crowbelle's Diaryland Diary

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Hometown Boy Speaks Out...

A Hometown Boy Speaks Out...

A long time ago, before I was married to Paul, I had a very good friend, Steve. He was a lot older than I but we were fast friends the moment we met. He used to tell me stories of his "olden days" as a boy growing up here in Salem. His best friend growing up was a guy called Al Ruscio.

That's a picture of Al above. [Click picture for more about him.] You may recognize him. He has been an actor most of his adult life. He has played character parts in many, many shows, TV and movies. He lives out in Califoria now but occasionally, when he gets out to the New England area, he will come back to Salem and visit with his friends. Once I saw him being interviewed on the local cable channel when he was in town. I felt like I knew him from all that Steve had told me about when they were kids.

When it was time for college, they went their separate ways, but have remained good friends all these years.

The following is a letter to the editor that appeared in today's Salem Evening News - written by Al Ruscio. I thought it just about summed up what I am always trying to say myself.

A COWBOY LOOSE IN THE WHITE HOUSE

"When I recall the great thoughts and words of other presidents like Harry Truman ("The buck stops here.") and Dwight Eisenhower ("We must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence by the military-industrial complex."), I shudder to think of how much we have lost.

Today, there is a cowboy loose in the White House. He sits astride his horse, running roughshod over diplomacy, the loyal opposition and the American people.

He calls himself a war president, but it's a war begun on false premises and a group of lies.

He claimed there were weapons of mass destruction. There were none. He claimed there was a direct connection between 9/11 and Saddam Hussein. There was none. He claimed Iraq was building a nuclear weapon. It was not. He claimed this war was supposed to be an easy one. It was not, and it is not. He claimed the people of Iraq would greet us as liberators. They are killing our young men and women every day.

We are now an army of occupation and each day, this reckless cowboy and his cohorts give us a different reason to justify this insane adventure. They now say the goal is "to bring democracy to the Middle East." They say "we must root out terrorism in the world."

They should know that terrorism is a method of instilling fear. It is not a logical enemy, and a war against terrorism can never be won and it can never end. And they should know that democracy is a delicate experiment of government that needs constant vigilance. It lasted only 200 years in Greece. We would do well to secure our democracy here in America before we try to bring it to other countries.

Look at what is happening here in America. We are bankrupt. The national debt is into the trillions. The deficit is in the billions. We owe billions to foreign countries, plus the huge interest they charge us for their money.

This arrogant cowboy and his administration have outsourced America. Gasoline prices are outrageous. The oil industries and the corporations and the sheiks are getting richer. But here in America, our factories are closing down. Successful businesses are moving away. Factories, once thriving with happy workers, are gone. And cities, once alive wtih hope and joy, are now ghost towns.

Add to this the millions of illegal immigrants that have flooded across our borders, dismantling our legal, educational, social and medical programs.

This obstinate cowboy, who knows little of world history and cares less, has destroyed the diplomatic approach and the search for peace. He has taken the surplus and turned it into a huge deficit. He has given tax breaks to all his friends, allowed criminal corporate leaders to escape unharmed, and has destroyed our relationships with dozens of countries.

Now they are saying we may have to invade Iran, or strike North Korea, and watch out for Syria, etc., etc. This from a group of people, most of whom escaped military service and know very little about the ravages of war.

President Bush has been found wanting. He lacks leadership, humility and the sensitivity for such a crucial position.

I look forward to the day when this willful cowboy mounts his horse and rides off into the sunset, never again to do such grievous harm to our country.

Al Ruscio
Encino, Calif.
(Formerly of Salem)