This is an absolutely amazing story.
President Bush was presented with a letter Monday signed by 50 high school seniors in the Presidential Scholars program urging a halt to "violations of the human rights" of terror suspects held by the United States.
The White House said Bush had not expected the letter but took a moment to read it and talk with a young woman who handed it to him."The president enjoyed a visit with the students, accepted the letter and upon reading it let the student know that the United States does not torture and that we value human rights," deputy press secretary Dana Perino said.
The students had been invited to the East Room to hear the president speak about his effort to win congressional reauthorization of his education law known as No Child Left Behind.
The handwritten letter said the students "believe we have a responsibility to voice our convictions."
"We do not want America to represent torture. We urge you to do all in your power to stop violations of the human rights of detainees, to cease illegal renditions, and to apply the Geneva Convention to all detainees, including those designated enemy combatants," the letter said.
The designation as a Presidential Scholar is one of the nation's highest honors for graduating high school students. Each year the program selects one male and one female student from each state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Americans living abroad, 15 at-large students, and up to 20 students in the arts on the basis of outstanding scholarship, service, leadership and creativity.
You want to talk about courage? More than a third of the students decided to put their names on a handwritten letter to the president condemning his policies, and then they handed it to him in person in the middle of a photo-op.
Some moments in life matter more than others. The question for all of us is, when those moments comes, what do we do? Sometimes you only get one shot, one opportunity. Do you wilt, or do you stand tall and follow through?
No wilting here, it seems.
Sign it with me now: I believe the children are our future...
UPDATE: Watch the kids explain their actions in their own words here.
And Andrew is right:
It gives you hope. They have more courage than most of the Congress, and almost all the Republican candidates.
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