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Don't send more kids to die
By Michael Moore
NEW YORK —
Tonight, it's show time for George W. Bush, and I
can't wait to hear what he has to tell the
Republican convention.
It has been a
pretty thrilling week so far, my favorite moment by
far being the rebellious Bush twins who, in just a
few short minutes, delivered on their promise to
issue "payback" to their parents and all authority
in general.
They revealed
their parents' pet name for each other: "Bushie" or
"Bushy" — no spelling was provided. They seemed to
have embarrassed their grandmother with a joke about
the TV show Sex and the City as a place to have sex.
And they claimed to have seen their boogieing
parents "shake it like a Polaroid picture." That's
one picture that took the rest of the night for me
to shake out of my head.
Nonetheless, I
loved the Bush daughters: They were funny, sassy and
free spirits. Back in 1999, they told their father
in no uncertain terms that they did not want him to
run for president. They wanted their dad at home,
they wanted their privacy, and they wanted to go to
college in peace. He chose to ignore their pleas —
and I guess Tuesday night was their way of saying, "Thanks,
Dad."
And thank him
they should. He and Laura have obviously done a good
job raising two bright, independent women. He made
their privacy a top priority and did what he could
to protect them. They clearly love their parents and,
when you see that happen, you know the Bushes did
something right in their home. For that, they should
be commended.
Other fathers
and mothers who loved their daughters and sons
across America can no longer celebrate with them.
That's because their children are dead on the
streets and roads of Iraq, sent there by Mr. Bush to
"defend" America.
This week, in
an appearance leading up to his arrival here
Wednesday night, Bush acknowledged he had
miscalculated what would happen in Iraq after he
invaded it. He had thought it was going to be much
easier. It turned out to be much, much worse.
That must be
some comfort to the parents of nearly 1,000 brave
soldiers now dead because of his "miscalculation."
If I made a miscalculation and ran over a child on
the street, what do you think would happen to me? Do
you think the cops would simply say, "Hey, Mr. Moore,
you did your best driving down this street, you made
a miscalculation, the kid is dead, but you are
trying to save the world, so be on your way?"
Something tells me this is not what would happen.
What I don't get is that Mr. Bush makes his mistake
and thinks he has a right to continue in his job.
Let's hope he
isn't getting his inspiration from Richard Nixon,
the same man Arnold Schwarzenegger hailed Tuesday
night as his reason for becoming a Republican. You
have to give Arnold an award for guts. He must be
the first Republican convention speaker to mention
Nixon since he resigned. Nixon snuck into office in
1968 with his secret plan to end the Vietnam War.
Another miscalculation: The war continued for years,
and thousands more died.
I would love to
hear Bush apologize tonight to the parents and loved
ones of those who have died in Iraq. I would like to
hear him say he knows what it means to love your
children and that he, in good conscience, cannot
send any more children to their deaths.
I would like to
hear him say tonight, "I'm sorry. There never were
weapons of mass destruction and there never was a
connection between Saddam Hussein and 9/11. There
was no imminent threat, our lives were not in danger,
no missiles were going to hit Cleveland. Because of
our desire to get our hands on the second largest
supply of oil in the world, we sacrificed a thousand
of your sons and daughters. For this, we are greatly
sorry."
I guess a boy
can dream.
The other thing
I would like to hear tonight is: Why haven't you
caught Osama bin Laden? You've had three years to
find him. The man killed nearly 3,000 people here on
our soil.
Maybe Bush has
no worse explanation than he just hasn't been able
to do it. Well, if your town's dogcatcher couldn't
catch a wild dog that has been on the loose biting
people for three years, what would be the
dogcatcher's chances for re-election? Not good.
And so it
should be for Bush.
Unless he has
the answers tonight. Perhaps he has a reason or can
accept responsibility for his actions and promise to
send no one else's child off to die for a cause that
has nothing to do with the defense of this country.
If he takes a
moment to look into his daughters' eyes tonight, he
will know the answer and give the greatest speech of
his life.
Political
conventions have become predictable rituals, four-day
cheerleading sessions for both parties. So USA TODAY
is offering readers an alternative perspective.
Liberal filmmaker Michael Moore, director of
Fahrenheit 9/11, is writing daily from the
Republican convention in New York. A month ago,
conservative National Review columnist Jonah
Goldberg weighed in from the Democratic convention.
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"BUSH OUT!" |
