By Rob Okun
Photos: YouTube Screenshots\Wikimedia Commons
“In our nation’s 248-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump… I will be casting my vote for Vice President Kamala Harris.” —Dick Cheney, former Republican vice president
Dear President Bush,
I never expected to be writing you, sir, but we’re in a national emergency and we need all hands on deck, especially yours.
Your vice president, Dick Cheney, is among hundreds (by now, thousands?) of prominent Republicans who have publicly denounced Donald Trump as too dangerous a threat to our country to ever again be allowed anywhere near the White House. They all have said they are voting for Democrat Kamala Harris for president. It is time, sir, for you to join them. Let me explain.
Your voice still carries considerable weight with the voting public. After two terms as president, where you sensitively sought to calm a grieving nation in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, you are the only Republican to have received more popular votes than their opponent in the past six elections (2004). No small feat.
I know your spokesman reported that you are no longer making presidential endorsements. I implore you to reconsider. Staying silent in the face of the five-alarm fire scorching our democracy is a dereliction of duty, sir. I don’t write these words lightly. The oath you took to protect and defend the constitution of the United States of America didn’t end when you left office. I know you believe that.
Donald Trump, the would be “dictator on day one”; Donald Trump, whose Project 2025 would gut the heart and soul of our government; Donald Trump, who plans to deport millions of immigrants; Donald Trump, who would criminalize women nationally who seek autonomy over their bodies; Donald Trump, who won’t say if he wants Ukraine to win its war against Russia… That man is poisoning our country, injecting authoritarian bleach into the body politic.
You cannot, sir, you must not, Mr. President, sit idly by. With all the heartfelt expressions of love and devotion you have long professed for our country, doing nothing now is tantamount to arranging deck chairs on the Titanic after it struck the iceberg. I know there are tens of millions of citizens—Republicans, Democrats, and independents—who do not, for a minute, believe that is who you are.
Yet, sir, there are some who might conclude that, by your silence, you may be tacitly supporting Trump’s authoritarian aspirations. Although I vehemently disagreed with many of your policies, I don’t believe for a nano second that you believe any of his lies. Please do not give anyone even a hint of suspicion that you do.
I marched with hundreds of thousands in New York City (and millions more worldwide), to protest your disastrous decision to invade Iraq in 2003. I suspect you have winced more than once watching footage of yourself on the USS Abraham Lincoln announcing, “Mission Accomplished” when, in fact, the mission was, well, never accomplished. And yet…
Your work on AIDS in Africa was transformative, one of the highlights of your presidency, one of your finest moments, Mr. President. It continues to be. You have done much in your post-presidency to rehabilitate your reputation. While many people remain critical of your policies, sir, we’re grateful for your commitment to the rule of law and the sanctity of the constitution, a far cry from the bigot who has polluted the very essence of democracy for nearly a decade.
How can none of this not seem important to you? I know it must. Maybe you feel you’re above the fray: spending time at home in Dallas with your family; painting moving portraits of military veterans in your studio; lunching with recently retired Southern Methodist University president Gerald Turner, and visiting your presidential library on the SMU campus. Seems like a nice life.
But it’s time to leave the studio, sir. It’s time to confer with Laura, our respected former First Lady. To ensure that Donald Trump never returns to the White House, a convicted felon awaiting sentencing—and facing three more trials—please speak out now. Then, your fellow citizens can join you in declaring, “Mission accomplished.”
Rob Okun, syndicated by PeaceVoice, is editor emeritus of Voice Male magazine, chronicling the antisexist men’s movement for more than 30 years and is editor of the anthology, Voice Male: The Untold Story of the Profeminist Men’s Movement.
