Do you know that phone number? No?? You really ought to. Everyone in America should know this phone number.
Whose number is it?
That phone number belongs to the President of the United States.
Actually, to be concise, it's the number listed as the Presidential Inquiries Comment Office but it's more commonly known as the White House Comment Line. This line is staffed with people who do nothing but take your calls of support, complaint or suggestion. The Senior Officials in the West Wing review the leading comments on an almost daily basis.
Now you don't think I'd just introduce you to this number without actually having a reason, right? Now that I've provided this number, I actually think you should use it. Not just because I'm about to suggest you do, but on a regular basis when there's something about White House policy that you feel strongly about one way or the other. I honestly don't care if you're Democrat or Republican, Liberal or Conservative. That number exists for us to use as American citizens.
Now...here's why I think you should be using it...
U.S. Marines disarm to aid tsunami victimsBy ERIC TALMADGE
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER"...In an effort to ease the fears of local officials, Marines participating in the humanitarian mission to help Indonesia recover from the earthquake and tsunami that have killed more than 100,000 people on the island of Sumatra have agreed to leave their weapons behind whenever they go ashore."
That's just an excerpt. The entire article is available on the website of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, among other sources.
Our United States Marines---someone's fathers, sons or brothers---are being sent into an area and being told to leave their weapons behind if they want to help the people in tsunami-stricken Indonesia. As many as 2000 Marines will be in an area where armed rebels have run rampant. They'll be in an area where there has been and likely will be violence. They'll be in an area where our people get shot at for no other reason than the fact that they're American...
...and they won't be armed.
In fact, you know what? Forget the rebels for a second. Whose to say that al-Qaeda doesn't have a cell in this particular neck of the Islam woods? Our people would be prime targets of their aggression, and the last thing we should do is agree to send them into an area where there are potentially hostile people.
In fact, this isn't the only constraint the Indonesian government has placed on our troops. They also want all foreign troops off their soil within three months. They've adopted a "we'll take your help and money, but go the hell home" attitude. We're there to help them.
OK...OK...I know...they're there on a relief mission. I get it. Hell, I even agree! However, if you don't need a United States Marine standing ready with his weapon, then you don't need a United States Marine! That goes for every branch and every member of the United States Armed Forces. While our people are doing some important and amazing work there, they are not social workers. I want our people to help because we have the means and the ability. The United States is always the first nation to step up and offer help and humanitarian aid and we always will be.
However, we should not be on the ground in Indonesia if the cost includes a single drop of blood from an unarmed American serviceman.
I want our people on the ground to have every means to defend themselves whether it's in America, in Iraq or in Indonesia. When I heard this afternoon that we had agreed to this compromise I was near apoplexy. I really was.
Then I came home and called the White House to voice my anger. If you are bothered by this, I suggest you do the same. 202-456-1111 is a good number to have around and dial up every now and then because your comments are logged and heard, regardless of which party controls the Oval Office.
And isn't having a voice is what being an American is all about?
William Smith
ConservativeBlogger.com
