Sympathy Forms (Bush*s "letters" to dead soldiers' families)

[kskiska]

President Bush’s surprise visit to see the troops last week hasn’t stopped the grousing over how he is handling the war dead.

(snip)

So I asked some families about the sympathy letters they had received. I assumed that they were in the Bush family style. Both his father and his mother come from a generation of note writers. His mother’s Christmas list is notoriously long and his father is famous for his handwritten notes. This Bush has followed suit, often using his thick Sharpie to pen short notes to friends, foes and fund-raisers.

But those are not the letters Bush is “writing.” They are form letters. With the exception of the salutation and a reference to the fallen soldier in the text, the letters the families shared with me are all the same. Now some one has gone to the trouble of finding out if the given name of the solider and the name he or she used were different. And Bush does sign them all personally. But it would be more accurate to say he is “sending” all the families letters, a practice that goes back many presidents.

Maggie Caldwell of Massachusetts was still a newlywed when a mine exploded under the Humvee of her husband, Todd, in Iraq. A few weeks later, she received Bush’s letter. “Something a little more personal would have been nice,” she says. Maggie is not running for office or writing a snarky column, she just wants to know that her nation appreciates what Todd—and she—have sacrificed.

more…
http://www.msnbc.com/news/1001847.asp

[dennis4868]

1. This article is assuming that...

Bush can write a letter. It takes alot of words and sentences to form a letter. To accomplish this is not a given for Bush. Seriously!

[kskiska]

2. If a letter of his was made public

we'd all know that aside from not being able to speak a coherent sentence, he can't spell, either.

[Zero Gravitas]

5. Bush can write a letter

its a "W". He's currently working on the letter "B".

[Richardo]

3. Corporal Whitcomb lives...

From Catch-22* (published 1961):

"Corporal Whitcomb brought me this basic form letter that takes care of just about every situation. Listen: 'Dear Mrs., Mr., Miss, or Mr. and Mrs.: Words cannot express the deep personal grief I experienced when your husband, father, or brother was killed, wounded or reported missing in action.'"

Joseph Heller has gone from being an absurdist to being a prophet.


* The greatest novel ever. :D

[Hobarticus]

4. Hmm...

On one hand, my deepest sympathies and prayers to our fallen's families.

But on the other hand, did they really expect that their sacrifices matters to these morally bankrupt SOB's? What did they expect from a man who'd lie to a nation, and to the world, to ship their loved ones off to war...a handwritten letter?

Not to sound cruel or callous, but I read this kind of thing and wonder why our armed forces still think their C-in-C is worthy of their respect.

Can't wait for the day when one of the candidates asks that question.

Remember in November.

[abgdinstr]

6. Mebbe I'm looking at this bassackward

If one of my kids came home in box I would not want that rat bastard within 1,000 light years of my kids funeral. :mad: The funeral would be about shithead and not the person being put in the ground. Fuck him and his fucking notes and the Col. that sent them.
:nuke:

[snippy]

10. Bush would attend the funerals if he could wear a costume or raise money..

[LiberalFighter]

12. Don't worry about the chimp showing up.

Take advantage of the situation. Get as many speakers as you can and every one of them should criticize chimpy. Have banners made up something to the effect of "Bush killed my son/daughter" and make sure the media shows up.

This will embarrass and infuriate chimpy to no end.

[GainesT1958]

7. First fake uniforms, then fake turkey...

Now a fake sympathy letter. Just what about Dub is actually "real"?:mad:

B-)

[kitkatrose]

8. Not a damn thing! n/t

[central scrutinizer]

9. keep the dead out of sight, out of mind

<>

[Rex]

11. I hear he cries each time Unka Dick makes him write one.

Here's a sample;


Deer Sir/Ma'am,

Unka Dick tol me to writ u and say wit dep smp...symp...sympothe how ate up we r hear at my Cawford ranch.

Sin...sin...sinserlly,

G.W. Bush jr.

[kskiska]

13. While flipping channels, I saw Larry King ask Pickles

whether the soldiers' deaths affect her personally. She said, "Well not personally, but it's wrenching."

She likes that word lately. I guess it's replaced "fabulous."