In stark contrast to Cindy Sheehan's revised & faulty version of events....
A Man of Compassion
Decision '08
How does our President treat the grieving? Writing in, of all things, the Huffington Post(!!!!), Michael Smerconish has the story of William Maher, who, like Cindy Sheehan, lost his son in the War in Iraq. Smerconish picks up the story from here:
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This past February, Maher, and his wife, Adeline, met with the President at the Willow Grove Naval Air Station in Warminster, PA. The President was in town to sell his Social Security plan. He made time to meet with the Mahers, so long as they would follow one ground rule.
“When the White House called my wife, they said she wasn’t allowed to tell even my other son or daughter that we were invited to meet the President. They didn’t want the press to know, and said the President didn’t want the press to know. If it would have leaked out, we would not have had the meeting.”
Which is telling. It belies the complaints of those who think the President has somehow politicized the situation regarding those who have died in Iraq.
The President spent 30 minutes with the Mahers. The only other people in the room were a security person, and a representative of their Congressman, Mike Fitzpatrick.
So what is it like to lose a child to war, and sit with this President? William Maher told me.
“When he came in, it was a little tough, especially on my wife. He even said to her, I hope you can get through this. The two of them really hit it off. My wife sat on the sofa with the President, and I sat in a chair, and we spoke about Billy. He asked about him. He told us how he felt, and how he had to go through this day in and day out, but he felt it was very important, as my wife and I do. A lot of people keep saying, ‘when are they coming home, and I say, when the job is done.’”
“He explained that he did not want our soldiers to die in vain, and that was important to him, and he said that ‘as long as it is on my watch, we are going to be over there to get this resolved’, and I am glad he feels that way because even thought [sic] we hurt a lot, it makes feel better that we have a purpose there, and I think we do, and that the job will be done.”
I asked William Maher if he believed political considerations played any role in his getting the meeting.
“This just happened in February, he was already re-elected, so he didn’t have to meet with us. The most powerful man in the universe still thinks of the families after being elected to [sic] 2nd term. It meant a lot, he impressed the living daylights out of me. He’s a very strong character, very strong person, and explained a lot about his life, explained much of what he went through, and his wife and family, he was very down to earth.”
Valerie Mihalek is the person from Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick’s office who was in the room. She later told me that she had been witness to what William Maher described.
“It was the most amazing thing to see how compassionate the President was. He just walked in as if he was one of [sic] family, and walked right up, and hugged them. Adie was crying. He was wonderful with her. He was getting upset too. They sat on [sic] sofa and his attention to them was as if he had known them his entire life. He gave them twice the time allocated, which had been 15 minutes. He never rushed them. They talked about their families. The President tried to lighten the mood by speaking about how he met Laura and asked how Bill met Adie. It was the most personable meeting you could image. No invasion of their privacy. This was a very comforting, relaxing atmosphere, which was really special,” Mihalek told me.
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No President, Democrat or Republican, wants to see Americans dying in battle. Let’s not lose sight of the burden on the Commander in Chief during wartime; it may not be equal to a mother’s grief, but it’s a heavy responsibility, and one that George W. Bush does not shirk…
decision08.net
huffingtonpost.com |
