Posted by
Brian Peters on Monday, November 19, 2007 10:04:42 PM
November 19, 2007
President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C.
Dear President Bush:
As a nation, Americans are sometimes reminded of the unintended consequences of choices made by our elected leaders on the lives and well-being of people whose faith and trust were freely given in order to effectively govern. History has proven that the mere words and deeds of a president can change the course of history and profoundly affect both the tone and direction of the nation’s moral character for generations to come. We are also reminded that while a president’s words can reflect either a full measure of American generosity or the unsurpassed power of its military strength, the impact of a president’s silence can have the same dramatic and devastating results. That is why we find your continued silence on the issue of a presidential pardon for Border Patrol agents Ramos and Compean of great concern. We sincerely feel that your inaction and lack of immediacy to personally address the inhumane treatment of these two agents runs counter to the tenets of a compassionate conservative and the Christian values that many of your supporters find a sustaining beacon of your presidency.
The purpose of this letter is not to argue the legal points of the Ramos and Compean case but to raise deep concerns among conservatives regarding the larger moral implications surrounding their continued incarceration. As you deliberate, their lives are clearly at risk. The government’s response to this threat has been to place these two agents in solitary confinement for over 10 months—an inhumane treatment and gross injustice that is worse than the terrorists and enemy combatants receive at Guantanamo Bay.
Conservatives who champion the sanctity of every life, born and unborn, find it unacceptable that some disillusioned Americans are being forced to conclude that the lives of Ramos and Compean are simply what the government has deemed an acceptable level of “collateral damage” for a failed border security and national immigration policy. As Ramos and Compean sit in solitary confinement 23 out of 24 hours each day, the failure to personally intercede on their behalf sends a chilling message to other Border Patrol agents and law enforcement officers who will now question their own professional judgment, mute their response and make our borders less secure. This further erodes the public’s confidence in the Administration’s commitment to do what is necessary to secure the borders.
Another equally alarming outcome of the Ramos and Compean case has been the inherent fraying and deterioration of public confidence in the American judicial system. When an admitted illegal alien drug smuggler who repeatedly brings drugs into this country is given government immunity to testify against the very law enforcement officers hired to stop him, the American public sees the scales of justice tilting the wrong way. How can these actions be justified on moral grounds to the American people? How can they become the lessons we teach our children? They can’t.
When justice becomes so tilted, sentences so excessive, and the treatment of prisoners inhumane, then a president must act to bring the scales of justice back into balance. He must use his power to restore faith not only in our judicial system, but faith in the kindness and forgiveness of the human spirit that is a measure of this nation’s moral character. Therefore, the signers below respectfully ask you to demonstrate your compassion and willingness to forgive and immediately consider pardoning Border Patrol agents Ramos and Compean.
Respectfully,
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Paul M. Weyrich
Chairman and CEO
Free Congress Foundation
Phyllis Schlafly
President and Founder
Eagle Forum
Louis P. Sheldon
Chairman
Traditional Values Coalition
T.J. Bonner
President
National Border Patrol Council
Cliff Kincaid
President
America's Survival, Inc.
James J. Boulet, Jr.
Executive Director
English First
Donald Irvine
Chairman
Accuracy In Media
Ron Pearson
President
Council for America
C. Preston Noell III
President
Tradition, Family, Property, Inc.
Larry Helminiak
Chairman
Carroll County Republican
Central Committee
Dr. William Greene
President
RightMarch.com |
David A. Keene
Chairman
American Conservative Union
Frank F. Gaffney, Jr.
President
Center for Security Policy
James P. Backlin
VP for Legislative Affairs
Christian Coalition of America
Chris Perkins
Executive Director
Coalition for a Conservative Majority
Peter Ferrara
General Counsel
American Civil Rights Union
William J. Murray
Chairman
Religious Freedom Coalition
Ron Wexler
President/CEO
Ten Commandments Commission
Jack Wheeler
President
Freedom Research Foundation
The Rev. Dr. Keith Roderick
Coalition for the Defense of
Human Rights
Joyce E. Thomann
President
Republican Women of
Anne Arundel County (MD)
|
Morton C. Blackwell
Chairman
Conservative Leadership PAC
Roy Beck
President
NumbersUSA
Jim Martin
President
60 Plus Association
Jay Dickey
Former U.S. Congressman
(AR-04)
Colin A. Hanna
President
WeNeedAFence.com
Demos Chrissos
President
National Voters Alliance
Richard Falknor
Executive VP
MD Taxpayers Assoc., Inc.
Chris “Kit” Bromley
CEO
BCII
Mal Kline
Executive Director
Accuracy in Academia
Alex-St. James
Chairman
AARLC |
Add my name to this as well. Brian Peters, USN(Ret)