Mr. Bush's failures as a President shouldn't surprise anyone. He`s been a failure at just about everything he has ever done. Why should we think that just because he was elected to the toughest job in the world his luck would change? But today's gaffe takes the cake. The knucklehead can't even get a Veteran's Day speech right. You know, the day we honor our veterans, irrespective of their party affiliations or political bents. Mr. Bush needs a little history lesson and some advise on propriety. The history lesson and my rant below the fold.
In November 1919, President Wilson issued an Armistice proclamation to honor the "heroism of those who died in the country`s service with gratitude for the victory (WWI), both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nation."
On June 4, 1926, The United States Congress officially recognized the end of World War I when it passed a concurrent resolution on June 4, 1926, with these words (in relevant part):
Whereas the 11th of November 1918, marked the
cessation of the most destructive, sanguinary, and
far reaching war in human annals and the resumption by
the people of the United States of peaceful
relations with other nations, which we hope may never
again be severed...
In 1938, Congress passed a bill that said each November 11 "shall be dedicated to the cause of world peace and ...hereafter celebrated and known as Armistice Day."
On May 24, 1954, the name of the day was changed to Veterans' Day by an Act of Congress. President Eisenhower proclaimed (in relevant part):
Now, Therefore, I, Dwight D. Eisenhower, President of
the United States of America , do hereby call upon
all of our citizens to observe Thursday, November 11,
1954 , as Veterans Day. On that day let us solemnly
remember the sacrifices of all those who fought so
valiantly, on the seas, in the air, and on foreign
shores, to preserve our heritage of freedom, and let
us reconsecrate ourselves to the task of promoting
and enduring peace so that their efforts shall not
have been in vain.
Rather than simply honoring veterans, our "dimwit in charge" used this one day of the year not to unite our country in honoring Veterans but to defend his actions for going to war. He selfishly claimed his critics were aiding the enemy. He selfishly claimed that he did not falsify the reasons America went to war. He selfishly claimed that the entire Senate was provided with complete National Intelligence Estimates. In short, on Veterans Day, the day that Wilson called for America to "show her sympathy for peace" and Eisenhower proclaimed as the day to reconsecrate ourselves to promoting world peace, Mr. Bush went on the offensive to justify his preemptory war.
I knew the guy was a lout, but until today I didn't really comprehend how big a lout he really was. Instead of honoring veterans by promoting an enduring peace, he once again took the low road and lashed out at his opponents in a reconsecration of promoting war as the means to resolve disputes.