Who has suffered the most because of the Iraq war?

[brian_igo]

Laura Bush knows the answer.

CURRY – You know the American people are suffering, watching –

BUSH – Oh, I know that very much, and believe me no one suffers more than their president and – and I do when we watch this. And certainly the commander in chief, who has asked our military to go into harms way.

CURRY – What do you think the American public needs to know about your husband?

BUSH – Well I do hope they know the burden of worry that is on his shoulders, every single day, for our troops. I think they do. I think if they don’t they’re not seeing what the real responsibilities of our president are.

CURRY – It must be hard for you to watch him in this

BUSH – Well its hard, its absolutely hard.

Thanks for putting all of that into perspective, Lar. Looks like Dubya did find a girl just like the girl who married dear old dad.

If these people have their heads any further up their ass, it would be a round-trip.

Duncan Black at Atrios asks a question that is certainly no less absurd than anything Laura Bush said - can you even begin to imagine the shitstorm in the media if Hillary Clinton had said after the Blackhawk went down in Mogadishu that no one was suffering more than Bill or herself?

[erik_kosberg]

I feel for them. Really, I do. The man deserves a medal.

[brian_igo]

erik_kosberg said

I feel for them. Really, I do. The man deserves a medal.

I know of at least one other President who was given a Purple Heart by a citizen. Not surprisingly, that story has a very different tone.

Like other museums of its type, the Truman Library takes the visitor on a trip back in time to HST's presidential years. Starting with the end of World War II through the US involvement in the Korean War, the exhibits show the many facets of President Truman. One particular display really struck home with me, though.


In the section on the Korean War there is a Purple Heart medal on display, in its original presentation case. Next to the medal is a letter addressed by the father of a young man who was killed in that war. Clearly bitter over the loss of his son, Mr. William Banning wrote President Truman, enclosing the medal awarded to his son posthumously.

Here is the text of the letter:

Nursery Rd. New Cannan Conn.

Mr. Truman
As you have been directly responsible for the loss of our son's life in Korea, you might just as well keep this emblem on display in your trophy room, as a memory of one of your historic deeds.


Our major regret at this time is that your daughter was not there to receive the same treatment as our son received in Korea.


Singed (sic)
William Banning

A card posted next to the display states that the medal and letter were found in Mr. Truman's desk at the Library when it was cleaned out after his death in 1972.

Truman talked about this during the 1961 interviews that became the oral biography, Plain Speaking. Mr. Banning sent his son's Purple Heart and this letter in the wake of Truman's infamous meltdown at Paul Hume, the music critic for the Washington Post who panned a performance by Margaret Truman. HST kept the letter and the medal in his personal desk for the rest of his life as a reminder of his pettiness in that moment.