One part of the President's stump speech that you keep hearing over and over these days is how he does not consider opponents of the war to be "unpatiotic", but that they are wrong. Of course, all the other GOP advertising and rhetoric directly contradicts this statement. OK, here is a reply that I'm not going to hide behind surrogates. I am saying that President George W. Bush is unpatriotic.
A patriot must respect the potential sacrifices of those in our armed services and ask them to make the ultimate commitment to war only after all other measures have been completely exhausted. A patriot does not enable the looting of US Treasury by war profiteers and the military industrial complex. A patriot would not blow off a Presidential Daily Briefing stating that Osama bin Laden was determined to strike in the US, with a cynical brush off of "You've covered your ass". A patriot does not hide behind a shrinking body of sychophants, but welcomes the views of the entire American and world public.
A patriot knows that the President is the leader of American people, not a small band of corporate interests and idealistic extremists. A patriot does not try to divide the American people and turn them against each other. A patriot does not allow his administration to weaken our intelligence agencies by outing a CIA operative working on middle eastern WMD's.
A patriot would not be so uninformed and clueless that hundreds of thousands of Gulf Coast residents could be left in dire shape after Katrina and to a great extent are still suffering the effects of that event. A patriot is not about photo ops and platitudes. A patriot would not take the prospect of war so lightly that he would be ignorant of the difference between Sunni and Shia groups. A patriot would not tout an economy that will face $60 trillion in unfunded US obligations, approximately $150,000 for every man, woman, and child. A patriot does not consort with thugs, liars, and thieves. A patriot does not tout his high moral values while his actions bespeak the opposite. A patriot would not ignore his own NIE report that US actions are increasing the threat of Islamic threat to this country.
I have no illusions that the damage done by this administration can be quickly repaired. Tens of thousands of members of our armed services will need care for both physical and psychological wounds. The ready status of our armed forces has been seriously degraded. The high standing of world support and regard for the US is gone. Tax cuts, deficits, and uncontrolled spending have virtually guaranteed tax increases in the future. It is possible that the next generation of Americans will be the first to have a lower living standard than that of their parents. I do not know how we make amends for the death and suffering we have inflicted on the Iraqi people. The damage is enormous. If the Democrats manage to take one or both houses of Congress, don't celebrate too long, because that is when the really hard work begins.