Las Vegas Sun: Why I'm Skipping Lunch With LIAR Bush

[stopbush]

Where I Stand -- Columnist Brian Greenspun: A reason to abstain

WEEKEND EDITION November 21, 2003ov. 22 - 23, 2003

Brian Greenspun is editor of the Las Vegas Sun.

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On Tuesday, President George W. Bush is coming to Las Vegas. It is appropriate that we welcome him to our city and wish him well in his travels. It is also appropriate that we share with the president our thoughts about his presidency. I would have done it much earlier but this is the first time since his inauguration that President Bush has seen fit to come to Nevada.

(snip)

The invitation to attend the luncheon at The Venetian hotel was quite compelling and certainly welcome, at least to this editor. I always like to be asked, even if I choose not to attend. In this case, I have to decline. And, since it is the president of the United States to whom I am saying "no," as well as to a great many of my friends for whom I have the deepest respect, I believe I have a responsibility to tell them why they will break bread without me.

(snip)

...I have chosen to miss lunch because our president has lied to us and failed to either say "I am sorry" or explain why he did so. And I choose not to break bread with a liar when I believe the consequence of his untruthfulness could have a devastating effect on my family, friends and community. To be blunt, this is personal. Yes, I am talking about Yucca Mountain and candidate George W. Bush's commitment to not choose Yucca Mountain as the site for the nation's high-level nuclear waste unless sound science determined that it was the best place for the job.

(snip)

It was President Bush who lied to us about what his decision would be -- a decision, I might add, that would not have been made by a president named Al Gore -- and a decision that he has yet to explain to Nevadans.

In short, President Bush did not lie about sex, may not have lied about his reasons for making war and probably didn't lie about his motivation for turning the environmental world on its ear. He lied about something far more basic and fundamental in Nevadans' eyes. He lied about our futures, our health and the life and promise we hold out for our children. That is the kind of lie that may be unforgivable. But a good place to start would be to face us like a man and tell us the truth.

Once that happens, I would be delighted to consider having lunch with the president of the United States. And like my misguided friends in Nevada, I would be happy to buy.

Much more here: http://makeashorterlink.com/?U21C23E96