TRIB'S PROBLEM NOT ANIMAL HOUSE...IT'S INTEGRITY

By happenstance, my wife and I were visiting the Tribune Tower as your October 24 editorial "The Tribune and you" was hitting the streets. We read every one of the inspiring freedom of the press quotes on the Wall of Inscriptions in the lobby; and what struck me was the utter failure of the Tribune to live up to them regarding the most important issue threatening our formerly great nation. I refer to your profound silence regarding our immoral, bankrupting and criminal wars in the Middle East. They drone on endlessly and now seek to insulate the American populous from their horror by using pilotless drones to rain death and destruction down upon innocents who have no chance to defend themselves.

The Trib was an early cheerleader for the Bush Administration's endless lies to launch these wars and has never waivered in the nine years and millions of casualties and refugees since. Incredibly, your 2004 editorial endorsing President Bush for re-election touted his experience dealing with terrorism as a major reason. Throughout this destructive ordeal, the Tribune passed on investigating Bush Administration officials of war crimes; ignored uncovering the higher ups who orchestrated systematic and despicable torture of Iraqis while allowing a handful of low level grunts to rot in jail as scapegoats; and was AWOL when fear tactics and intimidation were used to incrementally reduce our civil liberties.

I can't be bothered fretting over Animal House shenanigans alleged to have occurred under newly fired Tribune Co. officers Randy Michaels and Lee Abrams and I suppose the rest of your readers feel likewise. Don't those folks get some of the credit for recent improvement in your financial performance, increase in total print and online audience, and addition of more than 50 journalists this same editorial touts?

Whether your refusal to take on the war party over their endless wars is due to fear of government reprisals, concern about losing pro war readers, or you truly support these self destructive wars, is immaterial. By so doing you dishonor the great legacy of the Tribune far more than Michaels or Abrams ever could.

CLEAN UP DUTY

Former President George W. Bush, in a rare public appearance, spoke in Chicago yesterday before the Commercial Finance Association. He offered that his biggest accomplishment was that "I kept the country safe" ignoring the fact that arrogance and incompetence may well have facilitated the catastrophic 911 attacks. His biggest disappointment - not privatizing social security, forgetting that had he succeeded he would have caused an economic catastrophe for the folks relying on that money as their old age safety net when the market imploded in 2007-8.

Bush the humorist provided a word picture of life after the Presidency: when walking Presidential dog Barney, he's now the guy with his hand in a plastic bag, not a Presidential gofer tagging along. What Bush doesn't yet get is that the 310 million of us cleaning up after his disastrous eight years haven't found a plastic bag large enough to pick up all the waste he left behind.

Also published in the Glen Ellyn News, October 27, 2010