Dear Mr. President


Father’s Day
June 16, 2008, 4:42 am
Filed under: Bush, children, death, ethics, Iraq, news, peace, politics, religion, war | Tags: , ,
Dear Mr. President,
     It is said that you are concerned about your legacy – and so should you be, especially on Father’s Day.   Do you know the poem “How Big was Alexander?”  by Elijah Jones?  (It’s in that marvelous collection “The Best-Loved Poems of the American People”).  In it, a little boy asks his father why Alexander is called “The Great”.  It’s too long to quote here in its entirety.  Besides, you might be bored.  But the end is tellling:
 
“Father.  You know, my child, the Bible says
                That you must always do
            To other people as you wish
                To have them do to you.
 
Son.       But, Pa, did Alexander wish
                 That some strong man would come
             And burn his house and kill him too,
                 And do as he had done?
             Did everybody call him great,
                 For killing people so?
             Well, now, what right had he to kill,
                 I should be glad to know.
              If one should burn the buildings here,
                 And kill the folks within,
              Would anybody call him great
                  For such a wicked thing?”
 
 
I would hope you had a happy Father’s Day, if I did not hope more that you were plagued by doubts about the legacy you are leaving all those Iraqi orphans you have created.
 
Sincerely, VNV
 
 
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