The Object of My Disaffection

Respect for the office-don’t you wonder about the meaning of this? Aren’t you aghast that anyone would have the testicles or breasticles to blast and bash me or anyone else for criticizing the occupier of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue? Truth is I receive e-mails from people who read my articles and don’t like it that I unleash my inner insight and open a can of fury on George Bush. But it’s not just the internet responders. I actually know people who can’t bring themselves to say anything remotely disapproving of the worst president in the history of presidents because they respect the office of the presidency. Egad.

The office of the presidency-yeah, this sounds impressive, conjuring a visual of noble decisions being made after exhaustive examination during which choices are weighed and consequences are considered.

The office of the presidency-yeah, this sounds heavy, conjuring images of sleepless nights that ought to accompany great responsibility.

But, according to George, he sleeps fine. And each of us should wonder why. Because there are now almost 3,150 U.S. reasons why George Bush should lose sleep. And there are more than half a million Iraqi reasons why George Bush should suffer insomnia and wonder, not only just why he ever ran for public office in the first place but question, why he was ever born. Soon, there may be just as many Iranian reasons for George Bush to need Ambien, Sonata, Lunesta, or something much stronger. But he doesn’t. I repeat-George Bush sleeps fine. He lies down to his own idea of pleasant dreams.

Respect for the office? There are so many reasons why I do not respect the office of the presidency of G. W. Bush-in fact, why I scorn the presidency of this failure of someone I have difficulty calling a man, but have no problem calling a thing, an object. This object has no respect for our military, sending our troops without proper body armor to a war based on fabricated evidence. This object has no respect for military families. He has no respect for our environment, education, or our poor. He has used chemicals which are banned by international law on the people of Iraq and has exposed our soldiers and the people of Iraq to depleted uranium,

This object, coiffed and dressed like a man, values power, the wealthy, the unborn, and those, like Terri Schiavo, who are in a persistent vegetative state.

This object has violated our laws by spying on our citizenry without a court order. He condones torture. He lies.

Respect for the office means respect for the man or the woman, if and when a female shatters the gender ceiling. Please don’t let it be Hillary Clinton, another object.

In order for me to respect the office of the presidency, I would have to respect the person holding that office. The current squatter deserves no respect. Instead, George Bush, the object of my disaffection, should be charged with treason.

Missy Beattie lives in New York City. She’s written for National Public Radio and Nashville Life Magazine. An outspoken critic of the Bush Administration and the war in Iraq, she’s a member of Gold Star Families for Peace. She completed a novel last year, but since the death of her nephew, Marine Lance Cpl. Chase J. Comley, in Iraq on August 6,’05, she has been writing political articles. She can be reached at: Missybeat@aol.com

 

 

Missy Beattie has written for National Public Radio and Nashville Life Magazine. She was an instructor of memoirs writing at Johns Hopkins’ Osher Lifelong Learning Institute in BaltimoreEmail: missybeat@gmail.com