Mr. President,
I have always believed, and still do, that you place too much faith in your advisers -- Mr. Rove in particular, because I believe he is the driving force behind much of what you do.
After 9-11, I prayed to Almighty God that you would put politics aside and govern this country. I rooted for you, as a lifelong Democrat, to put aside the the partisanship, to lead the world against terrorism and to honor the memories of the nearly 3,000 people who lost their lives that day.
You have arguably failed on that matter. I always attributed that your advisers. I think they told you politics was important, that you could create a governing coalition comprised of the members of your party AND accomplish those same goals I outlined above.
I can accept that. I'm partisan too and I don't know what I would have done in that situation.
But as a consequence, you brought politics and war together. You didn't have to make 2002 a referendum on Saddam Hussein. Your father didn't, but you did.
I can accept the argument that Americans deserve to know how their leaders will govern before an election.
3,000 deaths, no weapons of mass destruction, incompetence in managing this war, a disasterous domestic record and a mid-term election where the American people have begged you to change course and you still won't budge on changing Iraq.
I can accept the fact that you want to win the war to honor those who have fallen. I would support some kind of troop escalation if it could win the war. I always thought in the end I would have cast a vote in favor of Iraq. I believed what you said at the time.
But this is disgraceful. You and your staff have the nerve to use the family of a hero as a prop because you have bad poll numbers and you need a good news cycle after you proposed 20,000 more soldiers be put at risk.
I can't accept that.
And I don't have to accept coincidence any more. You see Mr. President, you've married politics and war. I believe every decision you make is political instead of personal and I damn as well have enough evidence to show for it. I'm destroyed inside at the thought of the families who will never, ever see their sons, daughters, friends, relatives, wives or husbands again. I feel guilty sometimes that I've been spared their kind of pain.
You were never strong enough to say to your staff, "No, there are some things that shouldn't be used to win elections." You didn't then, and sadly still don't, care enough now to change that. To beg God and the American people for forgiveness. To unify a country who so desperately needs to regain its moral standing in the world. Your arrogance is beyond the pale.
And for that, I will always hate you. For your stewardship of this country, for your conduct of this war, for your disdain for Democracy and the people who disagree with you, for your obsession with expanding your own power and, most of all, for your worship at the altar of politics -- an altar stained with the blood of the fallen.
I will always hate the people who brought you to power and who still won't stop you now. I will work my entire life to undue everything you have done and I will ensure your legacy is regarded as the worst blight on our bright American History.
I don't like using that word. I was raised to forgive and not to judge. I've certainly needed forgiveness and been very appreciative some have withheld their judgment regarding me.
But seeing the Duham family yesterday was too much. Thinking of the people you've affected is just too painful. It reminded me too much of the ghosts a family member of mine saw during his last few weeks on this earth. Ghosts from a war fought long ago in the South Pacific against an axis that truly meant to wipe democracy from this earth.
I still have nightmares about that. I can't imagine what the families who have been touched by this war feel. But I won't be surprised if it is hate.
You conservatives and some in the media wonder why some of us on the left are as vehement as we are on this issue. This is why.