The Answer Is Blowing In The Wind

To the Editor:

Whatever the tergiversations of John Kerry, at least we can all be grateful that George Bush does not flip-flop.

George Bush does not tell us on one day that the war on terrorism cannot be won and on the next that what he was saying was that it definitely can be won.

He does not oppose the setting up of a Homeland Security Office and an independent inquiry into the actions taken on 9/11 and then reverse himself on both issues when he finds that popular opinion is against him.

He doesn’t tell us that the recommendations of the 9/11 commission need to be studied before an attempt is made to implement any of them and then issue an executive order when it becomes clear that public sentiment is for prompt action.

He doesn’t sign up to serve in the National Guard, to avoid being drafted, and then opt out of fulfilling his contract when he finds the duties irksome — and then 30 years later get his hirelings to lie about his service.

He doesn’t say that he favors a continuation of the assault weapons ban and then not lift a finger to try to get it renewed. (This is one case where money trumped popular opinion.)

He doesn’t praise the military in his speeches and then not chide those nominating him for trashing it by parading around wearing band-aids and declaring that “they gave me this purple heart because I cut myself whilst shaving.”

But it must be admitted that on one subject George Bush has been, as the bumper sticker tells us: Like a Rock. Only Dumber. Despite what everyone who has studied the matter has reported he still insists that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.

If John Kerry is a weathervane then George Bush is a straw in the wind. And, as one who is fond of sailing, I find that a weathervane can be useful, whereas a straw in the wind is just a broken reed.

Brian Gibney

10 Checkerberry Lane, Sandy Hook                    September 20, 2004