I have been doing so fabulously well this week. I have not called Bush a dillhole once in the past week. Not once! And that's a huge feat. As my frustration with the administration grows, so do the number of times I call Bush a dillhole. And my frustration grows daily. But, I have been so busy this week that he has been safe from dillholedom.
But, I now have finals for one class completed and turned in; Kaia came home from the hospital this morning and is still so drugged that he's slept most of the day away and Alo is being abnormally well behaved. So, I decided to spend the day catching up on everything I had neglected... including the news. And, I ALMOST made it through the entire day with Bush still not having been re-declared a dillhole.
But, then of course, I decided to catch up on the news. And I saw this:
CARSON CITY -- When President Bush took time Tuesday to meet family members of some of the fallen soldiers from Northern Nevada, a woman whose husband made the ultimate sacrifice was notably absent.
Roberta Stewart of Fernley, who lost her husband, Sgt. Patrick Stewart, when the helicopter he was in was shot down in Afghanistan in September 2005, said she was not invited to the meeting that followed Bush's speech to the American Legion's national convention in Reno.
Other members of the Stewart family were invited to the brief, private meeting, including her husband's parents and brother, as were family members of others who have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Stewart said her in-laws were contacted by the White House last week in advance of the visit by Bush to Reno. But she received no call or e-mail extending an invitation.
Roberta Stewart, as you may recall, sued the Department of Veteran's Affairs last year in order to have the Pentacle, the Wiccan emblem of faith, added to the VA's list of approved religious symbols. You may also recall that the fight to have the pentacle added began way back in 1997 and that the VA decided to settle the suit after it became clear that they had screwed themselves into a millimeter sized hole.
According to the article, Roberta is incredibly upset by the lack of an invitation to this meeting. I think that's definitely understandable. Her husband died fighting for this country. His parents and other family members were invited to attend, but not Ms. Stewart. She feels it's because she's Wiccan. And I can't say I really disagree with that assessment of the situation. We already know how Bush feels about Wicca or anything remotely related. He made that quite clear way back in 1999 when he declared on GMA that witchcraft wasn't a religion (in the context of Pagan faiths being barred from military installations). And again when he had years to tell the VA to do their job and refused to do so. And again every time over the past 2 years that he refused to meet with Roberta and other Wiccan widows.
And as much as that annoys me, that's not the reason I've declared him a dillhole again today. That in and of itself would be enough, but what really angers me is that the dillhole had a chance to meet with Roberta Stewart AGAIN and say thank her for her husbands sacrifice for country and he didn't do it. He had the chance to meet with her and apologize for the hell his administration dragged her and the family through for a year a half and refused to do so. To apologize to her for the decade of frustration and heartache that many veterans and widows went through waiting for the chance to acknowledge their religion and he didn't do it.
Why? Because he's a dillhole, plain and simple. One doesn't have to agree with the religious choices of another to offer an apology for discriminating against them. Nor does one have to agree with the religious choices of another to show a little damned gratitude when that one is killed fighting for the country that the other one leads.
Bush is not and has never been a real leader. Leaders are the folks that acknowledge widows and fight for the people they command. Not those that pretend those selfsame people never existed. Bush is a moron and it truly makes me sick to my stomach that the moron in question is President and will be for another year.
Article at:
http://www.lvrj.com/news/9441071.html
Wow, reading this made me pretty damn upset... I agree whole-heartedly that Bush is, in fact, a dillhole. Actually, dillhole might be an understatement.
I've noticed this trend with Bush. The things he disapproves or doesnt believe in he acts like they dont exist. For example, he generally acts as though homosexuals dont exist because their way of life conflicts with his.
One of the many problems with Bush is that he is unable to compromise on anything. He takes the same old cowboy approach with every issue that comes his way; that is draw a hard line and stick to it. The problem is that in diplomacy and politics making good political decisions is based on the ability to compromise on some issues because they are either too volatile or too sensitive to be treated in the "Fuck you, I'll be damned if we have it YOUR way." In this way, I'm not particularly surprised he didnt say anything to this woman or even invite her to apologize. If he had to apologize he would be admitting he did something wrong, and we all know he only admits he was wrong when the entire Western World knows it.
Bush acts similarly when it comes to stem cell research, in that he acts as though fetuses are the only things that exist in the world and the only "lives" (I put this in quotes because they are not really alive at all) that matter, but acts as if the millions of Americans with diseases ranging from cancer, to Alzheimers to diabetes dont exist at all. He wont even acknowledge the suffering these people deal with everyday because the government refuses to fund research that could alleviate their suffering. I agree with you he is quite the "dillhole".
"Its all very well in practice but it will never work in theory."
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/daimler
While I still believe Bush is a dillhole, I am going to demote him from king dillhole for the time being because he did actually do the right thing today and called Roberta Stewart to apologize for being a dillhole. So... I'm giving him a few points for effort.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nevada/2007/aug/30/083010436.h...
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Fallon
"It is never too late to give up your prejudices." Henry David Thoreau
"In case of dissension, never dare to judge till you've heard the other side." Euripides
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Never heard the word dillhole in a post so much XD. But on your points about leadership, I do agree with. When you are appointed a position such as his you have to deal with different people, in the case of religion, you must try to do what's best for the country and not just your friends or even the majority. It's hard to explain because of course you can't make EVERYONE happy but something like religion for example should get the same respect as all the others, if they aren't harming society or people, I say let it be. And if they died for this country they shouldn't have to fight to have the same rights they help defend and eventually died for. I could go further into different examples of this but I'll spare you, let me know if you need me to clairify anything :)
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http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/npsm18
You should have heard the mutterings that accompanied the writing of the post. I thought the post was pretty tame considering all the dillhole's that were coming out of my mouth. And I agree with you. Frankly, I don't care if he agrees with her choices or not. When you take on a leadership role, any leadership role, you do what is right because it's right, not because you happen to personally agree. Allowing people in his administration to continue stonewalling a simple request (that never should have ever been an issue in the first place) for the majority of his time in office until two separate lawsuits that the VA had no hopes of ever winning had to be filed and the media and public jumped all over the case was simply a disgusting display of idiocy. I'm glad he called and apologized for being an ass, he owed her that much. But, it never should have been an issue in the first place. Had he stuck to doing the job and being a leader instead of trying to shove his personal opinions down the throats of all Americans, everything would have been peachy keen. And I don't only blame him for the problem, so no attacks on that one folks. Everyone involved from the VA to the folks in charge for the past decade are at fault there.
I'll shut up now:)
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Fallon
"It is never too late to give up your prejudices." Henry David Thoreau
"In case of dissension, never dare to judge till you've heard the other side." Euripides
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Yeah but what right to him is waaayy different than what's right for the rest of us. To me experiencing different cultures/religions/races/ beliefs can keep that to a minimum or at least you can relate/ or adapt to that situation...guess he and a lot of people didn't get the memo.
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http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/npsm18
That's Really Crappy! "Oh no! Someone is different from me! Egads! Shun them, shun them!"
This is so typical of someone who is afraid of their own shadow, let alone a difference of opinion. However, (and actually, I can't belive I'm going to say this and give Bush any kind of justification, but.......) leaders are NEVER right to everyone. To much subjection, to much interperatation of what is right exists. That is part of what makes us humans so unique. I have just read Thoreau's "On Duty of Civil Disobedience" and I must say he makes a fantastic point when he states (paraphrased) that entirely too many people are content to rant and rave about whats wrong with our political system, what's wrong with our gov't, but when it comes down too too few are willing to actually take action and do something about it. That was in no way a criticism of you, I mean just in general, I am guilty of it too. Although, I am hoping that'll change in the near future once I actually graduate with my degree in International relations. :-)
Oh and by the way, dillhole is very much an understatement.
Ceila --
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ceila30
http://www.progressiveu.org/014405-if-you-could-make-your-unborn-straigh...
I've been reading Thoreau lately as well. He raises some very thought provoking tidbits, doesn't he?
And I agree with you (and him) in that far too many are happy to just bitch instead of doing something. I am guilty of that at times, but I try to operate on a "if you aren't willing to work to fix it, don't bitch about it" mentality. I don't want to be a part of the problem when there are far too many others that fill that role.
And dillhole is probably a huge understatement, but... I have a serious flaw lol. I don't seem to have come with the ability to call people the names they rightly deserve!
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Fallon
"It is never too late to give up your prejudices." Henry David Thoreau
"In case of dissension, never dare to judge till you've heard the other side." Euripides
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Hey, it takes a lot of courage too admit you have a problem, but I definantly agree with you two, and I am guilty of complaining with no interest in doing anything about certain subjects, another cliche thing, GUILTY AS CHARGED. ha.
Caity =)