Vote for truly principled

 

In his news conference on Thursday, President Bush stated, as he has in the past, that his decisions to order the United States military to occupy and continue to occupy Iraq were based on principle. Now, I think we should admire people who act on principle rather than on expediency or whim. However, it all depends on what principles they are acting upon.

Bush and his people act on the principle of political reality. This boils down to "do anything in any way necessary to achieve political goals." This is plain in Bush's actions, but even more so in the actions of his key administration people, such as Dick Cheney and Karl Rove. The result has been and continues to be deception, manipulation, secrecy, stonewalling, disregarding law, sacrificing people and on and on.

Now, are these the principles that this nation has and should stand for? I think not. We would be much better off with leaders whose principles were things like honesty, openness, fairness and respect for other people. Bush and his principles have cost the United States dearly and have caused many in the world to lose respect for the United States. From now on, let us vote truly principled people into the White House.  

Bill Moorcroft,
Fort Collins

originally published in the Fort Collins Coloradoan