Posted on 02/01/2003 7:20:15 PM PST by rintense
For the second time in two years, President Bush spoke to console and grieve with the rest of the nation in remarks regarding the tragic loss of the space shuttle Columbia. Bush left Camp David early this morning and returned to the White House as he followed the events over the Texas sky. In his speech, Bush succinctly expressed the fears of by stating, 'The Columbia is lost; there are no survivors.' The President exchanged condolences with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as the first Israeli astronaut lost his life with six other Americans. All federal flags have been lowered to half-staff.
God bless the families of the brave souls who have joined the heavens they so willing chose to explore.
February 2nd, 2003
Dear President Bush,
I am thankful to our Father that you sit as the leader of our wonderful nation. Often I join with friends online to lift you up to our Father, especially when we sense the burdens resting upon your shoulders appear breathtakingly imposible to manage.
Dear President, dearest President, we know. (I expect millions of us know.) And I just felt the need to write, telling you how awesomely the Lord has answered our prayers and how much we trust in Him to guide you and the terrific team of skilled and compassionate people who surround and advise you.
I want you to know that each time I hear you speak, I am left wanting to be a better citizen, make that better person. Like you said in your SOTU address regarding the first two years of your presidential term-''...I consider it a good start.", so I consider this inspiration I feel to reach out to my own community, getting off my lazy arse, as it were :^), and begin to help this nation grow in spirit and heart.
Like my online friends, and my church (where we prayed over the deeply sad events of yesterday's Columbia tragedy and prayed for you, lifting you up to our Father, and sighting Psalm 27 - which we understand is you favorite Psalm ), there truly are not enough words to express the depth of our love for you. And I do mean love.
Thank you for 'staying the course', for your willingness to speak out on your faith, for insistence of reminding us of our obligations as citizens, for making us believe just how much difference one person can make. And mostly, President Bush, for modeling what you believe. I pray you know the tremendous difference that you are making. I confess-I have asked our Father to flood your being with the knowledge of the support out here in our nation.
When we hear nonsensical criticisms come towards you from people who know better. In other words, people using distortion to score points, it hurts us, too. Thank you for your patience, your deep desire to change the tone that crushes the world within the beltway and your strength in the face of the nasty, untruthful arrows aimed towards you. We are out here using prayer as a shield for you, Mr. President. Count on this.
At any rate, I realize there isn't much of a chance, with the burdens before you, that this email will ever reach your eyes. But on that minute chance that it might, I wanted you to know that praying for you and your team, our congress and our nation has become an important part of my day. I thank you for that. For it is because of you, that this desire to draw closer to our Father has happened. It began during the election bru-ha-ha, and has never stopped.
God put a very, very good man in charge of our nation.
May God continue to place a high hedge of protection around you and your family and administration, our congress and our nation.
I truly love you, Mr. President. You have impacted my life, my husband's life and our daughter's life. (And I would throw in our dog's life-but that would be waxing way out there-no? :^) Perhaps-as we strive to become more compassionate, our dog benefits? :^)
Sincerely,
< put my full address here >
P.S.
Note to White House Employees:
There is a website, a conservative website, called FreeRepublic.com. Everyday in the forum on that site, in the evening, a thread called 'Daily dose of President Bush' is posted and commented upon. This thread begins with many pictures of events and actions of our President for that day-including quotes. This thread contains humor, much commentary, a little bit of earned liberal bashing ( we like to call it quality bashing, never lewd, or cursing, just righteous anger-etc). If you know someone close to the President, close enough to know when he might need a good laugh, a small lift, an embarrassed 'geeez', please inform that person of this thread. I believe it would be worth your while and definitely might offer our President a break in these extremely tense times. Thanks!
There is so much sadness in the world. Somehow we manage to go on...
You are right - those who mourn shall be comforted. You are among friends at Free Republic. At times we laugh together, get angry together, sometimes get a little silly together, but now, as on September 11, we are grieving together.
Thank you for your service to our country.
Milagro, I'm sorry for the loss of your husband, I'll keep you in my prayers,
KitKat, I'll keep Ruth in my prayers
Mystery_ak, I'll keep your husband and son in my prayers.
Redublican...such great news about W. One person, one soul at a time. At the rate he's going, he'll have it all wrapped up come summer!
Pip...I'm sure W will keep up the struggle and go for a second term. But geez...sometimes you have to wonder just how much can one man take. Such awesome responsibilities he has and so many demanding his time and/or concentration.
We did pray for the President this morning in Church as well as for the astronauts. What perilous times, these.
"Good Sir, you are at all times, a noble warrior, a humble, God fearing man, and the answer to a grateful nation.
We are so thankful to the Lord, for your leadership, and for gracing us with the boundless love you have for your country.
The greatest of us will fall on our knees with worry and fatigue, and the finest steel must first go through fire.
Gather to you the love and prayers of your grateful nation, and lift your eyes to the Lord, for it is he who made you our leader, and he shall not fail you, weary though you may be.
From Isaiah:
Fear not: for I have redeemed thee: I have called thee by thy name: thou art mine.
When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; Neither shall the flame kindle upon thee...
Since thou have been precious in my sight, and honorable, and I have loved thee..
Fear not, for I am with thee."
We are here for you..God Bless you and keep you close.
I thought this bared repeating. Simply a gorgeous post MB!
Bush lingered until the press was gone [from the classroom]. Then he turned to Tose-Rigell [the principal], who was waiting to take him to the library for his speech on education. He pulled her aside for the first private conversation in this new phase of his presidency."I'm so sorry," he said. "But a tragedy has occurred."
The president told her of the second plane crash and explained that there would be no speech on education. Instead, he would need to use her school as the site of his first postattack remarks to the nation.
"I'm going to have to address some things," he said. "I really wish it would have been a different set of circumstances."
"I fully understand," Tose-Rigell said. . . .
As Tose-Rigell conversed with Bush, she sensed that a transformation had taken place. The man she had viewed as a phony just minutes earlier was now calmly apologizing for the fact that his planned education speech at her school would have to be scrapped because, after all, America is under attack. She was astonished by his heartfelt sincerity, especially since Bush hadn't had time privately to gather his wits.
"That's not something that you can fake," she told me later. "I'm telling you, I was very impressed. I don't know what spurred him on. I don't know if he tapped into his faith. I don't know if there were people around the country praying for him.
"But at that moment in time, he was very, very composed," she said. "All I can say is he looked very presidential."
Thus did Gwendolyn Tose-Rigell, an African-American principal of an inner-city school, a Democrat who had worked for Al Gore, become the first of many people across America and around the world to conclude that George W. Bush was somehow profoundly changed by the terrible events of September 11.
"From that point on," she said, "I was a convert."
Taken from Chapter Three, page 91, Fighting Back, by Bill Sammon.
I am sure that's why he chose it.
That is just so neat that Karl Rove would go to all the time and effort to take so many pictures and put them together for this class. What a NICE thing to do!
I had never heard of Flat Stanley until today!
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