Dear George W. Bush,

It's not that I am angry with you. It's more of a disappointed feeling. I won't be like all the other liberals you can ignore, either in DC or Crawford, and go on ranting about political problems and shit that DeLay and Frist have done. Not this time. And I'm not going to personally attack you, either. Actually, my dad is quite fond of you, and both of you are similar in your accents and down-home quality. There's no need to get personal, because this isn't about a friendship between you and me. I don't need you to be my pal. I need you to be my president.

The thing is, if you weren't president of the United States, I would enjoy having a beer with you down the street at the nickel joint. I'm scared to think that this is the main reason so many people voted for you in the last election. I am more inclined to believe that you need to have your stuff together when it comes to real issues in this country and abroad. In case you haven't noticed, we wield a lot of power in this world. Pretty much anything we do affects others.

So, a couple of faux-pas to consider: One, Iraq. Yes, we're there now. But, seriously, you screwed up on that one. I don't give a crap whether it was your CIA director, or Karl Rove, or an operative in Niger, or even Colin Powell (not likely). You are my boss. I hired you. So you are responsible for everything that happens in your administration. It could have been bad intelligence, but you got the power, and now you have the responsibility. It's pretty simple. There are no, and there's never been proof of, weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. This was pretty much to whole basis of war, so in the name of dead soldiers and dead Iraqi civilians, I am kinda hoping someone would own up to that. But, no. We must "stay the course". Admirable, but not very helpful in the realm of apologizing. I am not concerned with arguing about Iraq now. I am concerned with you taking the high road on this one. You got your first stab at it with the response to Katrina. Nice one, seriously. Just apply it more often.

Surely you must have been brought up to be humble. Now is the perfect time to exercise that. You are not God, and you don't speak on Her behalf. There are things you've done that are wrong, and the American people would be much more cool with you admitting that. It's not very attractive to keep side-stepping issues, and time and again moving the attention away from yourself. As Michael Douglas says as president in The American President: "Politics are about two things - making you afraid of it, and telling you who's to blame for it. That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you win elections." Your administration is extremely talented at that one. Either it's terrorists (only Muslim ones), or liberals, or countries that just don't kiss our ass the way Momma should have raised them to. Just be honest with us, and we'll respect you more.

So, you did win your re-election, but running on the platform of "Fuck John Kerry" and "America is Under Siege, starring Dick Cheney as Rambo" isn't the greatest way to win. True enough, John Kerry wasn't the greatest of candidates, but now with your horrible approval rating, going to New Orleans and saying tough words like 'racism' isn't going to change your image overnight.

I don't hate all that you are, Mr. President. I don't think you're the anti-Christ. In fact, I believe you are a very genuine man who believes in what he's doing.

But the most genuine thing you can do is reflect on your administration and ask some tough questions. We are hated worldwide, and we can't keep falling back on the "God Bless America" retort. There is some serious shit happening in this world, and we have a part of that. We can either say, "Fuck you" to the world and those that disagree with us, or we can own up to our not-so-great end, acknowledge our history, and try and do some good. And we are following you. If you would just lead us, as opposed to misleading us, then things might happen.

I want to believe that you would look at your presidency as an opportunity to clear up our name around the world and enter into clear and collaborative dialogue with people around the world. Not just those that agree with us (umm...England?) or look like us (uhhh....England??). This is a new way of looking at things, a new world order to consider. Maybe not cutting off those that have the temerity to argue with the most powerful nation humanity has ever seen. You're not a cowboy, Mr. Bush. Please stop acting like one.

And please stop invoking God in your speeches. Normally the idea of doing that was to ask for humility, guidance, and a sense of justice and equality in our affairs as a nation. Not to ordain our every action as a blessed gift from Heaven....er....America.

I think a bumper sticker would serve this letter well: I love America. I just think we should start seeing other people.

Peace,
Jason