Text 18159, 72 rader
Skriven 2006-03-09 09:29:06 av BOB SAKOWSKI (1:123/140)
Ärende: A true patriot
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In contrast to the pseudo-patriots of the Lickspittle Legion here, read the
words of a true patriot.  Are you listening John Hull?




President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President:

As a young man I was honored to serve our nation as a commissioned officer
and helicopter pilot in the

U. S. Navy. Before me in WWII, my father defended the country spending two
years in the Pacific aboard the U.S.S. Hornet (CV-14). We were patriots
sworn “to protect and defendö. Today I conclude that you have dishonored
our service and the Constitution and principles of our oath. My dad was
buried with full military honors so I cannot act for him. But for myself, I
return enclosed the symbols of my years of service: the shoulder boards of
my rank and my Naval Aviator’s wings.

Until your administration, I believed it was inconceivable that the United
States would ever initiate an aggressive and preemptive war against a
country that posed no threat to us. Until your administration, I thought it
was impossible for our nation to take hundreds of persons into custody
without provable charges of any kind, and to “disappearö them into holes
like Gitmo, Abu Ghraib and Bagram. Until your administration, in my wildest
legal fantasy I could not imagine a U.S. Attorney General seeking to
justify torture or a President first stating his intent to veto an
anti-torture law, and then adding a “signing statementö that he intends to
ignore such law as he sees fit. I do not want these things done in my name.

As a citizen, a patriot, a parent and grandparent, a lawyer and law teacher
I am left with such a feeling of loss and helplessness. I think of myself
as a good American and I ask myself what can I do when I see the face of
evil? Illegal and immoral war, torture and confinement for life without
trial have never been part of our Constitutional tradition. But my vote has
become meaningless because I live in a safe district drawn by your
political party. My congressman is unresponsive to my concerns because his
time is filled with lobbyists’ largess. Protests are limited to your “free
speech zonesö, out of sight of the parade. Even speaking openly is to risk
being labeled un-American, pro-terrorist or anti-troops. And I am a
disciplined pacifist, so any violent act is out of the question.

Nevertheless, to remain silent is to let you think I approve or support
your actions. I do not. So, I am saddened to give up my wings and bars.
They were hard won and my parents and wife were as proud as I was when I
earned them over forty years ago. But I hate the torture and death you have
caused more than I value their symbolism. Giving them up makes me cry for
my beloved country.

Joseph W. DuRocher

Joseph DuRocher was for 20 years the elected Public Defender of Florida’s
Ninth Judicial Circuit, covering Orange and Osceola counties. Since
retirement, he’s been writing and teaching law at the University of Central
Florida and the Barry University School of Law. He was a commissioned
officer in the U.S. Navy in the 1960s, serving as a Naval Aviator in the
Atlantic, the Caribbean and the Mediterranean. On Monday, Mr. DuRocher
returned his Lieutenant’s shoulder bars and Navy wings to President Bush,
and enclosed the letter above.

[end]

Good night, John Hull wherever you are!

Corruption & Incompetence Central, aka the Bush White House
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