- "Why, Mr. President, can you send hundreds of thousands
of troops to far away countries to kill suspected 'terrorists' with cluster
bombs and munitions coated with depleted uranium and tanks and warplanes
and an endless supply of high-tech weapons and I, as an American citizen,
cannot go to my neighbors' house and kill them if I suspect them of being
terrorists?"
-
- "Are you implying that you are more intelligent
than I, and therefore have the wisdom to decide who to kill, including
hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women and children because suspected
'terrorists' are in areas near those innocents?"
-
- "And, Mr. President, if you can pick up anyone off
the street in far-off countries and send them to hidden places to be tortured,
without benefit of legal counsel or the basic necessities human beings
depend upon for keeping their sanity, why can't I, likewise, drag my neighbors
into my dark, rat-infested basement and torture them until they tell me
exactly what I need and want to know concerning their suspected terrorist
activities?"
-
- Is your answer, "Because you, dear citizen, have
a police force to keep you safe from terrorists, so you need not take the
law into your own hands."
-
- "I see, Mr. President. But, you say I have a police
force to keep me safe: I noticed you didn't say I have an army to keep
me safe. Is there a difference in an army and a police force?"
-
- Would you answer and say, "There is really no distinction
between the two in today's world, where terrorists are hiding behind every
tree and every small child."
-
- "But, Mr. President, are you telling me that our
armed forces are trained to protect and to serve, just as our police force
is trained to protect and to serve? In truth, are not our armed forces
trained to kill and break things? Is our police force trained
in the fine art of torture? Are they trained to kill whole families
because a suspected terrorist might be in the bushes? Is our
police force really adept at displacing millions of families from their
homes and towns and cities? Does our police force shoot at speeding
cars and trucks simply because suspected terrorists are in them? Does
our police force dive-bomb our citizens with super-sonic jet planes for
the purpose of protecting and serving us?
-
- Is your answer, "There are things a Commander in
Chief must do that average citizens cannot fathom in their day to day living
the average citizen has no idea how difficult it is for me to send
people off to kill and be killed?"
-
- "But, Mr. President, were you not an average citizen
before you became the most powerful person in the world? Were
you miraculously transformed into a god-like being, with omniscient powers
of perception and good judgment? Were you suddenly aware of
all of the consequences of all of your actions?"
-
- Would you answer me by saying, "I have the best
advisers in the free world; I have the best brain-power ever amassed in
one think-tank to show me the good and proper way to lead a nation of free
people."
-
- "If this is your answer, Mr. President, then why
have you destroyed so many lives? Why have you bankrupted our
nation in the eight short years of your stewardship? Why have
you neglected to maintain and repair the crumbling infrastructure of our
once solvent and viable country? And, why have so many of your
advisers and high-ranking people left your command? Were they
saying things you did not want to hear, or did they leave because they
feared for their lives and fortunes because of impending war-crimes trials?"
-
- "You have suddenly become silent, Mr. President;
is it because you are trying to think of some very important, deep, philosophical
answer, or are you thinking of all the people you plan on pardoning before
leaving office? How long is the list, Mr. President? Is
your name the first one on that list? When you leave office, will
you once more become just an ordinary citizen, like me? Or will
you go on lecture tours and collect $$$$$$$$$$$$ for telling crowds of
adoring people how you gave up golf in order to honor those who went off
to kill and be killed, while on your watch?"
-
- "I think I know the answer, Mr. President
but I would dearly like to hear yours."
-
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