White House : President Bush Calls "March for Life" Participants

President Bush Calls "March for Life" Participants

I'd like to go out on a limb here and dialog a bit with the President regarding his telephone address to the "March for Life" rally in Washington, DC.

"You know, we come from many backgrounds -- different backgrounds, but what unites us is our understanding that the essence of civilization is this: The strong have a duty to protect the weak. (Applause.) "

I couldn't agree more, Mr. President, and I'd even go further: The strong have a moral obligation to help the weak, especially those strong men and women who call themselves "Christians." How will a (nearly) $8 trillion national debt help the weakest Americans? How will the inevitable cutbacks in social services necessitated by the enormous increases in defense spending help the weakest amongst us? How does championing the richest among us by eliminating capital gains taxes, inheritance taxes, and by rewarding them with the lion's share of income tax rebates help the poorest amongst us? I don't see a whole lot less poverty now than when you came into office; in fact, I see a lot more.

"I appreciate so very much your work toward building a culture of life-- (applause) -- a culture that will protect the most innocent among us and the voiceless. We are working to promote a culture of life, to promote compassion for women and their unborn babies. (Applause.) We know -- we know that in a culture that does not protect the most dependent, the handicapped, the elderly, the unloved, or simply inconvenient become increasingly vulnerable. "

Your administration does not support the "culture of life." Your administration supports the overall system of American--and global--capitalism, which is responsible for much (if not all) of the material consumption and the marketing forces that make that consumption possible and necessary. Your administration, while carefully distancing itself from "Hollywood/Babylon," is economically dependent on the continued sale of products and "lifestyles," through advertising and show business, which are frequently very harmful and even deadly. Your administration, like other administrations going back to Reagan's, supports the roll-back or complete removal of regulations meant to protect the weakest among us from the greed and harmful policies of big corporations. Your administration opposes global regulation of business and global guarantees of wage and labor standards, opting instead for the wisdom of "free-market forces" to regulate economies. Your administration, through the FCC and its (now former) Chairman Michael Powell, has supported the further conglomeration of media ownership and weakened the concept of media acting in the public interest. Your administration opposes the regulation of gun ownership, even though the US has the greatest number of gun deaths (by murder, suicide, or accident) of any country in the world. Your administration, while giving lip service to the "culture of life," has embraced the culture of death through acceptance and encouragement of the death penalty and through the "preferential option" for war. So I don't really understand how you can say you support a culture of life.

"We're also moving ahead in terms of medicine and research to make sure that the gifts of science are consistent with our highest values of freedom, equality, family, and human dignity. We will not sanction the creation of life only to destroy it. "

Many (though not all) of us are aware of your opinions about science, Mr. President, and it is fair to say that you look upon science with contempt, as you look upon facts with contempt, as you look upon truth with contempt. Your healthcare policies are despicable. Like almost all your other policies, they seek to take the burden of "caring for the weakest among us" off the backs of government (and thereby taxpayers) and place that burden squarely on the backs of those who cannot afford to carry it. Your championing of free-market forces in creating and marketing pharmaceuticals has resulted in a wealth of treatments for erectile dysfunction, but a shortage of vaccines to fight influenza. I don't believe that even you believe what you are telling the "March for Life."

"I encourage you to take heart from our achievements, because a true culture of life cannot be sustained solely by changing laws. We need, most of all, to change hearts. (Applause.)"

And above all, to change hearts, if we are to change them in any good way, we need truth. What will you do, Mr. President, to serve in the cause of truth?