The Digusting Laura Bush Interview

A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION
by Ruth Lopez

Dear BuzzFlash,

I sent this letter to Time in response to Laura Bush's comments about the swift boat smear attacks on John Kerry:

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"TIME: Do you think these swift-boat ads are unfair to John Kerry?

LAURA BUSH: Do I think they're unfair? Not really. There have been millions of terrible ads against my husband." (Millions, Laura? Really? Are you sure you're not counting the number of people protesting your little Georgie's deathly, greedy obscene policies?)

It should be no surprise to anyone that Laura Bush does not think the Swift Boat attacks are unfair to John Kerry.

She is married to a man, after all, who said publicly that joining the National Guard was preferable to shooting out his eardrum as a way to avoid Vietnam.

A man who did not bother to report for duty - for over a year - and who has mislead and denied the truth of his "military" service ever since. And who then had the audacity to claim service in both the Texas Air National Guard and the US Air Force in the campaign literature for his first political race in 1978.

It may be too much to expect Laura Bush to understand that combat veterans who actually have served their country in wartime deserve better than having their service attacked. Or that her poor George being the subject of a political ad is in no way comparable to trashing the record of a decorated combat veteran who still carries shrapnel in his leg.

Of course, there will be no "swift boat" type attacks on George Bush's National Guard service in Alabama, because nobody ever saw George serve there!

This comment puts Laura right up there with Barbara Bush, who, when asked if she had seen the dead and wounded returning from the first Gulf War, blithely said, "Why should I bother my beautiful mind with that?" Why indeed?

People like Laura and Barbara Bush don't get it. Because they don't have to. Their children will never see war, except from the viewpoint of board rooms and profit margins.

As a veteran, and the mother and wife of veterans, I cannot convey the depth of my disgust at these people and their cavalier treatment of those who serve.

Ruth Lopez
Orlando, FL

A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION