thank you to all my readers who wrote such kind e-mails about yesterday's post. i doubt i got across how mind blowing the experience was but i have such smart readers (the 1s who don't spread lies about me at least) that they can fill in the blanks.
sherry said it went nicely with something cindy sheehan said to amy goodman on democracy now today:
AMY GOODMAN: Your response to President Bush addressing U.S. service men and women and what his message was.
CINDY SHEEHAN: Well, first of all, I think the best way to honor my son's death would be to bring the troops home, and that's what we in Gold Star Families want our children to be remembered for: peace and not war and hatred. For him to use my son's blood to continue the killing, to me, is despicable. I don't want one more drop of blood spilled in my son's name or in my name. We never should have been there in the first place. It was a mistake. It was a mistake when we invaded. It's a mistake now, and I want my son’s sacrifice and the sacrifices of the other brave Americans to stand for peace and to bring peace to the world and not to spread more hate. You know, he said that my son died to spread freedom and democracy in that region. We're spreading imperialism and death and destruction everywhere we go. And, no, not one more drop of blood in my son's name or the names of any other of our brave young people who have made the ultimate sacrifice for basically nothing.
that's an excerpt from democracy now's 'Mother of Soldier Killed in Iraq: "The Best Way To Honor My Son's Death Would Be To Bring The Troops Home."'
we all need to be thinking what we can do. and as the woman said yesterday, peaceful things we can do. civil disobedience, you name it. but start asking yourself what can you do that maybe you thought of for a moment and then thought 'oh no, i can't do that.' the fourth of july is coming up. maybe you meant to let your congress reps know how you want the troops home now. but you didn't get around to it.
visit your rep's site, read your local newspapers, see if your rep is attending any event in your area. if he or she is go there, shake their hand and say, 'i want the troops home now.' and if they offer that it's a little more complicated or any of the stay the course nonsense, repeat, 'i want the troops home now.'
i meant to highlight third estate sunday review all this week and i was so blown away by the convictions and the power and the presence of the speaker yesterday that i forgot all about it.
i think this short story goes with what we're talking about - 'K-Boy Tries To Get Back Home (a horrific parable)' :
K-Boy was wearing his Chuck Taylors, his jersey, all tricked out vintage style.
Speaking of vintage, he had a Marvin song blasting in his head. Bus rides were retro but he was doing it up in style he figured as he noted the heat inside the bus.
It was late and hot. He was tired. He closed his eyes and listened as the bus seemed to shake and nearly shatter with each bump in the road. While a bead of sweat formed on his forehead, it seemed the a.c. existed more to provide background noise than to cool things down.
He must have been more tired or more hot than he knew because a quick moment of resting the eyes sure enough turned into a nap.
Waking up, he opened he looked around and saw his street.
Congratulating himself on his perfect time, he rang the bell for his stop.
"Stop requested. Please watch your step," said the mechanical voice in English, then in Spanish.
K-Boy attempted to stand and make his way to the front of the bus.But nothing happened.
does k-boy make it home? read the short story.
i also want to note that mike is covering the recruiter issue each day and he's also answering questions on sex and other issues. check out mikey likes it! because it is a great blog.
betty has a post up on thomas friedman's latest column and his 1 before and i see why c.i. hesitates to excerpt betty's wonderful writing, it really does build, both the story and the jokes.
so check out betty.
last but not least, check out ruth's latest morning edition report. it's a message of hope and 1 worth reading.
'oh this is all so serious, thank god for betty, but otherwise ...'
c.i. has a post that notes a serious issue and also finds time to point out the continuous uselessness of elisabeth bumiller.
this is the part i laughed at the hardest:
Bumiller notes Louis J. Freeh's "analysis": "The [FBI] agents loved her." Though it must have been hard for Bumiller not to add an exclamation point to that statement -- a line over a little heart, no doubt. We also learn that she was very comfortable in close quarters with criminals and that she now works in the basement of the White House's West Wing, two apparently unrelated items.
