Dear George,

From Salon's Open Letters to George W. Bush

 

It’s easy running an outlaw presidency when you have enablers like the congressional democrats.  Thanks to them, your crimes are not crimes; they are simply policies awaiting congressional approval.

 

Once again we hear a flapping sound, as democrats fold their tents because they are afraid of being criticized.

 

When they voted in August to grant you a “temporary” extension of your illegal wiretapping in the Protect America Act, they swore they would kill the bill when it came up for renewal in six months. 

 

That was then; this is now, and it suddenly dawned on the democrats that if they tried to kill the Protect America Act, people might think they were (gasp!) soft on terrorism.  They haven’t figured out that their failure to stand for anything is what makes them appear soft. 

 

Nor do they realize that the only people in the country who give a shit about terrorism are their fellow ostriches with their heads buried in the Beltway sand and those for whom antiterrorism is a revenue stream.

 

They say they are simply dealing with reality, i.e. the reality manufactured by your administration.  Instead of fighting this reality tooth and nail and possibly creating a new reality, they bend over and spread their cheeks.

 

Their behavior is so craven, one wonders if surface appearances might be misleading.  Could it be that the democrats have come to realize that they, too, can garner votes by waging fear?  Did they tote up the dollars pouring into their districts via National Security contracts and decide that maybe losing some civil liberties might not be that bad after all?  If contracts and contributions keep pouring in, maybe it’s not even that important to be the party in power.

 

 Nossir!  The democrats know that you don’t make hamburger out of a cash cow.

 

 

There is another dynamic that works to your advantage.  The line seperating right from wrong is not a line but a thick fog bank in to which most of us wander from time to time (some more than others).  The normal person has a functioning moral gyroscope that pulls them back towards the light when he wanders too far into the darkness.  There once was a time, long ago, when you would find the occasional politician with a working gyroscope.  I’m thinking of Sam Erwin and Barbara Jordon who provided moral ballast for the Watergate hearings.  Thank goodness, people like that are relics of the past.

 

The politicians pouring into Washington now have gyroscopes that are broken or missing because they have learned that when they lack both a backbone and ethics their coffers swell.  Should a politician show up with a working gyroscope, Gucci Alley puppeteers surround him and attach strings of campaign contributions to his arms and legs.  By they time they are done, he is clogging across the stage like Pinocchio singing, “I’ve Got No Strings,” while the puppetmeisters pull them hither and yond in a herky-jerky dance. 

 

Yes George, the democrats understand the system well.  Keep putting out no-bid contracts and they will follow you anywhere.

 

Your admirer,

Belacqua Jones

 

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