My latest LTE. I think I probably went a little too far but I get tired of the Republican idea of morality only consists of being against abortion and gay rights. George Bush's lack of moral center led to the tragedy of Iraq. To him those who fought in Vietnam were suckers. He was probably right.
Our Republican friends are always telling us that we are in a moral crisis. I think they are right. They impeached a president for an affair between two consenting adults, and said the world was going to end. They then nominated and elected a president who used political pull to get into an Air Guard unit that had no chance of going to a war, which that president vigorously supported.
This is what Colin Powell had to say about George W. Bush's behavior:
"I am angry that so many of the sons of the powerful and well-placed ... managed to wangle slots in Reserve and National Guard units. ... Of the many tragedies of Vietnam, this raw class discrimination strikes me as the most damaging to the ideal that all Americans are created equal and owe equal allegiance to their country." (Colin Powell's autobiography, "My American Journey," p. 148.)
President Clinton paid a heavy personal price for his actions and apologized for his behavior. President Bush has never apologized, and has lied repeatedly about his, but of course that is who he is. Our country paid a heavy price for electing a man with no moral center.
The problem was not the morality and character of George W. Bush. The problem was the morality and character of those who voted for him.