Liberty For All

by Jessi Winchester, author of From Bordello to Ballot Box

“Government is not the solution to our problem; government IS the problem.”

- Ronald Reagan

Sgt. Ernest Bucklew, 33, a father of two young sons in Colorado, was headed home to Pennsylvania from Iraq to attend his mother’s funeral when his Chinook helicopter was shot down by Iraqi guerrillas.  Sixteen, including Bucklew, died and twenty-one were wounded.  While our nation reels, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s response was a cold, “In a long hard war we’re going to have tragic days.”

Iraqi villagers cheered and celebrated and vowed no end to picking off our troops one by one.  It is reminiscent of Viet Nam that we continue to stay in a country that hates us and has no intention of cooperating with our views of how their country should be run.  Regardless, the Bush Administration is hell bent on remaining until Iraq accepts our way of governing.  In the meantime, our troops are needlessly dying on a daily basis even after the war has been declared over.

Feds spend billions on a country that kills our troops and who want us to leave, while U.S. citizens at home go without proper medical care and more and more people are becoming homeless because of our floundering economy.  Bush is failing us here at home while he obliviously goes about conquering the globe.  Even though this occupation is more deadly for our troops than the war was, Bush still vows not to back off or withdraw.  Instead of expressing that his heart and prayers are with the families and loved ones of dead servicemen and women, he should instead be declaring he is going to bring them home.  When is enough, enough?  When do we DEMAND our troops come home?

That this administration has failed its citizens and needs to be replaced is crystal clear.  But at what price?  The Democrats are going into the 2004 Presidential election with guns blazing.  In my opinion, General Wesley Clark is simply clearing the way for Hillary.  Should that happen, all she has to tell the American public is how the economy was strong during her husband’s administration and that she will bring our military home . . . and she will win hands down.  While that would be good news for our troops, her election would spell disaster for America and our free way of life.

While the Founding Fathers would support legitimate battles to ensure liberty and freedom for America, they would certainly recoil at the sad level in which we find ourselves with less than honorable contenders for the highest office in the nation. 
Copyright © Jessi Winchester 2003 All Rights Reserved

Originally published in Liberty For All November 04, 2003.