“WHY " by NORA ORTEGA at Suddenly Senior

By William Walley

As I approach my 70th birthday I become more confused every day. Questions enter my mind that for reasons unknown to me I cannot come up with answers.

It might be that old age has slowed my thought process to a near standstill, or simply that there are no answers to these questions that bother me so profoundly.

Here are just a few of the questions that are foremost in my mind.

First of all I read in an article just today, "The Bush administration has proposed several cuts, among them taking food stamps from about 185,000 people because they receive other noncash government assistance." Another: "The Department of Agriculture budget, as proposed, would also eliminate a program that gives boxes of food to about half a million elderly people each month."

My question is why hundreds of billions of dollars can be spent on a war that was started based on lies and greed and we cannot afford to feed those in need?

Why is it that the bodies of those poor souls who lost their lives fighting in the wars declared by the Bush Gestapo arrive at Dover Air Force base in the middle of the night and the families of the dead are not allowed to be there? No pictures of their return to the country that sent them off to die can be taken. From WWII on, I have witnessed news of these fallen heroes return but now it is all hidden from public view.

Who is hiding what from whom?

Why was nothing done about the horrendous conditions that existed at Walter Reed until the Washington Post published their articles? There is no way in hell that I will ever believe that the higher ups didn't know what was going on. I guess that the Bush Administration just didn't give a damn.

The other day a local farmer offered to rent me his cropland for just enough to cover the taxes on it; he can't afford to put in a crop this year because of the high cost of fuel.

Why is it that this man can no longer pay for the gas and diesel to farm land that has been in his family for over a hundred years and Exxon/Mobile posted the highest fourth quarter earnings of any corporation in history while receiving $1.3 billion in tax breaks and over nine hundred million in direct subsidies during that period?

Why has Osama Bin Laden never been captured?

Could it be because our great Commander In Chief's father and brother Neil have made millions over the years dealing with the Bin Laden family? Perhaps it doesn't pay to bite the hand that feeds you.

These are just a few of the questions that trouble this feeble old mind. I will be willing to bet that I will be long gone before history comes up with truthful answers to them.

William Walley

P.S. How does one move back to the real United States of America?