Velma Berger – 5/6/09

This page was last updated on May 9, 2009.

Don’t compare Clinton to Bush; Velma Berger; Beaver County Times; May 6, 2009.

From February 2005 through October 2007, Ms. Berger had a series of at least 26 Bush and Iraqi-bashing letters. In one letter, Ms. Berger told us she was proud of John Murtha. In another letter, Ms. Berger actually claimed she had “a clock ticking down to Bush’s last day in office” and that she “carr[ies] it on [her] purse everywhere [she] go[es].”

Far more often than not, the letters were war-related and ended with something like “Bring our troops home now.” For some reason we could speculate about, there were no war-related letters from November 2007 until early 2009. Ms. Berger’s four letters in 2008 were about the election campaign, with one letter supporting Hillary Clinton and another expressing her displeasure with Barack Obama. In one of the 2008 letters, Ms. Berger claimed she was upset with the Democrat party and claimed she would “now be a proud independent.” In my critique of that letter I wrote, “Though Ms. Berger asserts she ‘will now be a proud independent,’ her body of work indicates she will continue to support the leftist candidate, whoever that is. Come November after her short-term anger has subsided, I believe it’s safe to say Ms. Berger will cast her vote for Mr. Obama.” While I can’t say for sure Ms. Berger voted for Mr. Obama, a post-election letter shows Ms. Berger supports him now.

Below is a detailed critique of the letter.

“In response to the April 28 letter to the editor ‘Don’t compare Bush to Clinton,’ I agree. There is no comparison.

“With Bill Clinton, we had peace and prosperity. He left office with a balanced budget and a surplus. Our allies were our friends.”

[RWC] Ms. Berger has selective memory regarding “peace” during the Clinton years. Here is a list of attacks against the U.S. The 1993 WTC bombing in which six people died; 1993: U.S. peacekeepers in Somalia - 18 dead soldiers; 1996: bombing of Khobar Towers military barracks in Saudi Arabia - 19 dead servicemen; 1998: U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania bombed - 224 dead African civilians; 2000: USS Cole bombed - 17 dead sailors.

I know I’m nitpicking, but a “balanced budget” and “a surplus” are mutually exclusive, as would be a balanced budget and a deficit. In any case, the budget surpluses were already dropping (by 50% in Mr. Clinton’s last budget). Had President Bush done nothing, the deficits would still have occurred as a result of the decrease in tax revenue caused by the recession that began during Mr. Clinton’s last year in office.

“Our allies were our friends.” As I’ve written before, our true friends are still our friends and who cares about the rest?

“On the other hand, we had George W. Bush, who took us to war in the wrong country. There are more terrorists. And what has happened to Osama bin Laden? The war continues.”

[RWC] “There are more terrorists?” Can Ms. Berger provide her data source?

“Bush not only used the surplus but ran up a debt that future generations will be paying for. Now, we have high unemployment and people are losing their homes and savings.

[RWC] I can’t believe Ms. Berger doesn’t know the U.S. was in debt long before Mr. Bush took office. Though Mr. Obama has already out done Mr. Bush on spending and deficits, did you notice Ms. Berger didn’t mention it?

Regarding the “high unemployment and people are losing their homes and savings” comment, Ms. Berger doesn’t tell us what President Bush should have done – or not done – that would have prevented these things from happening. There is at least one correct answer, and it’s not “There’s nothing he could have done.”

“I agree that punishment for the past administration is a waste of time. However, I think we should remember that Bush led us to where we are today — deeply in debt, still at war and with many enemies around the world.”

[RWC] I get a kick out of lefties like Ms. Berger who “agree that punishment for the past administration is a waste of time.” What are they afraid of? I think it’s time for the left to put their money where their mouths were.

“The latest count was well over 4,000 U.S. troops killed. Also, I read where the Iraqi people want us out of their country.”

[RWC] No kidding. So do the Japanese.

“And the war goes on.”

[RWC] Does anyone want to guess why this letter didn’t end with “Bring our troops home now” as Ms. Berger’s letters did when Mr. Bush was President?