A conversation from the other side of the aisle

By: phriendlyjaime
Published On: 11/21/2006 6:30:00 PM

Well, not that anyone should be shocked and awed, but once again the Republicans are crying and stamping their feet that people don't "pray enough" for Mr. Bush.  I really wish I were kidding you, but the following is what they are sending to one another and patting themselves on the back for how much they support the troops and our lame duck preident.
This is a prayer request for a man in need of prayer.

Please, take a moment and pray for this man.  He is in a situation that few people find themselves.  He is criticized at every turn, and few people have thanked him for the good things he has done.

Few people know the extent of his situation.  We need to pray that God gives him the guidance he needs to do his job effectively.  I have attached a photo of this man.  Look at it.  Most of you will recognize him.  Please pray for him.

Feel free to pass this on to anyone else who will pray for this man.  He hasn't asked me to send this request, but I am sure that he will appreciate all your prayers.  If you were facing what he is facing, you'd want people praying for you!

Thanks!

No matter what party you support, this man is our President right now and needs our help in prayers.

This country belongs to all of us.

IN GOD WE TRUST

Yeah.  I was speechless too.

I decided to browse through the Virginia "rightosphere" to see whether or not any bloggers were pushing the above tripe down readers' throats, and of course, they were.  I decided to ask a few simple questions of the site master.  I used my name and did not hide behind any anon comments.  At first, my questions were answered and I was treated with respect.  However, I couldn't help but notice that after I made better points than the goose-stepping, blind as a bat Bush supporters, my comments weren't posted.  So, I decided to show all of YOU readers why that may be.

My first comment was to bring up the FACT that back in 2003, a ministry group asked members of our armed forces to pray for Bush while dodging bullets on the battlefield.  Only they didn't just have to pray; the troops also had to fll out a card, buy a stamp, and drop it in the mailbox to prove they were praying for Mr. Bush who was probably riding his bike or hunting. 

From ABC:

US soldiers in Iraq asked to pray for Bush

They may be the ones facing danger on the battlefield, but US soldiers in Iraq are being asked to pray for President George W Bush.

Thousands of marines have been given a pamphlet called "A Christian's Duty," a mini prayer book which includes a tear-out section to be mailed to the White House pledging the soldier who sends it in has been praying for Bush.

"I have committed to pray for you, your family, your staff and our troops during this time of uncertainty and tumult. May God's peace be your guide," says the pledge, according to a journalist embedded with coalition forces.

The pamphlet, produced by a group called In Touch Ministries, offers a daily prayer to be made for the US president, a born-again Christian who likes to invoke his God in speeches.

Sunday's is "Pray that the President and his advisers will seek God and his wisdom daily and not rely on their own understanding".

Monday's reads "Pray that the President and his advisers will be strong and courageous to do what is right regardless of critics".

The following is the exchange I had with the Republican blogger.  The blogger/site master posted a very long and thoughtful comment in response to the link I posted above, and I simply copied their long comment into the comment box, and broke it up with MY feelings, as if we were having a conversation.  For clarity, my anwers and comments are in italics, while the Republican blogger's are in natural text.
Jaime, what of the link you posted? Private religious organization provided the pamphlets, they were distributed to the Marines, and they were free to do as they wished with them.

You're right.  I wonder, though, what you would think about MoveOn.org doing the same.

I know Marines and, trust me, they back our President. That goes for the Army guys I know, too.

I am sure you do, and believe me; I understand that our acquaintances, friends, and family would feel differently.  I ALSO know Marines and, trust me, they DO NOT back our President. That goes for the Army guys I know, too.

And lest we not forget ... this is a volunteer military. These men and women joined because of patriotism. They weren't forced, they weren't drafted.

I do not disagree with you on this; I hope you do not falsely disagree with me that many, MANY men and women who volunteered after 911 that I knew (and I would know-I am from the NYC area and I was in NYC on 911) were under the impression that they would be fighting to capture Osama in Afghanistan, NOT "liberating" innocent Iraquis who never asked to be liberated.  There is a difference, and the people volunteering to fight deserved the truth.

This is exactly what happened during Vietnam. We lost the war on the homefront because of the MSM and anti-war protesters. Our soldiers felt isolated.

Our soldiers may have felt isolated (I'll ask my dad, an immigrant drafted before becoming an American citizen who served honorably as a member of the Army) but the idea that "we lost the war because of protestors" is an OPINION.  Please provide factual evidence as to that being the reason we lost the war as opposed to the other numerous mistakes that were made strategically.

Our men were ostricized when they returned to the U.S. They were pelted with feces, food, whatever protesters could find, and called baby killers. They were told by the military not to travel in their uniforms because it was too dangerous ... in America! Something is terribly wrong with that picture.

THAT may have been caused in part by the media, showing the worst of the worst of Vietnam in the news in order to push another senseless war.  However, you are flat out LYING or UNINFORMED if you think that every member of the military was "pelted with feces" and that everyone who was against the war was a protestor.  There are many people that are now againsty the Iraq war that do not protest, and again, the idea that some protestors made us lose the war is just absolutely false.  As for the media causing the devestation in Vietnam, well, your party under Reagan sure solved that problem, didn't they?  When was the last time you saw on TV actual battleground coverage from Iraq?  NEVER; we don't even SPEAK of Iraq.  Yes, your side says we don't talk about the positives enough, but really; how much time do we spend at ALL on Iraq news?  Not much.  Just political and entertainment drama.

That is what will happen again if we keep on this path of protesting the war and blaming the President for everything that goes wrong. If you know WW II history you know there were mistakes and lives were lost. It's the cost of war. And, no, no one wants to lose our soldiers ... but we don't want terrorism on our shores either.

So, dissent ISN'T patriotic, and we should all just do whatever the POTUS says.  I will remember you said that when we have a Democratic White House.

If we don't stand up to terrorism, we are doomed. They want to kill us just because of who we are.

NO.

They don't want to talk about it, they don't want to get along ... they have a jihad to kill us. Period. They are brainwashed from the time they are born to hate America.

OH-are you a Middle East scholar?  Or is this another opinion you have?

President Bush was faced with a terrible situation on 9/11. Our country suffered the worst attack ever on our own soil. It could not go unanswered.

I know, I was there, and anyone would have acted the same on 911 and in the weeks following.  He had an approval rating in the 90s.  So, obviously, he did something wrong.  It DID go unanswered, just like Katrina.

Leadership sometimes demands that we do things that are not popular. We have to do things that are right. That's what our President has done to keep us safe the past five years.

You're just completely wrong.  I disagree with you on terrorism and the reasons behind it's origin, and I am not alone with my opinion as you are not alone with yours-the difference is that I am in the majority and those that think like you are falling into the twentieth percentile among Americans.  Obviously 911 sucked-but imo, the POTUS sucked in his response as well.  His response was super popular and heartfelt and CORRECT in the beginning, and had we continued our attack on Osama in Afghanistan and captured him "with his head on a pike" we may have been able to call Bush the greatest POTUS ever.  But that is just simply not the case.  There have been too many mistakes made, there have been too many lives lost.  The Democratic party will do their best to clean up this huge atrocious mess, but it will be hard.  This is bad news.  Hopefully, we will emerge as a stronger country and better Americans.

So that's that.  The blogger refused to post my long comment you see above-they only wanted to leave their long comment as a "period-end of story-31% of us are somehow in ther majority and CORRECT" closing statement.

But, we all know better, don't we?  ;)


Comments



as always (drmontoya - 11/21/2006 6:40:13 PM)
jaime, I love your diaries. I have been busy but trying to catch up with life! I hope to see you are your significant other up here in NOVA soon.

email me, wait.. I will email you!



Jaime: You'll love this e-bay item (PM - 11/21/2006 10:16:17 PM)
http://cgi.ebay.com/...


How fitting (RayH - 11/22/2006 12:29:39 PM)

George Allen signs are up for sale; George Allen has been up for sale as well, but his days on the market are numbered.


One lonely loser sign (seveneasypeaces - 11/22/2006 12:43:12 PM)
If you check the seller's other merchandise he is also selling a Webb for Senate sign and he gives more information about Jim Webb in the write up.  This is the born fighting yard sign which I think IS a collector's item!


I'm praying very hard (Rebecca - 11/23/2006 8:37:48 PM)
I pray every day that Bush will resign as soon as possible so we can get on with what needs to be done. Let's pray that he can go home and not be criticized anymore.

As for the Christopublicans I would ask "Can't you find someone better to pray for? How about someone who can save lives instead of wasting them?"



I can't think of too many people who need wisdom more than he. NT (Andrea Chamblee - 11/24/2006 2:40:28 AM)