President Bush Insults Deceased Veteran and His Widow

[Lark]

Mr. Bush, in his usual unprofessional manner managed to insult both a deceased war veteran, his widow, and all other Pagans serving in the military.

http://www.lvrj.com/news/9441071.html

-Lark-

[Gryphon]

Getting that man and people like him out of government can not come soon enough for me.  

[Night_Raven]

When will it ever end? When will the mighty foot, stop treading on our ways?

[mermdotcom]

Absolutely disgusting.  Fine, so the president has a problem with Wicca.  I get that.  He's made his veiws on religion obvious enough.  That's still no excuse to blatantly snub the widow of a war veteran who served his country.

[Emrys]

I hope every Wiccan in the Military reads that article just before considering reenlistment, or enlistment for that matter..granted he will be out of office in a couple of years, but recouping damage done in many areas will take years.

BB
Emrys

[Lark]

Looks like someone told him he stepped on it.  Here's the latest:

From an email sent today by Roberta Stewart:

"Today, Bush called Stewart and apologized for failing to invite her to the meeting with veterans' families. He also said he does not believe the Wiccan faith should be discriminated against.

...

Today, during an interview on Lynn's nationally syndicated radio program "Culture Shocks," Stewart also commended Bush for apologizing.

"I just now got off the phone and personally spoke with President Bush," Stewart told Lynn. "I am happy to say that he did give me his deepest condolences. I will give him the benefit of the doubt and I do have to give him kudos that he at least took the time to call, give his condolences, and apologize for the VA problem.

"He apologized for the exclusion and the error that was made and said that he admired me for my spirit and thanked me for accepting his apology and said that he hoped he would have the opportunity to someday meet me," Stewart continued. "I was very pleased with the way the conversation went, very pleased that he did call and put this right."

Lynn asked Stewart if the president touched upon her Wiccan faith. She replied that the president told her that "he would not discriminate against someone because of their religion

-Lark-

[Rin]

He may be a ridiculous political leader, a baffoon to the media, and has problems with his English (Ahh, Bushisms), but at least he had enough humility to suck it up and apologize personally to the woman. Sure if may be just a bunch of PR, but it still takes alot to get the President of the United States to personally apologize to you.

It makes me wonder.. if this woman knew beforehand that there was a meeting, and she knew others were going, was there a way for her to contact somebody and ask "If everyone else is going, why am I not?". I don't mean to be rude, or perhaps I just don't have all the facts, but did she sit around and wait for the day to come and then raise something up about it, or did she go to anyone and ask about this? Or was this all impromptu?

[mermdotcom]

Lark, do you have a link to the update article?

It makes me wonder.. if this woman knew beforehand that there was a meeting, and she knew others were going, was there a way for her to contact somebody and ask "If everyone else is going, why am I not?". I don't mean to be rude, or perhaps I just don't have all the facts, but did she sit around and wait for the day to come and then raise something up about it, or did she go to anyone and ask about this? Or was this all impromptu?

According to the article, the invitation was extended a week in advance.  She may not have found out right away, or might have waited several days in case her invitation was late - that's just my speculation, but it seems reasonable enough.  Even if she did try to contact someone about it as soon as the invitation his her in-laws' hands, when's the last time you heard of ANY government problem being fixed in a week without press coverage?  

I posted on my blog about this, and one of my friends pointed out that Bush doesn't personally go over each and every guest list for the many events he attends.  I pointed out that he still hires people to represent his interests in that respect, and if the insult was completely unintended by the president, he needs to keep a tighter leash on his people.

I'm so glad that Bush had the decency and humility to call Roberta Stewart personally to apologize.  It still doesn't make me like the guy, but it does earn him some respect in my eyes.

Now, if he'd only invest in "Hooked on Phonics"....

[Lark]

All I have is the link to the article mentioned in my first post and the material in my last post that was sent to me.

Personally I suspect that Bush may have known that she would be there and preferred not to meet with her.  He would certainly have been aware of the VA situation and that this woman lived where he was going.  Now, he may not have meant to exclude her.  He might have said something like "I hope there won't be problems." and his staff decided to exclude her and any potential for trouble.  But it was poorly done, and as captain of the ship Bush bears the ultimate responsibility.

And I doubt that he would have called an apologized if it didn't look so bad in the press.  There's an election coming up and Bush is a detriment to the Republican candidates because of his actions.  That sort of thing loses votes for the party.

-Lark-

[Zenon]

what an idiot. it was really stupid not to invite her.  it was a complete political mistake.