by Freida Marie Crump
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Greetings from the Ridge.
Dear President Bush,
Forgive the informality of a letter. I’d much rather talk with you face to face but the chances of that are practically nil in a non-election year. I figure I don’t stand a chance of meeting you with the campaign going on since I can’t bring myself to sign a loyalty oath just to attend one of your campaigns. Of course I’d lie to get in but I’m not much of an actor and would probably start giggling half way through the pledge to your allegiance.
Let me state right off the bat that I am somewhat of a rarity. I’m an open-minded Democrat despite the fact that my husband Herb says there is no such thing. However I have voted for Republicans and in non-election years I have several Republican friends. Once the November election is over I’m sure we’ll start potlucking together again.
I’m not writing to complain about the job you’re doing. Smarter folks than me are doing a much better job of that than I could. I’d simply like to make an honest plea on behalf of the American citizen: If you should have to leave office next year, don’t take anything with you.
This may seem an odd request but let me explain. Many of our former Presidents and their staff members have been a little light-fingered when cleaning out their drawers and moving on to the green pastures of consulting and speech making. Oh, nobody’s stolen the Washington Monument, but each incoming administration has found various files and mementoes missing from the White House and the Presidential archives.
You may remember that when you came into office you found that Bill Clinton’s boys had done some mischief to the White House files and computers.
If you don’t get a return ticket to Washington this November, all I ask is that you don’t take anything with you. It’s just not moral and it costs us dearly.
And I’m afraid that in some cases it’s already too late.
Last week a father took his two high school sons to one of your rallies. When one of the boys opened his billfold to fetch his ticket, one of your security guards noticed a faded John Kerry sticker inside the billfold. The boy was kicked out, his brother was kicked out, and his father was kicked out for bringing such a radical terrorist to a free and open political discussion. Mr. President, when you leave office please don’t take freedom with you.
Your Patriot Act now allows the FBI to snoop into my library records, the courses I took in high school, and the particulars of my last rectal exam without giving any reason or proving just cause. You said at the time that this was a temporary measure and now you’re hinting at a permanent extension and Patriot Act II. Every morning I wake up and check to see if someone’s sewn a yellow library card onto my shirt.
Please Mr. President, when you leave office make sure that you leave freedom behind.
Four years ago you took an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. Tucked somewhere into that moldy old document you’ll find the Bill of Rights. When you leave office, please leave both documents and the freedom that engendered them behind.
Yes, I know you’ve justified all these acts in the name of national security. Please remember that a nation’s security means nothing if the freedom of an individual is not secure. The safety of my nation’s borders mean little if my own life is open to unwarranted intrusion. As you toodle off to Texas, please leave freedom intact.
Okay, I’ll admit that you may not be aware of the concern for individual freedom that still runs crazily amuck out here in the hinterland. Your aides have managed to keep you safely insulated from the press since the war began.
Your battle cry has been, "They are attacking us because they hate freedom!" That argument has all the depth of "The Devil Made Me Do It." Let’s not get the two confused and if you do get a second term in office you might want to spend just a little time trying to figure out why this is. In the meantime, please make sure that when you leave office there’s some freedom left to hate.
p.s. I’ve sent a copy of this letter to John Kerry in case he ends up with your job. Presidential challengers too often take on the sins of the incumbent once somebody puts the reins in their hands. On most issues it makes little difference who’s drinking his coffee in the Oval Office next January. If properly cared for, freedom will outlast either one of you.
You ever in Coonridge, stop by. We may not answer the door but you’ll enjoy the trip.