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Anti-war protesters have the right idea; Velma Berger; Beaver County Times; January 24, 2010.
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 subject letter.
“I drive past the Beaver County Courthouse on Saturdays between 1-2 p.m. and see a dedicated group of people with their signs protesting the war.
“Regardless of the weather conditions, they never miss a Saturday.
“I only wish my age and health permitted me to stand with them. I would be proud to do so.
“People drive by without a glance their way. I believe that unless you have someone involved in the conflict, this war is forgotten.”
[RWC] “People drive by without a glance their way?” That’s not what the organizers claim. According to Beaver County Blue, “Most of the drivers give us a favorable honk and a ‘V’ sign these days,” said Tina Shannon, PDA’s local president.” Who’s fibbing?
As for Ms. Berger’s belief “that unless you have someone involved in the conflict, this war is forgotten,” she should speak for herself. Perhaps the comment is projection.
“We were looking for Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan. Then, President George W. Bush, the war president, decided to go into Iraq after Saddam Hussein. Was his capture worth more than 4,000 U.S. lives and those of countless civilians?”
[RWC] Based on her letters bashing Iraqis (an example), I have my doubts Ms. Berger cares about Iraqis.
“Meanwhile, bin Laden is still roaming around. He never was in Iraq.”
[RWC] Who claimed he was?
“Now, we’re back in Afghanistan and sending more troops there.”
[RWC] We never left Afghanistan.
“The United States and Great Britain are closing their embassies in Yemen because of new threats from al-Qaida. Does this sound like we’re winning the war against terrorism?
“This is the mess we have inherited from Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld.”
[RWC] Though Mr. Obama has followed the Bush administration policies in Iraq and has escalated our involvement in Afghanistan, Ms. Berger still can’t bear to mention President Obama by name when it comes to Afghanistan and Iraq. This is a sign of a true political partisan.
“I salute the protesters who want to end this war and our troops brought home.”
[RWC] As with all her previous letters on this topic, Ms. Berger doesn’t tell us what will happen if we just leave Afghanistan to the Taliban and al-Qaida.
What about everyone else “who want to end this war and our troops brought home?” Apparently Ms. Berger believes if you’re not a lefty waving a protest sign, you must be a warmonger.
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