Plutonium Page wrote yesterday:
When will he go to a soldier's funeral? Probably never. My ass he "lamented the deaths of the 14 Marines...".
And just think! He's on vacation. God forbid he should actually work, much less trouble his empty brain with thoughts of dead soldiers for more than the time it takes to say a few bullshit sentences that someone told him to say.
Mission fucking accomplished, asshole.
Wingnuts, of course, will come up with excuses to defend the President. A friend of mine told me, "Bush shouldn't attend any funerals. If he attended one or two funerals, he'd have to attend all of them."
My response: That's bull.
You know what I think? I think Bush SHOULD attend EVERY SINGLE FUNERAL. It's his war, he started it, and because of his arrogance, brave Americans are over there right now dying for no good reason. Good people are being killed!
If Bush really valued human life (which he doesn't) he would show his respect by attending funerals of soldiers that died fighting his unjustified, immoral war.
How much vacation time is this guy taking again?
Way too much.
49 - the number of vacations that Bush has taken since he was inaugurated in 2001
5 - the number of weeks that Bush will spend on vacation, starting yesterday. It is the longest presidential vacation in at least 36 years.
319 - August 3, 2005 was the 319th day Bush has spent on vacation since his 2001 inauguration.
20% - the fraction of Bush's presidency that he has spent on vacation
Did I mention that innocent Iraqis are dying too, for no good reason, as a result of this unjustified conflict?
You know, since Bush is "on vacation", you'd think he would be able to go to Ohio, the state that has the dubious distinction of sealing his phony win last November, and attend the funerals of these Marines.
But, no. Clearing brush at Crawford and kicking back is more important than going to soldiers' funerals.
It's not unexpected, it's not a surprise to any of us that this is happening. But it should still be an outrage:
President Bush lamented the deaths of 14 Marines in Iraq Wednesday, calling the deadly attack a "grim reminder" America is still at war.
Here's what it really should have said, though:
President Bush brushed aside the deaths of 14 Marines in Iraq Wednesday, calling the deadly attack "an unfortunate side effect" of his plans to expand imperialist power in the Middle East.
I've always wondered whether Bush's brain is really empty, as Plutonium Page asserted, or if he really does understand what's happening and just doesn't care.
I'm inclined to think it's the former. I agree with Plutonium Page. Bush is programmable. He really gets propped up a lot.
The bottom line is, he has nothing to lose by attending soldiers' funerals. In fact, it'd probably be good for his image.
But it seems that relatives and friends of the newly deceased are beginning to develop a strong disgust for Bush:
The sorrow in Brook Park, a Cleveland suburb of 21,000 people, was painfully clear Wednesday among the line of customers sipping their morning coffee at the counter of a doughnut shop down the street from the battalion's headquarters. Nearly everyone at the counter said they knew someone who was connected to the battalion.
"You never know who it could be. It could be your best friend. It could be your husband - it could be anyone from here," Eleanor Matelski, 69, said as she angrily tore up a paper cup that had held her coffee.
"Tell Bush to get our soldiers out of there now before any more of our soldiers die. This is getting to be ridiculous," she said.
(emphasis mine)
It was ridiculous a long time ago. But it's nice to see that more and more Americans are beginning to feel this way.
Democrats need to run on Iraq in 2006 - and push hard on Iraq. Like Paul Hackett did. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain.