Letter: Timing and everything

If you are President Bush and the news doesn’t fit your agenda, you can always change the news.

So, while total chaos appears to reign in Iraq, with things getting more and more macabre every day and body counts continuing to rise, our president decides to tackle the imminently dangerous and must-be-addressed-right-now issue of same-sex marriages.

And, while gas prices hover around $3, oil company profits set all-time records and Iran thumbs its nose at us, he decides to get serious about border security, five years after 9/11. (A little late to close the barn door, Mr. President.)

I am sure President Bush would rather talk about issues that appeal to his political base and which other people do agree with him about. With a 70 percent disapproval rating, that’s only natural. And no doubt those Republicans looking to get re-elected would also like to see that.

But I wonder why FDR never addressed the same-sex marriage issue? Perhaps he was too busy fighting a war and didn’t have time to placate a political base.

Call me old-fashioned, but I put a much higher priority on supporting our troops by getting them out of needless harm’s way than obsessing whether homosexuals receive equal treatment in this land of freedom and equality.

With elections coming, President Bush is sending out more political smoke than an Everglades fire. Let’s hope we see through it.

Art Herman/Bonita Springs