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Back in May, Mermaid Girl wrote a letter to President Bush urging him to stop the war in Iraq (I didn't put her up to this. Well, I did suggest the letter, but only because she was ranting about how she wanted to tell him to stop. And I transcribed her dictation).
On Friday, this came in the mail:
From the White House! With a picture of the President! Wasn't it nice of him to write to her? She was thrilled.
This is what the letter said:
He encourages her to "learn something new every day." And she does, usually. On Friday she learned that the President enjoys hearing from young Americans, but doesn't necessarily read or respond to what they actually write in their letters.
She didn't seem to mind, to be honest, though of course her cynical parents did. She was just happy he wrote. "He's nice about some things," she mused.
On Friday, this came in the mail:
From the White House! With a picture of the President! Wasn't it nice of him to write to her? She was thrilled.
This is what the letter said:
He encourages her to "learn something new every day." And she does, usually. On Friday she learned that the President enjoys hearing from young Americans, but doesn't necessarily read or respond to what they actually write in their letters.
She didn't seem to mind, to be honest, though of course her cynical parents did. She was just happy he wrote. "He's nice about some things," she mused.
posted by elswhere | 10:36 PM
9 Comments:
So when will she be old enough to be told that he isn't actually interested in what many adults write to him either?
I think I'd prefer being ignored . . .but then I'm not five.
That is a cool helicopter and at least he didn't have his dog sign the letter.
I've heard that he's nice about a lot of things. That in fact he's a very nice guy. Just not the kind of guy you want in charge of your country for eight years (gah!).
I wrote the president when I was a kid, too. I'm not sure why, but I did like the signed photo.
I wonder what you write on your resume if you're the employee that reads kids letters so the president can ignore them?
On a helicopter. For god's sake. Unlike the rest of the witty and rational commenters (commentors? commentators?) here, I am still sputtering incoherently.
--Angela
Bah. Yeah, I got a letter from the prez too, when me and mwt got married. I happen to have a unisex first name and I cheated and said I was mr. witchtrivets and asked for an official blessing from him and his stepford wife. And I got it. It is in our wedding book. My friends think it is hysterical.
But I still don't like him or think he is a nice guy. Bah, I say.
But it is sweet that MG forgives him even if she is against the war. Oh for innocence and a lack of cynicism. It is great when you are a child. Not so good later on.
Frightening. I guess Mr Bush's advisors understand that children (and maybe many voters?) don't care if he listens to them as long as they get an 8x10 glossy. oh dear. How um, nice of him. Do you think he send the same things to the mothers of dead soldiers? "hope you'll learn something new everyday, here is a photo of me pretending to be in the army". oops! you can see myself, i am quite cynical. When I was small we had Vietnam with Life magazine's photos on the coffeetable.
Yeah, well, I used to go to church with the lady who is the person truly behind those return letters. She was pretty nice, though a little weird.
As for the Bushes? Nice is as nice does.
Humph. He needs to follow his own advice. Be kind to others. Indeed.
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