To the editor:

Sunday I was watching a news discussion program when a guest stated that the dearly departed Bush regime kept us “safe” as a nation. None on the panel fell out of their seats laughing; no one called for the net or even a 24-hour hold. Therefore, I guess “safe” is on its way to being crystallized in the big-lie tradition of “weapons of mass destruction.”

Repetition does work in getting people to believe things that are patently untrue, but I hope there’s some limit. Does “safe” have a new meaning?

Our military is stretched beyond the breaking point, both in human and material terms. Our reputation in the world is shot. Our economy is such that survivalists are starting to sound rational. I wish I could believe our circumstances are due to factors beyond our control, but that’s not the case. The choices of the Bush Administration have brought us to our knees.

Trying to steal Iraqi oil on borrowed money was a choice. Torturing people was a choice. Deregulation that promoted the greatest theft in history was a choice. Using our Constitution as toilet paper was a choice.

I sincerely hope we don’t get any “safer.”

Jamie McNett

Clinton