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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (549333)	3/7/2004 10:30:03 PM
From: Gordon A. Langston	Respond to of 769670

He was still in the reserve and had asked to be discharged early to run for office.

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (549333)	3/7/2004 11:29:18 PM
From: jlallen	Respond to of 769670

Not wrong....

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (549333)	3/8/2004 2:44:41 AM
From: Hope Praytochange	Respond to of 769670

Our 9/11 The attacks happened to us all. BY DEBRA BURLINGAME Monday, March 8, 2004 12:01 a.m. In the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on our country, the families of those who perished on that day became forever linked through our shared anguish and grief. But "the 9/11 families" are not a monolithic group that speaks in one voice, and nothing has made that more clear than the controversy over the Bush campaign ads. It is one thing for individual family members to invoke the memory of all 3,000 victims as they take to the microphone or podium to show respect for our collective loss. It is another for them to attempt to stifle the debate over the future direction of our country by declaring that the images of 9/11 should be off-limits in the presidential race, and to do so under the rubric of "The Families of Sept. 11." They do not represent me. Nor do they represent those Americans who feel that Sept. 11 was a defining moment in the history of our country and who want to know how the current or future occupant of the Oval Office views the lessons of that day. The images of Ground Zero, the Pentagon and Shanksville have been plastered over coffee mugs, T-shirts, placemats, book covers and postage stamps, all without a peep from many of these family members. I suspect that the real outrage over the ads has more to do with context than content. It's not the pictures that disturb them so much as the person who is using them. This is demonstrated in their affiliation with Moveon.org, a rabidly anti-Bush group that sponsored a rally they held last Friday calling for the president to pull his ads off the air. But by disingenuously declaring themselves "non-partisan" and insisting that it is a matter of "taste," they retain a powerful weapon that they have learned to exploit to their advantage. They are "9/11 family members" and therefore enjoy the cloak of deference that has been graciously conferred upon them by the public, politicians and, most significantly, the media. The leader of a lobbying group advised individuals at a 9/11 family meeting shortly after the attacks: "Make no mistake, you have a lot of power. Politicians are more afraid of you than you know." They know. As "relatives of 9/11 victims," they are virtually immune to challenge on the issue of who should have the loudest voice regarding the legacy of this national tragedy. But this was a tragedy that was experienced and felt not just by us, but by all Americans. The American people responded to the horrors of that day with unflinching courage and an outpouring of love, support and empathy, the memory of which fills me with a gratitude that I can never repay. We families received cards, letters, homemade quilts bearing the names and likenesses of our lost loved ones, hand-lettered drawings from whole classrooms of children, and an unprecedented amount of charitable funds that sustained and continue to sustain those in need more than two years later. These Americans, most of whom I will never have the privilege of meeting, also gave us something even more precious. When the planes hit the buildings and the towers fell, some of their sons and daughters balled up their fists and determined then and there that they wanted to "do something" about it. Those who donned the uniforms of our Armed Forces in order to fight the war on terrorism are not offended by the images of Ground Zero. On the contrary, they are moved and inspired by them. Whatever these 9/11 families may think of the president's foreign policy or the war in Iraq, I ask them to reconsider the language and tone of their statements. We should not tolerate or condone remarks such as those of the 9/11 relative who, so offended by the campaign ads, said that he "would vote for Saddam Hussein before I would vote for Bush." The insult was picked up and posted on Al-Jazeera's Web site. In view of the sacrifice our troops have made on our behalf, this insensitivity to them and their families suggests a level of self-indulgence and ingratitude that shocks the conscience. George W. Bush says that his presidency is inspired by an enduring obligation to those who lost their lives on that brutal September morning. The images of that day stand as an everlasting example of our country's darkest day and finest hour. They are a vivid reminder of the strength and resilience of our great country. They belong to us all--including this president. Let the candidates make their own choices. I trust the American people. Ms. Burlingame, a life-long Democrat, is the sister of Charles F. "Chic" Burlingame, III, captain of American Airlines flight 77, which was crashed at the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. Copyright © 2004 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. PRINT WINDOW CLOSE WINDOW

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (549333)	3/8/2004 8:43:09 AM
From: Hope Praytochange	Respond to of 769670

Unemployment Varies Across Washington Area Monday, March 8, 2004; Page E02 In December, 84,000 people in the Washington area were looking for a job, down 5,000 from a year earlier. That gave the region the lowest unemployment rate of any major metropolitan area in the nation. But the 3 percent unemployment rate, compared with 5.4 percent nationally, varies wildly from the District to suburbs. The District, as it has for decades, has the highest unemployment rate in the area. It was 6.6 percent in December and heading in the wrong direction: up from 6.3 percent a year earlier. Economists attribute this to a chasm between the kind of jobs created, largely professional jobs requiring advanced degrees, and the entry-level skills of District residents looking for work. Maryland and some outer Virginia suburbs have unemployment rates that are well less than the national average and have changed little in the past year, reflecting diverse economies not damaged much by the 2001 recession. So there was not much room for improvement as the economy perked up in the past year and the rates didn't change much. Other Virginia suburbs, meanwhile, had sharp drops in unemployment in the past year, making for the lowest jobless rates in the region. The trend may reflect the resurgence of technology-heavy businesses tied to government contracting. In Arlington County, for example, unemployment fell to 1.6 percent in December from 2.2 percent a year earlier; in Loudoun County, home of America Online and MCI, it dropped to 2.2 percent from 2.8 percent. -- Neil Irwin © 2004 The Washington Post Company