Soapbox

Pat the Bunny

Editor: Columbus Dispatch

George W. Bush’s recent Columbus appearance (08/04) actually had the nerve to call itself “Ask President Bush”. If they were honest it would have been called “Pat the President”.

Columbus residents were required to have a ticket to get in, and needed a background check to get a ticket! One can only assume that anyone who didn’t meet their neocon standards~ unemployed, belongs to a union, dobated money to an environmental group, etc.~ was not welcome.

This is in keeping with the recent trend of Bush/Cheney appearances, where the audience must sign a loyalty/voting pledge to see the men who are supposed to be the servants of the American people. They demanded that a photographer for the Arizona Sun Times declare her race in order to be allowed to cover an appearance by Dick Cheney. Apparently this administration is afraid of the American people and the questions they have, such as:

~Mr. President, why are so many needy Ohio children being left behind as Headstart programs close for lack of funding?

~Why are you searching for WMD in Iraq when Don Rumsfeld has begun a program to develop small, portable nuclear weapons right here in the US?

~How can you say you support our troops when you threatened to veto the recent military appropriations bill unless Congress removed the money earmarked for health benefits for veterans!

~Why did you try to prevent the 9/11 Commission from being formed, block it at every turn, promise to fully implement their recommendations, and then refuse to follow many of them?

~Why did you send our soldiers to war without decent planning or supplies, resulting in needless suffering and death?

~President Bush, in your first campaign you promised to unite the country, give a tax cut to the poor, strengthen Social Security, protect the environment and not engage in “nation building” overseas. Since you broke all of those promises, and in light of your dishonesty over WMD, why should we believe a single word you say?

The American people have the right to question the way our president runs the country. With George Bush in office, we’ll never get the chance.