[Dialogue] Jim Wallis asks: " What Happened to You, Mr. President?"

[Jim Rippey]

An incredible metamorphous!   --Jim Rippey

 

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Thursday, September 27, 2007


Dear Mr. President,
<http://blog.beliefnet.com/godspolitics/2007/09/an-open-letter-to-george-w-b
us.html>  (by Jim Wallis) 


When I first heard that you were vowing to veto a bipartisan bill to expand
child health care, my immediate thought was more personal than political:
What has happened to you? 

I vividly remember a call at the office, only one day after your election
had been secured. It was an invitation to come to Austin to meet you and to
discuss with a small group of religious leaders your vision for "faith-based
initiatives" and your passion for doing something on poverty. I had not
voted for you (which was no secret or surprise to your staff or to you), but
you were reaching out to many of us in the faith community across the
political spectrum who cared about poverty. I was impressed by that, and by
the topic of the Austin meeting.

We all filed into a little Sunday school classroom at First Baptist, Austin.
I had actually preached there before, and the pastor told me how puzzled he
was that his "progressive" church was chosen for this meeting. You were
reaching out. About 25 of us were sitting together chatting, not knowing
what to expect, when you simply walked in without any great introduction.
You sat down and told us you just wanted to listen to our concerns and ideas
of how to really deal with poverty in America.

And you did listen, more than presidents often do. You asked us questions.
One was, "How do I speak to the soul of America?" I remember answering that
one by saying to focus on the children. Their plight is our shame and their
promise is our future. Reach them and you reach our soul. You nodded in
agreement. The conversation was rich and deep for an hour and a half.

Then when we officially broke, you moved around the room and talked with us
one-on-one or in small groups for another hour. I could see your staff was
anxious to whisk you away (you were in the middle of making cabinet
appointments that week and there were key departments yet to fill). Yet you
lingered and kept asking questions. I remember you asking me, Jim, I don't
understand poor people. I've never lived with poor people or been around
poor people much. I don't understand what they think and feel about a lot of
things. I'm just a white Republican guy who doesn't get it. How do I get it?
I still recall the intense and sincere look on your face as you looked me
right in the eyes and asked your heartfelt question. It was a moment of
humility and candor that, frankly, we don't often see with presidents. 

I responded by saying that you had to listen to poor people themselves and
pay attention to those who do live and work with the poor. It was a simple
answer, but again you were nodding your head. I told my wife, Joy, also a
clergyperson, about our conversation. Weeks later, we listened to your first
inaugural <http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/inaugural-address.html>  address.
When you said, 

America, at its best, is compassionate. In the quiet of American conscience,
we know that deep, persistent poverty is unworthy of our nation's promise.
And whatever our views of its cause, we can agree that children at risk are
not at fault ... many in our country do not know the pain of poverty, but we
can listen to those who do,

my wife poked me in the ribs and smiled. In fact, you talked more about
poverty than any president had for a long time in his inaugural
addresses-and I said so in a newspaper column afterward (much to the chagrin
of Democratic friends). They also didn't like the fact that I started going
to other meetings at the White House with you or your staff about how to
best do a "faith-based initiative," or that some of my personal friends were
appointed to lead and staff your new Office of Faith-based and Community
Initiatives at the White House. We brought many delegations of religious
leaders, again from across the political spectrum, to meet with
representatives of that office. Some of us hoped that something new might be
in the air. 

But that was a long time ago. We don't hear much about that office or
initiative anymore. Most of my friends have long left. I don't hear about
meetings now. And nobody speaks anymore about this new concept you named
"compassionate conservatism." And now, you promise to veto a strongly
bipartisan measure to expand health insurance for low-income children. Most
of your expressed objections to the bill have been vigorously refuted by
Republican senators who helped craft the bill and support it passionately.
They vow to try and override your veto. During your first campaign, you
chided conservative House Republicans for tax and spending cuts accomplished
on the backs of the poor. Now Congressional Republicans are chiding you.

What happened to you, Mr. President? The money needed for expanding health
care to poor children in America is far less than the money that has been
lost and wasted on corruption in Iraq. How have your priorities stayed so
far from those children, whom you once agreed were so central to the soul of
the nation? What do they need to do to get your attention again? You will be
literally barraged by the religious community across the political spectrum
this week, imploring you not to veto children's health care. I would just
ask you to take your mind back to a little meeting in a Baptist Sunday
school classroom, not far away from where you grew up. Remember that day,
what we all talked about, what was on your heart, and how much hope there
was in the room. Mr. President, recall that day, take a breath, and say a
prayer before you decide to turn away from the children who are so important
to our nation's soul and to yours.

God bless you,

Jim Wallis
President and Executive Director, Sojourners/Call to Renewal, editor of
Sojourners magazine, bestselling author of God's Politics: Why the Right
Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It (HarperCollins, 2005),

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