IF ANYONE GETS TO INTERVIEW JEB'S SON JOHN ELLIS BUSH, MAYBE THEY CAN ASK HIM WHAT THE NOBLE CAUSE IS

A couple years ago I had a most unlikely friendship with a pretty violent, even bloodthirsty young man from rural North Carolina. He was a marine who had just gotten back from Iraq and was stationed at Camp Pendelton in Southern California. Except that he was completely anti-racist, everything about him seemed like an unfortunate stereotype I had avoided my whole life. Of course as I got to know him better a lot of the stereotype stuff went away-- although I never quite got over the fact that he ate all his meals in fast food restaurants. And that his idea of a good time on the weekends was to go out with some buddies, get plastered, spend all their money in strip joints and then go pick a fight with a bunch of Navy guys. Anyway, Brian came to mind today because of all the press about the latest Bush to make the news-- a real chip off his uncle's block. 21 year old John Ellis Bush (son of Jeb and that shoplifting mother, brother of the pill-poppin'/perscription forgin'/crack usin' Noelle, nephew of a bankrobber, etc, etc) was booked for resisting arrest and public intoxication. Somehow our Society judges that John Ellis is from a "nice" family or a "good" family or something ("wealthy, powerful family" might be a more apt description) and he's gonna get a (very gentle) slap on the wrist. Brian wasn't. His family was dirt poor and had no connections. So when he got in a little trouble, at a slightly younger age than John Ellis, he was given a different set of choices-- jail or the military. He "volunteered" for the Marine Corps.

Brian never gave any thought to Bush's "noble cause." He kind of liked Bush because he was convinced that Bush was "pro-military" and gave them pay raises. (He never voted though.) But Brian wasn't looking forward to going back to Iraq because of any of that. He just liked killing. Eventually that basic brutish attitude was too much for our friendship to sustain. John Ellis, on the other hand, must have thought about the "noble cause." I'm sure it's discussed at family get-togethers, right? No doubt 21 year old John Ellis has had every opportunity to have it explained to him. So how come he's roaming around the streets of Austin drunk and fighting with policemen instead of fighting against terrorists in Iraq? And did you read Cindy Sheehan's contribution to Buzzflash today? It's called WHAT NOBLE CAUSE?


It has been one month, one week, and 4 days since I sat in a ditch in Crawford, Tx. My request was very simple: I wanted to speak to the man who has sent over a million of our young people over to fight, kill, and die in a country that was absolutely no threat to the United States of America. I wanted to ask him: "What is the Noble Cause that you keep talking about?"

Well, we all know now that George Bush never came down the road to talk to me. Thank God! Many people have been saying that I am the "spark," "catalyst," "face of the anti-war movement" etc. I beg to differ. George Bush and his arrogant advisers are the spark that lit the prairie fire of peace activism that has swept over America and the entire world. If he had met with me that fateful day in August it would not have been good for him (because I knew he was going to lie and I would have advertised that fact) but it would have had less of an impact on the peace movement if he had.

Upon reflection on the events of this past August, I have come up with two reasons why George could not meet with me: He is a coward and there is no Noble Cause. If George had as much courage and integrity in his entire body as Casey had in his pinky, he would have met with me. But, ironically, if George had that much courage and integrity he never would have preemptively invaded a practically defenseless country. His sycophantic cabinet and hangers-on are also incontrovertible evidence that he is a coward. No one better dare disagree with him. How dare a mom from Vacaville, Ca. have the nerve to contradict the emperor of Prairie Chapel Road!!??

All of the "Noble Cause" reasons that George has variously given for the invasion and continued illegal occupation of a sovereign nation are also patently false and ridiculous. He has been claiming recently (since he admitted a long time ago that Iraq had no WMDs or links to 9/11) that this occupation of Iraq is spreading "freedom and democracy" in the Middle East. Really? Does he have any idea that the constitution that the Iraqi governing body is working on is based on Sharia and that it undermines the freedoms of women? Does he realize that for over 50 years women had equal rights with men in Iraq? Does George realize (of course he does) that the puppet government the US put in place in Iraq is comprised of the very same people who encouraged the invasion to line their own pockets? What kind of freedom and democracy is this? If George is so hell bent on freedom and democracy for Iraq, then why doesn't he practice it here in America? Up to 62 percent of Americans believe that what George has done in Iraq is a mistake and we should begin to bring our troops home. Well, George, 62 percent is a clear majority and you should begin to listen to the people who pay your salary.

He has also claimed that what we are doing in Iraq is "making America safer." Another statement that is easier to disprove than the "freedom and democracy" baloney. To disprove this little bit of deception, all we have to do is look at the Gulf States. Ask the people of New Orleans, especially, if they feel safer. By misappropriating all of our personnel, equipment and pouring billions of dollars into the sands of Iraq, George has made our country more vulnerable to attack by outside forces. Also, from the cold and callous statements of people like Michael Chertoff and George's own mama, the people of New Orleans seem to be "acceptable" collateral damage to the ruling elite of this country. It is my humble opinion that the only thing that will make America safer is to get George and his unfeeling and dangerously incompetent supporters out of our White House.

We all now know the reason that we are in Iraq. George told us so from a break he was taking from Crawford in San Diego on the same day that Katrina was hitting the Gulf States: it is for oil. It is so George, Dick, and their evil buddies can rape more profits from our children's flesh and blood. This is not a Noble Cause, as a matter of fact, it is the most ignoble cause for a war that has ever been waged. We as Americans knew either in the front of our brains, or in the back of our consciousness, that this war was to feed the corporations. 15 brave young Americans have been killed so far this month while our attention has been focused, and rightfully so, on the Gulf States. Over 200 innocent and unfortunate Iraqis have been killed in this week alone. How much more blood are we as Americans going to allow George, Congress, and the corporations to spill before we demand an end to this war and an accounting for the lives that have been needlessly ruined?

It is also time to stop hemorrhaging money in Iraq. I witnessed the abject poverty and sense of abandonment the less fortunate people of New Orleans were living in even before the levees broke. It is time to start pumping hope back into our own communities. It is time to start taking care of Americans. How many millions of our tax dollars are we going to allow George, Congress and the corporations to misuse and waste in Iraq?

Not one more drop of blood. Not one more life. Not one more penny for killing.

If you love our country and want to see a change for the better, come to DC on the 24th of this month and stand up and be counted for peace. The entire world is counting on you.