the poor victims, and he hugged women and girls for the camera, and shook people’s hands... what a wonderful photo opportunity it must have been. But when he climbed aboard his helicopter to fly to the disaster area, did he even bother to think of loading a couple of extra crates of water, and maybe some food, for the victims? I’m sure there was space. And it may not have helped everybody, but to the family that would have received those supplies, it could mean the difference between life and death.
Compassionate-conservativism, my fucking ass.
This whole disaster-relief operation is a textbook example of "too little, too late." It’s a textbook example of SHITTY LEADERSHIP. All the way from the bottom up. For the first 24 hours, the mayor of New Orleans told people he had it under control, and they didn’t need help. Two days later, he’s screaming and swearing at people for not coming sooner. What? Did he think the National Guard just shows up on its own? You have to ask! We, the soldiers of the Reserves and Guard, don’t sit in our unit headquarters, watching CNN, and say, "Oh look!
A disaster! Let’s go!" WE CAN’T. We have to have orders. We need authorization. And we need to be requested. And then, what about the governor of Louisiana? Have we even heard anything from her? She should have realized that the mayor of New Orleans wasn’t seeing the situation clearly, and acted. But no. And then there’s the "president." WHAT THE FUCK? There has been a failure in EVERY level of our civilian chain of command. And then there’s FEMA. Don’t even get me started.
They’re running a logistical nightmare. Yes, communications are down, but they knew that would happen! They were supposed to have been planning for this for years! The people of that organization are paid dearly, specifically to be ready in case of an emergency. And then, the emergency happens, and it all falls to hell. The Army can go in, and within 24 hours, we could have had food and water and medical facilities on the ground, IF we had been requested... but we weren’t, until it was too late, and people were already dead and dying of preventable causes.
50,000 people were stranded in a convention center, and FEMA didn’t know ANYTHING about them until four days after the storm. They would have known all about it if they’d just turned on the television, because apparently CNN has better information than the people who are supposed to handle the disaster. This is pitiful, and inexcusable.
Opportunities have been wasted, resources have been poorly used. Every vehicle going into that region, whether traveling by land, air, or sea, should be carrying food, water, clothing, medicine, and other supplies in, and carrying people out. It doesn’t matter if they can only fit a little bit on a helicopter. If a helicopter is going to pick up medical evacuees, they have room in their cargo hold to carry supplies in, before picking up the patient. Who the fuck was running the logistics here, and did we check to make sure they’d at least graduated kindergarten before hiring them?
Things only started to work when the Army took over (thank God for General Honore), and I’m sure they’re going to need much more help before it’s over. I’m a qualified officer in the Army Engineer Corps. SEND ME, DAMN IT! I’m sitting here, making LJ entries, when I should be helping to save lives! I’m going insane, wanting to do something!
To finish off, I’d like to address Mr. George W. Chimpanzee Bush, the President Who Destroyed America:
***
Your citizens are dying, and I personally hold you responsible for their lives. As the president, you are a public servant, NOT a king. Your job is to serve the people of the United States of America and to uphold the Constitution, not to preach your Biblical beliefs and to play golf. I’m sorry the hurricane disrupted your vacation. It must be awful for you, but I assure you, it’s far worse for the victims.
Today, you addressed the nation, and admitted that you made some mistakes - that everyone involved in the relief effort made some mistakes. That’s not good enough. Apologies won’t bring back the people who died needlessly. As the highest authority in the land, you can’t afford those sorts of mistakes. "Oops!" is not an answer. You were supposed to do something, but you didn’t until it was too late for many of them, and more are going to die. Their blood is on your hands. There are still people living in filth, sleeping in the streets, crowded into crumbling buildings, stranded on rooftops, dehydrated, sick, dying, and desperate for just a bottle of water and a bit of food.
These are American citizens - your highest priority... but you are incapable of understanding their suffering because you’ve been so sheltered all your life, you can’t even comprehend the sensations of true hunger, thirst, or desperation. You’ve never had to worry about your next meal, or of having a roof over your head. And when you left New Orleans, after hugging a few people while surrounded by cameras, and you flew back to Washington, DC in the comfort of your helicopter, WHAT DID YOU HAVE FOR DINNER? I’ll bet it was delicious, wasn’t it?
Oh, and by the way, how much money are you going to donate to the victims of the hurricane, Mr. Bush? How much money is going to come out of your personal bank account? You’re independantly wealthy, and could live comfortably on JUST the pension from your presidency for the rest of your life. Children are giving their lunch money. What are you going to give? How much do you really love America?
The American people don’t want your lies, excuses, and apologies anymore. How many mistakes can you make before you stop making them? How many more people have to die for your stupidity? Should we just wait for the next major disaster to strike, just in case you do better next time? We don’t want a "next time", Mr. Bush. We don’t want your promises of a better tomorrow. We want your resignation.
puke.An Irate Soldier’s Open Letter Regarding George W. Bush
[Ed Note - I am advised that the author of this essay may be facing court martial for writing this item. I have removed the name and rank so as not to incriminate the author.]
09/05/05 "ICH" -- -- If you’re not pissed off, you’re not paying attention.
George Bush is going to go down in history as the President Who Destroyed America.
Oh sure, there were problems before he ever took office. Every nation has problems. But in the year 2000, the USA was at a fairly high point. The economy was growing. Science was moving forward. International relations were fairly good. The future looked bright. And then, an election was rigged, and a "President" who was never properly elected took office.
We all know how all the different stories about inappropriate election practices during the 2004 election. The cheating. The manipulation of the polls. The fact that people from largely Democrat demographics were prevented from voting. If you don’t know about all this stuff... then you weren’t paying attention. We also know that the 2000 elections were bullshit. But it’s too late for that. We got the chimpanzee in the Oval Office, and we’ve got to deal with him. Too bad the War-Monger president, who doesn’t even know HOW to run a war in the first place, also doesn’t know how to run a country. The disaster on September 11th, 2001 was handled very well... not by Bush, but by Rudy, the esteemed former mayor of NYC. The only reaction from Bush to the whole fiasco: LET’S GO TO WAR! But... that’s in the past. What about now?
Our country is already hurting financially because of the actions of our "president", or inactions, as the case might be. Our international relations are shot to hell - EVERYBODY hates us. The education system is hurting. Our entire economy is likely to fall into recession, if not an actual depression to rival the crash of the 1920s. The average citizen can’t even afford gasoline - but if we’d invested in cars that used non-petroleum fuel sources (a technology we’ve had for a couple of decades but never developed) we wouldn’t have this problem in the first place! (Hmm, does anyone else detect a connection between the oil companies, the government who funds research, and the car companies?)
The progress of the scientific community is being thwarted by Chimp-Boy’s religious convictions. Bush was too busy "stopping the fags from destroying our nation" to bother running the nation. I wonder how much money went into his "Protect Marriage" campaign. How much money and resources have been spent on a war overseas, when our own infrastructure needs desperate help? DID YOU KNOW that Bush wanted to implement a universal health-care system in Iraq, funded by our own tax dollars, when we don’t even have universal health care here? I don’t have health coverage, but MY MONEY is going to help give medical care to some Iraqi. THIS IS BULLSHIT!
Now, not all of these things fall solely on the shoulders of George W. Bush. It’s his entire pathetic administration, but he’s the man with the final say. He’s the guy who was given all sorts of extra powers of authority by the Patriot Act. He’s the idiot leading the pack. I’m sorry, "leading" was the wrong word. Leadership is a quality he doesn’t have.
Let’s look at the situation we have right now. Our National Guard is overseas when we need them at home. Yes, they’re calling them back home now, but they should have been here in the first place. People are dying, in America, of dehydration, hunger, and disease, because we took too long to respond to an emergency. The US Army can drop a bomb with pinpoint precision overseas within an hour of receiving the mission, and they’re telling me it took our leaders THREE FUCKING DAYS to drop food and water on our own soil?
MORE BULLSHIT! American citizens are dying, on American soil. Oh sure, the "president" went to visit the poor victims, and he hugged women and girls for the camera, and shook people’s hands... what a wonderful photo opportunity it must have been. But when he climbed aboard his helicopter to fly to the disaster area, did he even bother to think of loading a couple of extra crates of water, and maybe some food, for the victims? I’m sure there was space. And it may not have helped everybody, but to the family that would have received those supplies, it could mean the difference between life and death.
Compassionate-conservativism, my fucking ass.
This whole disaster-relief operation is a textbook example of "too little, too late." It’s a textbook example of SHITTY LEADERSHIP. All the way from the bottom up. For the first 24 hours, the mayor of New Orleans told people he had it under control, and they didn’t need help. Two days later, he’s screaming and swearing at people for not coming sooner. What? Did he think the National Guard just shows up on its own? You have to ask! We, the soldiers of the Reserves and Guard, don’t sit in our unit headquarters, watching CNN, and say, "Oh look!
A disaster! Let’s go!" WE CAN’T. We have to have orders. We need authorization. And we need to be requested. And then, what about the governor of Louisiana? Have we even heard anything from her? She should have realized that the mayor of New Orleans wasn’t seeing the situation clearly, and acted. But no. And then there’s the "president." WHAT THE FUCK? There has been a failure in EVERY level of our civilian chain of command. And then there’s FEMA. Don’t even get me started.
They’re running a logistical nightmare. Yes, communications are down, but they knew that would happen! They were supposed to have been planning for this for years! The people of that organization are paid dearly, specifically to be ready in case of an emergency. And then, the emergency happens, and it all falls to hell. The Army can go in, and within 24 hours, we could have had food and water and medical facilities on the ground, IF we had been requested... but we weren’t, until it was too late, and people were already dead and dying of preventable causes.
50,000 people were stranded in a convention center, and FEMA didn’t know ANYTHING about them until four days after the storm. They would have known all about it if they’d just turned on the television, because apparently CNN has better information than the people who are supposed to handle the disaster. This is pitiful, and inexcusable.
Opportunities have been wasted, resources have been poorly used. Every vehicle going into that region, whether traveling by land, air, or sea, should be carrying food, water, clothing, medicine, and other supplies in, and carrying people out. It doesn’t matter if they can only fit a little bit on a helicopter. If a helicopter is going to pick up medical evacuees, they have room in their cargo hold to carry supplies in, before picking up the patient. Who the fuck was running the logistics here, and did we check to make sure they’d at least graduated kindergarten before hiring them?
Things only started to work when the Army took over (thank God for General Honore), and I’m sure they’re going to need much more help before it’s over. I’m a qualified officer in the Army Engineer Corps. SEND ME, DAMN IT! I’m sitting here, making LJ entries, when I should be helping to save lives! I’m going insane, wanting to do something!
To finish off, I’d like to address Mr. George W. Chimpanzee Bush, the President Who Destroyed America:
***
Your citizens are dying, and I personally hold you responsible for their lives. As the president, you are a public servant, NOT a king. Your job is to serve the people of the United States of America and to uphold the Constitution, not to preach your Biblical beliefs and to play golf. I’m sorry the hurricane disrupted your vacation. It must be awful for you, but I assure you, it’s far worse for the victims.
Today, you addressed the nation, and admitted that you made some mistakes - that everyone involved in the relief effort made some mistakes. That’s not good enough. Apologies won’t bring back the people who died needlessly. As the highest authority in the land, you can’t afford those sorts of mistakes. "Oops!" is not an answer. You were supposed to do something, but you didn’t until it was too late for many of them, and more are going to die. Their blood is on your hands. There are still people living in filth, sleeping in the streets, crowded into crumbling buildings, stranded on rooftops, dehydrated, sick, dying, and desperate for just a bottle of water and a bit of food.
These are American citizens - your highest priority... but you are incapable of understanding their suffering because you’ve been so sheltered all your life, you can’t even comprehend the sensations of true hunger, thirst, or desperation. You’ve never had to worry about your next meal, or of having a roof over your head. And when you left New Orleans, after hugging a few people while surrounded by cameras, and you flew back to Washington, DC in the comfort of your helicopter, WHAT DID YOU HAVE FOR DINNER? I’ll bet it was delicious, wasn’t it?
Oh, and by the way, how much money are you going to donate to the victims of the hurricane, Mr. Bush? How much money is going to come out of your personal bank account? You’re independantly wealthy, and could live comfortably on JUST the pension from your presidency for the rest of your life. Children are giving their lunch money. What are you going to give? How much do you really love America?
The American people don’t want your lies, excuses, and apologies anymore. How many mistakes can you make before you stop making them? How many more people have to die for your stupidity? Should we just wait for the next major disaster to strike, just in case you do better next time? We don’t want a "next time", Mr. Bush. We don’t want your promises of a better tomorrow. We want your resignation.
.
