An open letter to President Bush.

Dear President Bush,

I seek today to try and make sense of conflict between the American peoples. I, like many Americans an stuck somewhere between respect for the president and the leadership of our elected officials, and the truth that my heart tells me. Respectfully, I feel that we are wasting American lives and the reputation of Americans everywhere by the conduct and actions exhibited in the Iraq war. The little that I witness of world opinion tells me that we are being seen as increasingly religious fanatics in the face of Islam. I feel that our actions and conduct during this time of crisis, have not given the world a reason to admire us.

I think that the governments treatment of its' own citizenry has led to a further diminishing of our reputation on the world stage. In my mind the presidency, as with any other elected office, is bound to the will of the people. The office exists to make sure that every citizen is treated fairly, and to respond to the will of the people. It is pretty evident that you are acting counter to the opinion of the majority in this country.

I feel that many times government officials have access to a much larger pool of knowledge that the average citizen. This may lead to the government trying to protect its' people from themselves, with the reasoning that the person who knows the most needs to protect the rest. The problem with this line of thought is that now you are acting outside the dictates of the larger constituency. If the country needs to act, the government needs to be totally transparent, and bring the issues to light, so that all of the citizens can stand behind our leaders decisions.

Iraq is a mess, we all know this. The citizenry awaits you, we will stand behind sound decisions. Let us come up with a solution. Talking about the terrorists changing if we publicize our plans is a high school solution at best. It sounds rather like you have no plan at all. Hardly evokes a reputation for strong leadership. If we have a sound plan, the world will know that we are united, and we will see the respect that our country has earned as it leads the world in the quest for freedom.

We as a country need to get back to the unassailable high ground that we once claimed. This is not a moral high ground based upon the religious ideas of a few, rather this is the imperative that we show the world what is intrinsically right, and that we light the path for others to follow. The only way for us to do this is to commit to what we know is best for everyone, tell the world what we believe, live up to our own measure of rightness, and bring to light those that do harm in the name of personal power and gain.

Right now the world feels like you sir are one of those persons. You, more than anyone need to set the example. Yours is not a case where history will vindicate your decisions. Unfortunately due to the vast power of the modern communications, your message is skewed to make you look bad on the world stage today, and you need to begin to understand how your message comes across. I am sure you are a humble man with a great love for family, nation and God. But you look like a bully to the world, and you need to explain in a more effective way why our country is acting like a dictatorship.

Every small act that you do every day, every footstep that you make is seen on the national stage. Right now it looks like you are a rogue leader. Listen to the will of the people, show transparency in your decisions, plan for success instead of talking about it. Maybe even fire some of the jackasses that whisper ideas to you, that you know are not right. Stop doing secret things beyond the oversight of the people and the world community. Bring back the reputation that America is a leader because we are doing what is best for all of the people. It is harder to do this publicly, but we are America, we do not shirk away from hard problems. We have allowed you to lead, do so with grace and courage, if we are doing what is right, your legacy is assured.

Regards,
James Taylor