By Ferruh Demirmen
Dear Mr. President:
I am sorry that I am late writing this memo to you. It is not because of negligence on my part. Rather, I wanted to give you a week to recover from your successor President Obama’s inauguration speech.
Remember Mr. Obama’s speech from the steps of the Capitol on January 20th ? “As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals.” …. “Our founding fathers, … faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man … Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience’s sake.”
And again: ” … our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, … our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.” … “What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility.”… ” … we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas” … “We will restore science to its rightful place.”
Do these sobering quotes mean anything to you, or are they just hollow phrases? However you view them, they were jibes at your presidency.
On your return flight to Texas on that day, your aides expressed irritation at Mr. Obama’s jibes, but you remained silent. You probably did not care, reminiscing instead of the good old days, within reach again, chopping wood or barbequing at your ranch in Crawford, Texas.
But now, about your legacy, Mr. President. In the waning days of your presidency you, Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and your loyal image makers Karl Rove and Karen Hughes engaged in a spinning spree in the media to improve your legacy.
But to no avail. No amount of spinning can erase the scars of eight years of disastrous administration under your leadership.
You see, Mr. President, you can fool some of the people some of the time, but not all the people all the time.
The fact that you left Washington with record-low job approval ratings says enough about your legacy. You don’t need media spinners to set the record straight.
And the world opinion about you has been probably the lowest for any American president – certainly the lowest in memory.
Why so? Do I need to remind you of your inattentive, cavalier attitude toward intelligence reports warning a possible major terror attack before 9/11, your excuses and fabrications to attack a far-away country that did not threaten America, the “shock and awe” you brought on to that country, with horrified children knocked out of their senses, the sheer devastation, the killings and maiming that followed, not only of American soldiers but also of innocent Iraqi civilians, the gruesome corpses strewn on the streets, families ruined and forced to flee the country for their safety, the “weapons of mass destruction” that were never found, and never were, the terrorists that were never there, the ruining and plundering of the art treasures of an ancient civilization?
And the unlawful exposure of a covert CIA operative to cover up false evidence, the horror of Abu Ghraib, the torture and violation of the Geneva Convention at Guantanamo Bay, indefinite detention of suspects without habeas corpus, the infamous “extraordinary renditions,” widespread warrantless wiretappings on American citizens, and the politicization of the Justice Department?
Did you know that the Bill of Rights also forbids cruel and unusual punishment?
Is there a need to recall the huge rise in the number of the uninsured during your administration, the alarming shift in the federal budget (from $128 billion surplus to $482 billion deficit), the skyrocketing national debt (from $5.7 trillion to $10 trillion), the soaring unemployment (2.6 million jobs lost in 2008 alone), the collapsed economy, and now the gathering clouds of a depression born out of greed and irresponsibility?
We thought that the Enron energy scandal during your first term of presidency was a wake-up call for greed and dishonesty in a corporate world that ran amok in a regulatory vacuum, but we were wrong.
Shall we recall the disrespect of science from evolution to stem-cell research under your watch, the opposition to the Kyoto Protocol, the lowering of environmental standards, the callousness in the Hurricane Katrina scandal, and the disquieting decline in the prestige and moral standing of America abroad?
Assuming you care, is this a record to be proud of? Is your conscience at peace?
On reflecting on your presidency recently, you remarked that there were some “disappointments.” That is a very strange way to reflect, Mr. President. Considering the Orwellian turn of events for the worse, one would have expected that you expressed genuine sorrow, and possibly even remorse, instead. Surely, it would be too much to expect an apology from you.
You also said that at times you had “fun.” Fun? Obviously you never appreciated the seriousness of your misdeeds.
And please don’t pass the buck to others. Not to Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, or other underlings. Remember the adage: “The buck stops here.” You were the boss – the big boss. And you impishly proclaimed you are the ultimate “decider.”
Not to overlook your accomplishments, Sir, you extended a helping hand to AIDS victims and the sufferers of the Darfur tragedy in Africa.
And you certainly kept America safe from another terror attack. But did it have to be at the expense of liberty and civil rights at home? And is America any safer now? Could it be that, with the abuses and tortures that were committed, Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo were, in a sense, the breeding grounds for new terrorists?
The estimated 1.5 million people that jubilantly braved the shivering cold on the National Mall on the Inauguration Day was as much a testimony to a new era of hope under a new president as it was a sign of relief seeing a failed president finally leave the White House. For the masses, your departure meant the end of a nightmare.
Considering the widespread abuse of power in your administration, many wonder how you avoided impeachment.
On that note, I myself wonder how you managed to be elected not just once, but twice as the President of the United States. Certainly, some things are beyond my comprehension, and I am humbled by that recognition.
But you can be sure that, if President Obama messes up things as you did, I will be as much critical of him as I am of you. Nothing personal.
As you settle in your new home in a wealthy community in Dallas, there will be some nice distractions, such as occasional interviews, speaking engagements, building your presidential library, and “writing” your memoirs. But whatever you do, Mr. President, your legacy will follow you.
And there will be no escape from the judgment of history.
On the light side, the world will miss your mental or linguistic clarity, came to be known as “Bushism,” such as “If we don’t succeed, we run the risk of failure,” that brought tears to eyes for millions.
All that said, Mr. President, I wish you a happy retirement. But please pray and make atonement, day and night, for all the innocent souls, American and Iraqi, and other, that lost their lives because of your devious schemes over the senseless Iraq war. Atonement is simply being human. Also, consider becoming a church minister for the rest of life. Or lock yourself up in a convent for eternal salvation. Perhaps, just as He called on you to run for President years ago, God will be calling on you again.
Respectfully.
ferruh@demirmen.com
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