Sweet Jesus, Lover of my Soul

That's the phrase used by the minister who prayed just before Pres. Bush spoke. That has to be one of the most beautiful phrases of religion and belief that I have ever heard. Moved me.

Then the camp commandant introduced the Prez. He left no doubt but that the Prez. would be preaching to a Pentecostal choir. The next part of his introduction was so testosterone filled that it came across to me as homoerotic, all those men with hard-ons for God and country, being given to the leader for his service. He called them your marines, not the country's, but the President's personal fighting force. At the risk of being disrespectful, I bet ol' Pres. Bush got an erection. I know Andrew Sullivan did.

I am not criticizing this, I'm just observing it. We are notoriously warlike as a people. These are our warriors. They are purposely dumb-downed to politics so they will serve whomever the President is. If they're especially full of themselves now with their eagerness, maybe that's in part because they felt so estranged from the previous administration. It feels good to be loyal. They didn't feel good with Clinton. They do with President Bush. He is their President. They are his marines. They will fight with fierceness and bring terror to the hearts of the enemy.

Now what I fear is the Peace. His marines and army can give him Baghdad, and probably the head of Saddam Hussein. But can they give him a peaceful Iraq? God, I hope so. If it doesn't happen, let it not be because of a cynical inability on my part to believe in the inate goodness of man who will do good when given the chance. Even if the President were as cynical as those on the Left insist he is, his spoken word is a contract. George W. Bush, President of the United States, knows that. I believe he intends to fulfill the contract. Good luck. I wish you well. Over there.

Over here I'm much more fearful of your vision. You seem strangely disconnected from your promise of reform and progress and with the cost of your programs and proposals. Just as you didn't care for the small homeowner who stood in the way of the stadium you and your business partners convinced the city of Arlington to build for your baseball team, that small homeowner forced to sue to get fair value for their homes, that small homeowner who was forced to move from his home. You didn't care then, and I'm not sure you care now. In a way, thank God the stock market crashed. Otherwise you might have given away the store and crippled Social Security. I can't help but feel as vulnerable as that small homeowner when I envision my relationship to your government. You're always for the Big Guy over the Little Guy.

I'm terrified by the kind of judges and justices you want to appoint. Your judges and justices have consistently taken the side of the government when people on my level challenge it. In workers comp cases, your people assume the worker is trying to scam the government. You take the side of business when it's between me and business. If i try to sue a manufacturer, you think I'm just a whiner wanting something for nothing. It doesn't matter if its Big Government or Big Business, you're for Big. Man, I'm not asking for the fucking moon, I'm asking for fairness. The Democrats aren't that much different from you, but they do try to appoint fair judges and justices. You Republicans wouldn't let Clinton appoint real, serious liberals to the courts.

This is an issue that can and should be exploited against you.