Letter to Bush
Thomas Hansen | 24.08.2005 16:53
A letter to Bush:
Dear President Bush: August 23, 2005
I just spent three days in and around your town of Crawford, and it was clear to me that there are many Crawford residents who are pleased to have you as a neighbor. Your image and name and the signs supporting you and your presidency are certainly abundant. I had no trouble at all finding President Bush postcards to bring home with me, even one that details Laura’s Texas Cowboy Cookies. My wife and I plan to bake them at our house soon.
I didn’t spend most of my time in Crawford, however. I was actually much closer to your ranch most of each day, standing and sitting alongside the road at Camp Casey, along with a few hundred other outsiders who came to support the message of Cindy Sheehan. I talked to people from all over America who had come to be as close to your ranch as we were allowed, to give you the message that your time of isolation is over. You can stay holed up at the ranch, or in the White House, or in friendly gatherings of your supporters, but from now on you will have constant reminders, wherever you are, that we the people of America, the majority now, do not approve of the process you used to take the country to war, nor of your conduct of the war. We do not approve of a President who lies to the people and to Congress and to the United Nations about the reasons for going to war, and then makes jokes about looking for WMDs under his desk, when American soldiers have been killed because you knowingly sent them to l ook for those nonexistent WMDs.
I’m writing you now because there is one aspect of your conduct of this war, and of your Presidency, that troubles me above all others. It is the God factor. Did you happen to hear about the sign that some of your supporters were displaying on the fence across the road from Camp Casey? It was neatly printed and I could easily read it from our side of the road. It said, “Perhaps it’s Providence. Democracy is a prerequisite.” Then there was scripture at the bottom, saying “And this gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world… Matt: 24:14.”
I regret now that I didn’t go across the road to ask your supporters what they meant by the sign. We were each pretty much keeping to our own sides of the road; the several Sheriff Deputies and the Sheriff’s helicopter circling over us for hours, tended to make both sides think that we should stay put. But I just got home now and pulled out my Lutheran Confirmation Bible from1957 and looked up Matthew 24:14. The full text in my Revised Standard Version says, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, as a testimony to all nations; and then the end will come.” Hey, wait a minute. Is this what some of your supporters mean, that when we have democracy in the whole world, guided by Providence, then the gospel of the kingdom can be spread to all nations, and then the end times can come, and then Jesus will return? Mr. President, what does this sign mean to you? Do you agree with it?
What do you think, Mr. President? Do you think you are on a mission to bring about the end times? And if so, what do you see as the trigger point, democracies in every nation? Or is Armageddon the trigger, as some Christians interpret the Bible? Lately you have been warning us about Iran’s evil intentions more and more, just like you did before you invaded Iraq, so does this mean that Iran is to be the next democracy convert? I have heard some people warning you that if you invade or bomb Iran, you will be starting World War III. I am wondering if the logical arguments against attacking Iran will have any effect on you and many of your supporters, because for you perhaps it is a win-win situation? If Iran is conquered and you make it a democracy, then the end times are that much nearer and Jesus will return that much sooner. But if your invasion of Iran is met with widespread resistance from Iran and in other Muslim countries, then you trigger WWIII, and once again the end times are that much closer.
Do you believe what that sign across the road implies, that you are on a Holy end-times mission? I think this is a legitimate question to ask of you, since it appears that so many millions of your supporters believe that you are doing the Will of God. For example, last fall in Washington I happened upon an event on the Mall, with the Capitol in the background, where thousands of attendees were being told by the speakers that they must pray for America, because America has sinned and was then punished with 9/11, and that America is for Jesus, and that they must vote for you for President again. What do you think about their view of God’s Will for America? Millions of them voted for you, so when you make a decision about invading the next country or not, do you feel any allegiance to their way of looking at “reality?”
In closing this letter to you, Mr. President, I just want to remind you that you can’t hide from us. Hundreds will continue to be in the ditches near your ranch until you meet with Cindy or others, or until you go back to Washington. And on Saturday, September 24th, hundreds of thousands of us will meet at the Washington Monument at 11am, to peacefully give you the demonstration that we are no longer willing to be quiet while you guide our beloved America into perpetual war and potential WWIII. We want you to work with leaders and intellectuals who have other ideas than yours about how to remove the threat of terrorism from our country and the world. If you don’t listen to us, then you can expect that eventually there will be millions of us near you wherever you try to hide, giving you no rest, for we are fervent for a peaceful world, and we will not let you thwart our desire for peace. We will protest peacefully and nonviolently and in great numbers, until you change your mind, change your policy, develop a sensible and rapid exit strategy from Iraq, seriously look for the real causes of terrorism, and level with the people of America. Can you do that? If not, see you in Crawford.
Sincerely, Thomas Hansen, Ph.D., Charlottesville, Virginia
thansen103@aol.com
(Permission is given by the author to publish and distribute this letter. TH)
Dear President Bush: August 23, 2005
I just spent three days in and around your town of Crawford, and it was clear to me that there are many Crawford residents who are pleased to have you as a neighbor. Your image and name and the signs supporting you and your presidency are certainly abundant. I had no trouble at all finding President Bush postcards to bring home with me, even one that details Laura’s Texas Cowboy Cookies. My wife and I plan to bake them at our house soon.
I didn’t spend most of my time in Crawford, however. I was actually much closer to your ranch most of each day, standing and sitting alongside the road at Camp Casey, along with a few hundred other outsiders who came to support the message of Cindy Sheehan. I talked to people from all over America who had come to be as close to your ranch as we were allowed, to give you the message that your time of isolation is over. You can stay holed up at the ranch, or in the White House, or in friendly gatherings of your supporters, but from now on you will have constant reminders, wherever you are, that we the people of America, the majority now, do not approve of the process you used to take the country to war, nor of your conduct of the war. We do not approve of a President who lies to the people and to Congress and to the United Nations about the reasons for going to war, and then makes jokes about looking for WMDs under his desk, when American soldiers have been killed because you knowingly sent them to l ook for those nonexistent WMDs.
I’m writing you now because there is one aspect of your conduct of this war, and of your Presidency, that troubles me above all others. It is the God factor. Did you happen to hear about the sign that some of your supporters were displaying on the fence across the road from Camp Casey? It was neatly printed and I could easily read it from our side of the road. It said, “Perhaps it’s Providence. Democracy is a prerequisite.” Then there was scripture at the bottom, saying “And this gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world… Matt: 24:14.”
I regret now that I didn’t go across the road to ask your supporters what they meant by the sign. We were each pretty much keeping to our own sides of the road; the several Sheriff Deputies and the Sheriff’s helicopter circling over us for hours, tended to make both sides think that we should stay put. But I just got home now and pulled out my Lutheran Confirmation Bible from1957 and looked up Matthew 24:14. The full text in my Revised Standard Version says, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, as a testimony to all nations; and then the end will come.” Hey, wait a minute. Is this what some of your supporters mean, that when we have democracy in the whole world, guided by Providence, then the gospel of the kingdom can be spread to all nations, and then the end times can come, and then Jesus will return? Mr. President, what does this sign mean to you? Do you agree with it?
What do you think, Mr. President? Do you think you are on a mission to bring about the end times? And if so, what do you see as the trigger point, democracies in every nation? Or is Armageddon the trigger, as some Christians interpret the Bible? Lately you have been warning us about Iran’s evil intentions more and more, just like you did before you invaded Iraq, so does this mean that Iran is to be the next democracy convert? I have heard some people warning you that if you invade or bomb Iran, you will be starting World War III. I am wondering if the logical arguments against attacking Iran will have any effect on you and many of your supporters, because for you perhaps it is a win-win situation? If Iran is conquered and you make it a democracy, then the end times are that much nearer and Jesus will return that much sooner. But if your invasion of Iran is met with widespread resistance from Iran and in other Muslim countries, then you trigger WWIII, and once again the end times are that much closer.
Do you believe what that sign across the road implies, that you are on a Holy end-times mission? I think this is a legitimate question to ask of you, since it appears that so many millions of your supporters believe that you are doing the Will of God. For example, last fall in Washington I happened upon an event on the Mall, with the Capitol in the background, where thousands of attendees were being told by the speakers that they must pray for America, because America has sinned and was then punished with 9/11, and that America is for Jesus, and that they must vote for you for President again. What do you think about their view of God’s Will for America? Millions of them voted for you, so when you make a decision about invading the next country or not, do you feel any allegiance to their way of looking at “reality?”
In closing this letter to you, Mr. President, I just want to remind you that you can’t hide from us. Hundreds will continue to be in the ditches near your ranch until you meet with Cindy or others, or until you go back to Washington. And on Saturday, September 24th, hundreds of thousands of us will meet at the Washington Monument at 11am, to peacefully give you the demonstration that we are no longer willing to be quiet while you guide our beloved America into perpetual war and potential WWIII. We want you to work with leaders and intellectuals who have other ideas than yours about how to remove the threat of terrorism from our country and the world. If you don’t listen to us, then you can expect that eventually there will be millions of us near you wherever you try to hide, giving you no rest, for we are fervent for a peaceful world, and we will not let you thwart our desire for peace. We will protest peacefully and nonviolently and in great numbers, until you change your mind, change your policy, develop a sensible and rapid exit strategy from Iraq, seriously look for the real causes of terrorism, and level with the people of America. Can you do that? If not, see you in Crawford.
Sincerely, Thomas Hansen, Ph.D., Charlottesville, Virginia
thansen103@aol.com (Permission is given by the author to publish and distribute this letter. TH)
Thomas Hansen