Bush and the permanent campaign

Dear editor, praise God; unlikely people can wake up! Former White House Press Secretary and Bush loyalist, Scott McClellan, in a just-released book, confesses that instead of effective and honest government, Americans were subjected by the Bush administration to a “permanent campaign” that was “all about manipulating sources of public opinion to the president’s advantage” and that Bush relied on an aggressive “political propaganda campaign” instead of the truth to sell the Iraq war.

Nevertheless, because today’s Democratic Congressional leaders lack moral fortitude and have not impeached George W. Bush, the Bush presidential fiasco continues merrily on its perverse way.

On Memorial Day, George W. showed up at the Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia for a “patriotic photo op” and told an audience of veterans and their families that the men and women buried in the cemetery were “an awesome brand of people and the U.S. is blessed to have such citizens.” Well, as a 76-year-old American citizen who grew up during the Roosevelt-Truman era, and who has retained a democratic conscience despite all the political-economic forces in the U.S. that have continuously worked to create a population of conformist sheep and mindless consumers, I denounce President Bush for using falsehoods and deception to mislead the nation into an illegal and unjustified invasion of Iraq that has caused the unnecessary deaths of more than 4,000 “awesome Americans” to date, and left thousands more maimed for life.

Al Cardwell

Napa

Napa Valley Register Copyright © 2009