letter to bush

[Rothrandir]

saw this on another forum, where it was taken from another website....

---
Bush Took My Job& Killed My Sons
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak my mind. I lost my job this past year. When Clinton was president I was secure and prosperous, but in the last year, we had to close our operations. We simply could not compete with foreign labor. This foreign labor worked for low pay under very bad conditions.

They worked very long shifts, and many even died on the job.

This competition could hardly be called "fair." I was forced out of the place where I had worked for 34 years.

Not a single government program was there to help me.

How can Bush call himself "compassionate?" Far worse, I lost two of my sons in Bush's evil war in Iraq. They gave their lives for their country, and for what? So that Bush's oil buddies can get rich. My pain of losing my sons is indescribable.

While it is trivial next to the loss of my sons, I regret to say that I also lost my home. I simply have nothing left. How can Bush call himself a Christian when he neglects people like me? I am a senior citizen with various medical problems. I'm not in a position where I can begin a new career. I was reduced to the point where I had to live in a hole in a ground, all because of President Bush.

And when the authorities found me there, did they have any compassion for my misfortune and ailments? No, I was arrested. Mr. Bush, I dare you to look me in the face and tell me you are a compassionate man! I dare you to look me in the face and tell me you are a Christian! If I had any money left, I would donate it to the Democrat Party.

If Al Gore had been elected in 2000 I would still have a job, a home, and most importantly, my dear sons!

















Regards,
Saddam Hussein
---

 

[Darell]

I get it. It's like some of the humor I've heard about.

 

[Empath]

The most disturbing aspect of it is the realization that you have gotten so far into the story before realizing it isn't about a serious domestic situation.

 

[BlindedByTheLite]

um.

 

[NightStorm]

Its going to be another lonnnnng year. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon6.gif

Dan

 

[Rothrandir]

brilliant comments guys...
i'm actually a little confused. i thought that was a pretty funny letter, apparently you guys didn't.

would somebody please clue me in as to what is so wrong with this?

obviously i didn't post this as any form of bait, or even to get into a controversial subject, as i said before, i just thought it was pretty clever...

comments like "um" and "oh boy" aren't too helpful in explaining what you guys obviously feel is wrong with this thread... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon6.gif

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[LukeK]

Well I thought it was funny. Methinks people are a bit too serious these days. Politics is a rather useless topic anyways, considering no one changes their mind or convinces anyone of anything in such types of debates. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif
Thanks for the laughs frothy.

 

[Bill.H]

I thought it was funny too, but I almost didn't read the whole thing (no tolerance for whiners) /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Greta]

Roth... I thought it quite clever... in a tongue in cheek kinda way... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif ... However, I imagine that there are some who would make the comment, "This is going on in our own country with our own citizens!"... so they don't find it amusing... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon6.gif

I think Luke has nailed this one... "Methinks people are a bit too serious these days"... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/jpshakehead.gif

 

[BlindedByTheLite]

i think it's semi-funny..

but there really are Americans in that position.. i know some.. so i couldn't laugh.

 

[cheesehead]

It's funny if you don't think too hard. Death is never that funny.

 

[Darell]

Sorry. I should have been less obtuse. Sasha, in her typical way, said it quite well with the "not finding it amusing" comment. The letter is supposed to be a big switcheroo at the end, but for the humor to really work, it has to NOT be true in the way the reader is originally intended to think.

The other problem was that I had the punch line figured out at the third sentence.

I dunno. If I were to poke fun AT the current president in a similar way, I'd need to wear my Nomex underwear, and it shrunk the last time I washed it. Yes, Sadam got hurt because of our president. But then, so did I.

I'll give it a mildly "clever" rating. But not so high on the "humor" scale.

 

[RadarGreg]

It is a subtle humor, not so much as a in your face "knock knock" joke or some tawdry bar joke. I think I made it down to the part of living in a hole when I knew something was up. Right up to that point, it could have easily been some guy in America, which makes it kind of sad...

 

[jtice]

I didnt really think is was funny, clever, yes.

I like things like this, makes you think.
Puts things in perspective.

There are others like this,,, the most popular one, is the one that talks about a "tribe" that does odd things, like sticking metal wire in their mouths in order to make themselves look better. ... .. ... get it?

 

[James S]

[ QUOTE ]
LukeK said:
Well I Politics is a rather useless topic anyways, considering no one changes their mind or convinces anyone of anything in such types of debates. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Thats not entirely true /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif I have changed many if not most of my views on basic political pretense over the last 3 or 4 years. Nobody "Convinced" me of it, but I was forced to see some logic somewhere and went out looking for more of it.

The discussion is only useless when it ceases to be debate and becomes argument and your momma and the horse you rode in on. This happens fairly frequently... But before then, I've read some remarkably well researched and reasoned posts here and elsewhere.

In a debate you hardly expect the participants doing the talking to walk away and say "you know, my opponent was right and I'm a fool for trying to argue my previous position" It's the non-participating audience that gets the most from the discussion. Both as a window into the minds of the people doing most of the talking as well as a starting point for their own internal dialog.

I will continue to support the posting and discussion of political and other controversial ideas here in the cafe. And I'll continue to help close those threads that start talking about the relationship between me and my horse.

 

[Bravo25]

Well said James. I may not agree with when threads get shut down, but I certainly think it is good to have a place to discuss these things, and for the most part people remain civil.

 

[jayflash]

Excellently put, James S. Political discourse DOES make a difference to many people. I too, have changed my mind countless times since I first became politically active. That's why I bother to continue trying. Aren't "town hall" meetings what helped to shape this really great nation of ours? This is a modern, E-town meeting.

At some point we have enough information that any more will not matter and our minds have been made up. But up to that point the exchange of ideas is just the education we need to make those informed decisions.

 

[LukeK]

[ QUOTE ]
James S said:
In a debate you hardly expect the participants doing the talking to walk away and say "you know, my opponent was right and I'm a fool for trying to argue my previous position" It's the non-participating audience that gets the most from the discussion. Both as a window into the minds of the people doing most of the talking as well as a starting point for their own internal dialog.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's very true. I suppose it's those who are arguing that already have their opinions set in stone, not necessarily those watching. My opinion on political discussion has been slightly tainted, as I've been a member of many forums and chat rooms where constant, ENDLESS bitching (frankly) about politics was the standard. Since those days I've stopped participating in said type of discussions.