A Heartfelt Goodbye

I just wanted to say good-bye to President George W. Bush. It is his last night as President and I know that we all have a few reservations about the last eight years. There are decisions he made that we don't agree with and actions he took that disappointed some of us. Nonetheless, he was our President and as American citizens it is our job to stand behind him until the very end.

He made decisions with the knowledge he had at hand. He made the decisions that none of us would ever want the responsibility to make. He made the decisions that we elected him to make. So for all of us, I just want to say, "Goodbye and thank you for making the choices that we didn't want to make."

On a side note: Today I was thinking about terrorists and why they do what they do. In a book, Bruce Hoffman writes that terrorism is designed for the sole purpose of taking a stance, voicing a belief. Terrorists cause violence, not with the intention to murder, but to make a big enough impact on the world to get their message heard. They believe that what they are fighting for is the truth; it is right and worthy. They are trying to oppose what they see as a universal evil.

If this is true....if all they really want is to be heard and cause a change then it seems to me that, as the rest of the world, we have an opportunity to make it stop. I don't believe that there is a realistic way to ever do this. But if an act of terrorism was never broadcasted by the media, if people refrained from discussing it, and if we acted (even pretended) it didn't make a difference then the terrorists efforts would be unwarrented. How many less would risk life in prison if no one noticed why he went? How many less would choose to be a suicide bomb if they knew it wouldn't make a difference in the world. If we don't listen, it might keep a few from speaking?

I know this is impossible to accomplish. We all have a right to know and the media needs to say something. It's too hard not to care when a loved one dies unexpectedly and so tragically. I understand that we will never be able to stop listening, but it's something to think about.