ON SITTING DOWN

The Rev. Dana Prom Smith, S.T.D., Ph.D. (9/26/07)


As President Bush’s tenure in the White House peters out, grey eminences are detailing their differences with the Bush Administration. One wonders where they were when the nation needed them. If Colin Powell and other elders in the military establishment, such as Ricardo Sanchez, formerly our military man in Iraq, had spoken out at the time about the folly of Bush’s Iraqi War, we might not be in the current tragic catastrophe. As Dante once wrote, “The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in times of great moral crises maintain their neutrality.” Colin Powell and Gen. Sanchez sat on their hands when they should’ve stood up.

Now, Alan Greenspan tells us that he supported Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthy but opposed his extravagant spending. Where was he when it came time to speak up? Maintaining his neutrality.

These formerly distinguished gentlemen protected their positions by maintain their neutrality in a time of great moral crisis.

Then, we have the generals, reading the Vietnam cue card, calling for more time to succeed. They may believe what they say, but the really frightening thing is that they may believe what they say.

Speaking of the hottest places in hell, Senators Lieberman (D-Conn) and Kyl (R-Ariz), reading Bush’s Iraqi cue card, introduced legislation authorizing war against Iran which sadly passed with Senator Clinton’s support. Do they believe we need to bomb the whole world?

Theodore Roosevelt said of William McKinley, “He had about much backbone as a chocolate éclair.”

Copyright (c) Dana Prom Smith 2007