Here Comes the BookMobile!

Dear Mr. President,

I am encouraged to hear you’re reading. I am less encouraged that it is material on what to do after your presidency. Aren’t there any books written about how to run a presidency? Are there no “United States Presidency for Dummies” books out there? It seems you need less help in how to spend time off than you do on how to spend time in the oval office.

It’s reported that you are a history buff. You might want to consider reading books on Harry S. Truman. I found one in particular that might be eye-opening. Talking with Harry: Candid Conversations with President Harry S. Truman The description reads: This book provides a vivid portrait of Truman, "warts and all."

Here’s another book that caught my eye. Presidents Under Fire: Commanders-in-Chief in Victory and Defeat, by James Arnold. It’s a book about how four Presidents lead their nation during wartime: George Washington turned a series of setbacks into a triumph; James K Polk was the first president to direct a war fought on foreign soil; Jefferson Davis was the first American commander in chief to fail in war; Lyndon B. Johnson "lacked the courage to resist starting a war. Later he lacked the courage to cut his losses and withdraw." (Sound familiar?)

In fact, here are a bunch of books that might be more appropriate to read than “How I Spent my Retirement.”

The American Presidency: An Intellectual History by Forrest McDonald

Reassessing the Presidency: The Rise of the Executive State and the Decline of Freedom by John V. Denson

The American Presidency (Essays on all 43 Presidents) edited by Alan Brinkley

Presidential Performance: A Comprehensive Review by Max Skidmore

That should keep you busy for the next three years.

Oh, and since you like Theodore Roosevelt, consider this quote attributed to him: “Public rights come first and private interests second.”

Season's Greetings

Dear Mr. President,

I have a few conservative republican relatives and friends and, trust me, the holidays – I mean Christmas time –is always an interesting attempt to avoid talking about current events. One of the things often pushed back in my face when I do express how horrible a President you are, is the Patriot Act. “What rights have you lost?” “You only have to be concerned if you are engaging in terrorists activities.” Well, I am not engaging in terrorist activities; however, the definition of terrorist activities seems to be broadening so much these days that maybe I am and I don’t even realize it. Perhaps just the fact that I consider the leader of my country to be the most ineffective, untrustworthy, detrimental President I have ever known or read about might indicate that I have terrorist leanings. At least, that’s what some of the right way hype-meisters are leading people to believe.

Recently you announced that you are allowing (instituting, ordering, dictating?) that warrantless wiretaps are okay on U.S. citizens. So, now, if some law enforcement agency decides it wants to tap my phone, it can – even though it may not be warranted (pun intended). Oh, I realize this has nothing to do with the Patriot Act. The Senate seems finally able to break free of whatever kool-aid drink you’ve been serving them and make a decision that is actually good for this country. But, being who you are, you couldn’t let that stand. You announced this wiretap thing which is creating quite a stir - although not quite as much of a stir as the fact that you used the phrase “Holiday Season” on your Christmas cards (oops, I mean “ChristmaHanuKwanzica” cards). What the hell is wrong with this country? I actually found myself taking your side on this one. (The holiday season thing, not the wiretaps.)

Mr. President, what this is telling me is that you are not doing what is absolutely necessary to bring this country together. We are falling apart and you are using the tools of terrorists in a futile attempt to secure your own name in the history books. There is torture of prisoners, limiting of freedoms, going to war under false pretenses and, perhaps the worst, blatantly lying to your people to serve your own interests. I am having trouble differentiating your actions with those of a dictator. Help me out. Perhaps you have very valid and noble reasons for doing what you are doing. Why not tell us? Why not explain to the American People what your plans are? Oh, wait, that would imply you actually have viable plans. You indicate we are going to war because of WMDs and then there are none. You claim you want to fight against terrorism and yet your public statements on torture lead most people to believe you were for it. For the record, I don’t believe you are for torture. However, I am a wide-eyed liberal. What the hell do I know, right?

Please consider the following as your gift to the American People this Holiday Season: Fire Karl Rove, Dick Cheney (and a myriad of other players I won’t even bother naming here), then resign. You could at least fire Karl Rove. Does he have some sort of Christ complex just because he was born on December 25^th? If he’s Christ, what does that make you? I don’t recall Christ acting as advisor to anyone in the New Testament. Unless you count the disciples; but they followed Christ, not the other way around.

This Holiday Season give the gift that will benefit the most people, let someone else run this country. Of course, in researching who would come next in the line of succession for this presidency I wasn’t too pleased with the candidates. Here’s how it plays out:

President – you, who should resign

Vice President – Dick Cheney, who should do himself and his family a favor and resign now for health reasons.

Speaker of The House – Dennis Hastert (R, IN), who has an official complaint lodged against him with the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct by a private citizen (a democrat, no surprise) following his appearance on a news talk show in which he implied that the citizen received his wealth from drug cartels overseas.

President Pro Tempore of the Senate – Ted Stevens (R,AK), who’s ethics have come into question after he wanted Katrina money to go instead to “bridges to nowhere” being built in Alaska. He actually threatened to resign rather than yield the money away from his state.

Secretary of State - Condoleezza Rice, who, aside from the fact that she lives at the famous Watergate Apartments, has openly declared that she is not interested in the Presidency (apart from inadvertently referring to Bush as her “husband”).

Secretary of the Treasury - John Snow, who actually seems like a decent guy. When it was discovered that his financial brokers had purchased $10M in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac debt, he divested his holdings; even though Treasury ethics lawyers indicated that it was not currently a conflict of interest (it just had the potential to be one). Too bad, we’ll never get this far down the list.

So, Happy ChristmaHanuKwanzica, Mr. President. Enjoy the time you have left before this country wises up and demands your immediate resignation.

Festively Yours,

Laura

P.S. Please do not use my political dissent as an excuse to tap my phones.