For eatyouryoung

Recently, I've been in a bit of a conversation with a diaryland friend, eatyouryoung about our president, George W. Bush. She thinks he's kind of swell--and if you know me, or if you read my journal, you probably can guess that I don't respect the man. Not that I blame all our country's problems on him (the roots of the problems are very deep, indeed) but I just can't quite wrap my head around why a young woman like eatyouryoung, otherwise seemingly pretty liberally-tended, would be so enamored with him.

Following is a letter I wrote, about a year ago, to the Nobel Prize committee, when I found out that Mr. Bush was nominated for their Peace Prize (the honor went, thankfully, to one of his predecessors, Jimmy Carter. If it had gone to Bush, it would have constituted Reason Number 3,467 for me to move to Canada, but I digress, as usual.)

This letter is but a cube in the iceberg of my criticism of the man, but hopefully it will spark some thought about what he really stands for.

So, shouts out to eatyouryoung (whose name I wish I actually knew! I can't seem to find it in your journal)--let me know what you think, and thank you so much for putting up with me!

Honorable members of the Nobel Institute,

It is with the utmost respect for the Institute that I am submitting this request that you reject George W. Bush as a serious candidate for a Nobel Peace Prize. Nobel Laureates of the past have demonstrated great contributions to the causes for social justice, peace, and true democratization. I think of Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, Dr. Jose Ramos-Horta of Indonesia, and our own Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.--true peacemakers.

George W. Bush, as governor of the state of Texas, USA, officiated the execution of more human beings than any other governor since the death penalty was reinstituted in the United States in the 1970s. His active role in the utilization of this outmoded and racist practice demonstrates how out of step Mr. Bush is with the international community of nations, and just how unworthy he is of recognition as a visionary for peace.

Now as President of one of the most powerful and dominant nations on the globe, he has chosen to exploit a moment of true terror, the September attack on New York and the Pentagon, to perpetuate and dramatically escalate the intensity of militarization around the world.

He has cluster bombed, killed, and maimed thousands of innocent civilians, laying even more waste to Afghanistan, one of the poorest nations in the world, all in the name of defeating terrorism. He has proposed increases in the military budget of the United States that will bankrupt the country's already-faltering education and human needs programs, and will represent ever more devastation to the countries targeted in this wrong-minded war.

To further his war on terrorism, he has also actively ripped away at the laws that protect the civil liberties of innocent people. He has condoned the incarceration of hundreds of detainees in the United States and elsewhere in the world with only the vaguest shreds of evidence connecting these people to terrorism, and sometimes with no evidence whatsoever. Hundreds of these detainees are still in jail, having had no charges brought against them. Likely, time will tell that most of these prisoners' only "crime" will have been the color of their skin or their "unfortunate" country of origin.

Perhaps the most disturbing aspect in fathoming George W. Bush as the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize is that he has done exactly the opposite of what a true peacemaker would do in the face of something as horrifying as the September 11 attacks: a true peacemaker would learn, finally, the lesson that our insistent history has so often portended--violence only begets more violence. A violent response to terrorism will only bring more terrorism and more needless devastation. It already has.

Thank you for your consideration.

(signed, XXXX)

Peace, y'all,

Bree

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