Parallel Universe

By TAD BARTIMUS

The President of the United States is living in a parallel universe to the one inhabited by most of his employers.

Right up front, let's give the man his due: George W. Bush has the hardest job in the world. He leads the richest, most cantankerous and dissentious of nations. He was not elected by a majority of his fellow citizens. He was inexperienced and poorly prepared for his burden when he got slammed in his first year on the job by the worst terrorist attack in American history. Immediately afterward, he inspired our nation to move forward. He has grown up and grown into his office.

But his recent State of the Union speech failed to convince millions of Americans, including me, that we should unilaterally go to war against Saddam Hussein. After weeks of buildup, the president did not produce any new hard evidence that Iraq is a direct threat to the United States. By turns solemn, cocky, belligerent, soothing, condescending, patronizing and humble, the president attempted to reassure us that he knows a lot more than we do and we should therefore trust him to decide.

His numbers concerning Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction and biological and chemical warfare were old ones from the United Nations. If he has new data, he should present it. Listening to him declare, "the war against terror is a contest of wills in which perseverance is power," I felt like the blindfolded person touching the elephant; no one part of his speech gave me confidence that his administration sees the whole picture.

We're increasingly hated abroad by enemies who discovered -- with four airplanes, a few box cutters and a handful of fanatics -- that our open society makes us vulnerable to disaster. Our so-called allies -- "old Europe," as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld called France and Germany -- disdain us and -- what else is new? -- refuse to come to our side as we try to police the world. And then there's another question: why are we policing the world when we can't fix our own problems? Won't going to war make our economy worse?

Investors lost $2.8 trillion on Wall Street last year. Unemployment is higher than it's been in eight years. The president wants Congress to pass a $670 billion dividend tax cut, but doesn't explain how he'll pay for increased homeland security, a missile defense system, reforming Medicare, rebuilding Afghanistan and policing Iraq all at the same time. Is this war worth mortgaging our grandchildren's future to pay for it?

Mr. President, many of us beyond the Beltway are scared to death about holding onto our jobs and our retirement, educating our kids, keeping our neighborhoods safe from drugs and thugs, providing for our family's health care and remaining independent yet contributing citizens in a democratic society. We don't want our sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, husbands and wives sent into a unilateral war declared on flimsy antiquated evidence and eloquent rhetoric.

The president must understand that debating this issue is not sedition, nor is opposition treason. Asking hard questions and expecting honest answers is what makes us patriots. Bush said, "sending Americans into battle is the most profound decision a president can make." The evidence on which to base such an order must be incontrovertible.

If you've got such evidence, Mr. President, trust us with it. Tell us everything you know. Only then will we be able to take off our blindfolds and see the elephant.

© 2003 The Women Syndicate

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