Your Voice: 'What I would say to President Bush ...'

President Bush waves as he departs Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Friday. He is beginning a four-day trip to California and Las Vegas. The Desert Sun
April 21, 2006  

The Desert Sun

April 22, 2006

Earlier this week we asked readers to tell us what they would say to President Bush if they could have just 10 seconds with him during his visit to the valley. Here are their answers:


I'm a 12-year-old kid and it has been my dream to meet you. I've been wanting to meet you after you united our nation after Sept. 11, 2001. You are doing a great job being our commander-in-chief in our two wars, and I've collected more than 200 items of you and your 2004 run for the White House. Good luck for the next two years.

Frankie Alvarez,
Indio

Thank God that we finally have a president who stands against those who have murdered Americans worldwide for 20-plus years and is giving opportunity to the rest of the world to self-govern through democracy. With the best of advice, stay the course and thanks.

Maynard J. Amelon,
Palm Desert

I have always believed in the sound collective judgment of the American people. Regretfully, no more. We witnessed your felonious first term - and re-elected you! You are a disgrace to the office, and a danger to the world. The consequent shame and sorrow is a burden we must all bear.

Bert Anderson,
Cathedral City

We hope you will enjoy your stay in the Coachella Valley. We thank you for all you are doing to make this a peaceful world, and we hope you will not listen to your detractors, who are trying to destroy you and the Republican Party. We wish you and Mrs. Bush well.

Edie and Sal Buccieri,
Palm Desert

Thank you for your determination and courage in taking the battle to our enemies, terrorists who have and would again kill innocent Americans. We support you totally and know you will stay strong. God bless you and your family.

Les and Toni Burke,
Palm Desert

President Bush, I was proud of you when I voted for you, and I am still proud of you. You are in my prayers every day. Come to the desert more - you are loved here.
Gwen Carpenter,

Palm Desert

Please resign. Please stop spreading your version of global freedom. Please note that only 3 in 10 people approve of your job performance. Please allow people to disagree with you. Please consider the harm your policies cause our environment. Please stop the war. Please retire immediately. Please.

Mark Chitjian,
Palm Springs

Please list for me the ways that you personally save our planet in your daily living - such as recycling of goods, conserving electricity and water, using public transportation, using biodegradable home products, informing yourself about scientific research concerning the Earth and its future for our heirs.

Beth Christiansen,
Palm Springs

Your "No Child Left Behind" policy has been great for the Iraqi children. While copious amounts of U.S. tax dollars are going towards rebuilding their schools, our children's "revised physical education program" requires that they sell "door to door" magazine subscriptions to fund a fraction of their needs.

John Claeys,
Rancho Mirage

I'd like to tell President Bush there is nothing wrong in taking responsibility for making a mistake in Iraq. The American people would think much more of him if he would be willing to face up to the fact that we're going nowhere in Iraq and it's time to bring the troops home.

Geri Dicks,
Palm Desert

There should an immediate cessation of all free benefits to illegal aliens and 100 percent enforcement of laws prohibiting employers from hiring illegal aliens. Current illegals should be given a certain amount of time to become legal or face deportation. We should close our southern and northern borders, find aliens with temporary visas and then renew the visas or deport them.

Rip Dolley,
Palm Springs

Why was Helen Thomas, longtime dean of the White House press corps, removed from her front-row seat at presidential press conferences and placed somewhere in the rear and kept silenced for what has now been three years for questioning the rationale behind your reasons for going to war?

Jack Durrell,
Palm Desert

You're on the right track. Stay the course! God bless you!

Terry Kay,
Palm Desert

It is apparent that your attendance at this Republican fundraiser for Mary Bono is a direct effort to repair the political damage she is suffering from her ill-advised co-sponsorship of the mean-spirited HR 4437 immigration bill. A bill that would build a 700-mile fence and make felons out of ministers, policemen, teachers, nurses and others whose only crime is to help the vulnerable in our community is shameful. Perhaps you could talk to your Republicans in the House.

Roberta Grubb,
Palm Desert

Please resign so that this country can begin to restore and repair all that you have destroyed.

Susan K. Haller,
La Quinta

What an honor it is to meet you, Mr. President. Thank you for visiting. Please do not be dissuaded from the course you have set and followed these past years of your presidency, particularly in pursuit of the war against terrorism. We support you in your conservative actions. Keep the faith!

Roy and Jo Hunter
Palm Desert

God bless you and our troops for persevering: The crushing of light is really an impossible thing/Light travels too quickly for lies to catch it./It emerges in places unexpected. /It fills hearts without notice./It sets free the minds of captors and captives.

Susan Jacob,
Bermuda Dunes

President Bush, you need to grow a mustache and wear leather boots when you start wars.

Richard A. Johnsen,
Bermuda Dunes

As a lifelong Republican, I am deeply disappointed in your Big Government a la Democrats approach to governing our nation. Let's get back to small government, states' rights and listening to the people who vote not just to your buddies, who are too often wrong. Nevertheless, may God bless you and the United States.

William N. Johnson
Palm Desert

On immigration, seal the borders, now. Then process the illegal within our borders. If a boat is sinking, one must stop the leak first, then bail the boat. On Iraq, President Theodore Roosevelt had a hand in the Panama revolution; he sent the Navy and enough Marines to quiet the Colombians. Never forget "The Big Stick." On Iran, so what! Let the Saudis and the rest of the big oil nations worry about the nuclear weapons aimed at them.

Trevor L Jones,
Palm Desert

Mr. President, preserve and protect our Constitution and keep America safe.

John Karas,
Palm Springs

Pursue the guest-worker program. Change the definition of citizen legality to "anyone born in the United States" to "legal immigrants" or "to anyone who served honorably in the U.S. Armed Forces." Corollary: the immigration problem is a reflection of Mexico's inadequate economic policies. Mexico should be a "natural" for all of the outsourcing jobs going to India, et al.

Arnold M. Kaufman,
Indian Wells

A big thank you for the fine job you are doing in protecting our country. Do not let the negative press depress you. Your legacy will be the protection you created for our country for the unfortunate problems that appear to lay ahead. God bless you.

Jan Kubiak,
Indian Wells

I would like to respectfully ask you a few questions: Why have you not taken a stronger stand on securing our borders with troops to stop illegals? I hope that you plan to take a strong view on saving our entitlements. Do you plan to try to further lower taxes? Do you still plan to stay the course in Iraq? Mr. President, please continue to do what is right with God, not what might be popular.

Paul and Betty Kuntz,
Indio

It is time for you, Mr. Cheney and Mr. Rumsfeld to resign.

Gary and Gerry LaDueDean,
La Quinta

I hold you in complete contempt. I do not consider you to be my president, as I did not vote for you nor do I support you. The blood is on your hands of every American soldier and every Iraqi citizen who has died in your arrogant war of convenience. I only hope the republic survives the few years remaining in your despicable term of office.

Barry Lapp,
Palm Desert

Mr. President, I will be 62 in June 2006. I filed for my Social Security and was told that I cannot collect because my name is on a corporation's paper. Who is going to receive my money, since I have been paying into the fund since 1958?

Jacques Lefebvre,
Cathedral City

Thanks for staying the course in the war on terror in spite of great pressure from your adversaries. A strong offense should have begun years ago. However, our borders aren't secure enough, which could easily lead to another disaster. Please fix or explain.

Jacqui Luciano,
Rancho Mirage

After Katrina, a picture of Bush was shown on CNN's "Breaking News" with the headline "Bush: One of the worst disasters to hit the U.S." This photo and caption saturated the Internet afterwards. A copy is still on our refrigerator. I would say to Bush, "You are one of the worst in the history of our nation."

Veronica Marshall,
Palm Desert


Bush: One Of The Worst Disasters To Hit The U.S.
CNN breaking News 


Groups are calling for your impeachment - what is taking so long? The corruption in your administration is a disgrace for all Americans. As the saying goes, Clinton lied - no one died. I would take a sex scandal any day over what you have given us.

Renee Martin,
Desert Hot Springs

I have a life-sized picture of you in my dining room for years, and salute you with pride every day as a new U.S citizen The legal process took me over eight years, and amnesty to illegals would be a slap in the face of all of us who followed the law.

Lise McGouran,
Rancho Mirage

Please do not cheapen what it means to be a citizen of the United States. Please do not reward lawbreakers.

Bob & Elaine Miller,
Indio

You have not exercised a single veto since taking office, including endorsing and even encouraging an unconscionable $8.4 trillion deficit. Are you the quintesscential "yes" man? Am I using words too big for you or do you understand what I am asking?

Dick Mills,
Palm Desert

Fire Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice and Rove. Then resign.

William J. Murphy,
Palm Desert

We Americans can no longer look upon the world with pride. At home, the dignity and honor which you promised the presidency never materialized. Before your nose reaches Pinocchio proportions, please follow Richard Nixon up the steps of Air Force, turn, wave and forever fade away.

Lionel Nason,
Rancho Mirage

Thank you for no more Sept. 11s, appointing responsible judges, tax cuts, 3 million more jobs, No Child Left Behind legislation, drug assistance for seniors, encouraging a comprehensive compassionate immigration policy, and for your strong moral courage and steadfast leadership. Thinking citizens are with you. Carry on!

Robert M. Olsson,
Palm Desert

As I deal with my daily tasks, obstacles and problems, I find it difficult to fathom how you contend with the difficulties of the United States and the world. May God grant you wisdom and peace.

Arlys Oesterling,
Palm Desert

Your courage, dedication, tenacity and steadfast convictions demonstrate your core values. You are keeping our nation safe and secure. Keep Donald Rumsfeld. Leaders lead - history will judge. Stay the course. Secure the borders - a guest-worker plan can follow. Take the Republican agenda directly to the people from the White House.

Val Ogburn,
Palm Springs

Thank you for your clarity of leadership in a dangerous world. Thank you for continuing to lead and make decisions based upon principle and not polls. And please continue to speak often and clearly to the American people about freedom and democracy being God's gift to all mankind.

Richard N. Parsons,
La Quinta

Your lack of concern for the middle class of America is overwhelming. You are killing us with your favoritism of the rich. You give tax breaks to the haves and break the backs of the have nots. You want to cut benefits for the elderly, children, ill and handicapped. Shame on you!

Marje Powell,
Desert Hot Springs

We are honored to welcome you to our valley. We consider ourselves fortunate to have you at the helm of this country's most challenging period in history. Your strength and determination in the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001, is remarkable. As a veteran of World War II, you have my continuing support as you continue to keep this country safe. Your contributions in maintaining a booming economy while dealing with the unprecedented problems in this world will be extolled by future generations.

William T. Rapp, Jr.,
Palm Desert

Mr. President, you have had personal meetings with leaders of friendly countries. Please have direct face-to-face discussions with leaders of problem countries in some neutral, secure location. Are the reasons for such a thing not happening all based on fear?

Barry Spencer,
Palm Springs

What is it like to be president? You are the best president. Let the people from Mexico come to America. Please, no more war. Please quit making us take so many tests. We need better food, art and music classes, and P.E. Please help poor people get jobs.

Mrs. Sherrell’s second-grade class
Peter Pendleton School, Coachella

You have showed strength and perseverance during extreme worldwide situations, as well as man-made destruction and natures perils. I am sorry so many fortunate human beings have abused the freedom of speech to make such destructive remarks to any person willing to lead our country.

Robin Stampfli,
Palm Desert

I have always supported you both monetarily and at the polls but I would like to understand your position on stem-cell research. I just wonder if you would take such a hard stand on this if it affected one of your family members.

Those of us who are hoping for a cure in our lifetime would like to have the opportunity to investigate what could be done for Parkinson's, paraplegics and brain diseases.

Donna Stone,
La Quinta

If God, in His infinite wisdom, spoke to you directly - and you knew it was He speaking - would you follow His directive no matter if it was absolutely and totally opposed by your closest advisers and your wife? If yes, and if He does, go for it. Abe did.

Charles Stuckey,
Cathedral City

Your administration has subverted the Constitution by stealing two elections, lying to the American people, contravening international law, illegally spying on American citizens and leaking highly classified information. Would you be willing to send your daughters to Iraq?

Mark Swartz,
Palm Springs

I would like to give you a big hug while you are here in the desert. Please don't let the "Bush bashers" get you down. Just know there are millions of ordinary people like me who love and support your great heart, gentle spirit, deep faith and backbone of steel.

Shirley Tyler,
Palm Desert

You need to listen to those who obviously know better. Good and competent leaders know when to admit they are wrong.

Craig Vejar,
Palm Springs

God bless you and your family. We thank God for blessing you with wisdom, spiritual guidance, good health and the perseverance for upholding the Constitution of the United States so that all people can realize true freedom. We're grateful for your leadership. We, the un-polled majority, support you.

Hobert C Wehir,
Cathedral City

Thank you, Mr President, for keeping us safe. They can't beat you at the ballot box, so they try to destroy you and your Cabinet with lies. I am a Korean war widow and a proud grandmother of a Marine. God bless you, Mr. President.

Alice Welch,
Desert Hot Springs

Congratulations - you have fulfilled most of your agenda. The rich are richer, Congress and the courts are more right-leaning, and social programs have diminished. Iraq has been a disaster (except for large American corporations), but you moved a significant amount of this country's wealth from the less-well-off to the well off.

Jack Wells,
Sun City Palm Desert

Mr. President, admit the wrongs you have committed - unbridled assertions of executive privilege, unlawful spying on U.S. citizens, stonewalling responses to congressional requests, hiding truth from Congress, lying about Iraq, and ruining the economy and environment. Resign before you are impeached.

Paul White,
Rancho Mirage

In our democracy, the role of a president is as a public servant who listens to the American pulse and enables the peoples' wishes. A "decider" corrupts the democratic process leading to a restrictive government.

Arlene Wieland,
Bermuda Dunes

The war in Iraq is unjust, and now the drum beats again over Iran. In addition, we've had irresponsible domestic fiscal policies. Stop the propaganda, distorted statistics and lying.

Robert Wieland,
Bermuda Dunes

Do you agree with National Geographic and the vast majority of the science community that global warming not only exists but is the most important issue of your presidency and the millennium? What are your plans to address the global-warming problem? If ypu have a plan, present it to the public while in Rancho Mirage. The environment and our children deserve an answer to this largest issue of the day.

Bob Winet,
Rancho Mirage

How does it feel to have initiated a policy that has resulted in the death or maiming of thousands and a national debt that has put every American alive today owing $30,000?

Barry Parnell,
Palm Desert


President Bush drops into the valley

Erica Solvig, Keith Matheny and Nicole Brambila
The Desert Sun
April 22, 2006

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COACHELLA VALLEY — As the nation continues its war in Iraq, tackles immigration reform and soaring energy costs at home, President Bush vowed Saturday that the Republican party has “a vision and a plan.”
“Our message to the American people is, don’t fear the future, because we intend to shape the future,” Bush told the 100 people attending an intimate fundraiser at the Toscana Country Club in Indian Wells that netted nearly $2 million.

The nine-minute speech, which also touched on the war in Iraq and discussed future fuel alternatives, was the only formal comments Bush made during his first day in the Coachella Valley.

His visit marks the first time since 1995 — when Bill Clinton played a round of golf at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic — that a sitting president has visited the desert.

Today, Bush will head to the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms. After a morning church service, he’ll have lunch with the military families.

Besides a bike ride in the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument early this morning, details about the rest of the president’s day were not released.

He was slated to see the base’s Mojave Viper, a one-of-a kind desert fighting training that all Marine units go through before deploying to Iraq. But that appears to be canceled.

He’s spending tonight in an undisclosed location in Rancho Mirage before leaving from Palm Springs to Orange County on Monday morning.

An intimate dinner
Saturday’s affair at Toscana featured only 12 dining tables. Bush gave remarks mere feet from his supporters, before joining them for a gourmet dinner.

Bush said Saturday was “an important day in the war on terror,” with the elected leaders of Iraq agreeing to form a unity government. He called the development “a blow for the terrorists who have tried to divide Iraq and prevent Iraq democracy from emerging forward.”

Bush also reiterated his comments from Friday at Cisco Systems in San Jose, touting a “competitiveness initiative” promoting free trade, emphasizing science education and encouraging research and technology.

With Californians paying more than $3 a gallon for gas, Bush said America must change its energy habits. Energy consumption by rapidly emerging economies such as in China’s and India’s affects prices here, he said.

“(That) says to me we’ve got to be smart about using energy — using investment technology to get away from the use of oil,” Bush said Saturday night.

Electric hybrid vehicles and hydrogen fuel cells, Bush said, “will be the wave of the future for how we drive our cars.”

Saturday’s event featured other powerful Republicans, including Reps. Mary Bono, R-Palm Springs, and Connie Mack, R-Florida.

Bono and Mack are dating, but they sat at separate tables at Saturday’s fundraiser.

It was a far different scene than when Bush came to Southern California to raise funds for his Texas gubernatorial campaign in 1994, said Los Angeles financier Bradford M. Freeman. He’s a longtime friend, supporter and chief West Coast fundraiser for Bush.

“We had a very exclusive luncheon for him, limited to just 25 people. That was all we could get,” Freeman said as he introduced Bush to the Toscana crowd.

Admission to that fundraiser 12 years ago cost $250 — a price tag that evoked laughter from the crowd Saturday. It was rumored that many spent $25,000 apiece to attend the fundraiser. Read more...


President Bush in Las Vegas for fundraiser

April 25,2006


About 100 demonstrators outside The Venetian chanted
and waved signs like: "Drop Bush, Not Bombs; No Blood for Oil."
 

President Bush has left Las Vegas after stumping for a Nevada congressman at a Las Vegas Strip fund-raiser. Bush was in Las Vegas less than two hours, including a 20-minute speech to about 300 party faithful at The Venetian resort.

The luncheon raised about $400,000 for Congressman Jon Porter and state Republicans. Bush called Porter "a straight shooter" and "a plain talker getting the job done for the people of Nevada."

The president was greeted earlier at McCarran International Airport by the state's top Republicans: Governor Kenny Guinn, Senator John Ensign and Republican Jim Gibbons.

About 100 demonstrators outside The Venetian chanted and waved signs like: "Drop Bush, Not Bombs; No Blood for Oil." Inside, security was tight. Guests paid $500 to $2,100 dollars to attend the luncheon.

Bush talked about a lot of administration policies, including his prescription drug benefit plan. He didn't say anything about immigration or his support for the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository.