Yom HaShoah - Holocaust Remembrance Day

"I stand here on this cursed ground, from which the cries of our brothers will forever resound, I salute our six million brothers and sisters... I salute the ashes of our people and vow 'never again.'" Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi

You don't have to be Jewish to honor the more than 6 million innocent victims of the Holocaust, modern history's worst crime against humanity. You just have to be a human being.

For the 17th year, thousands of people, from teenagers to survivors joined the March of the Living, an annual Walk of Remembrance from Auschwitz to Birkenau on Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Jews and all those connected to survivors around the world marked the horror of the Holocaust with prayer and ceremonies. Yom HaShoah is especially poignant this year in Israel, preparing to celebrate its 60th anniversary as a nation, formed largely by and for those forced from their homes and countries by the Nazis.

Hamas, on the other hand, took the opportunity to pervert Yom HaShoah by airing a documentary series claiming that the Holocaust--the genocide of European Jews--was planned as a satanic Jewish plot to get rid of the handicapped and mentally ill.

Hamas also claims the Holocaust was meant to manipulate the world media into feeling sorry for Jews. And of course, it never really happened and the Nazis had nothing to do with any of it.

What can you say to that kind of bigotry, hatred and ignorance? We'd like to ignore it, but so many Palestinians, a whole generation of young ones for sure, are being taught this horrible lie.

It's not a time to talk Middle East politics. It's a time to remember those who died at the hands of evil hatemongers. And to pray. And to promise it won't happen again.

Those who join the Walk of Remembrance take a solemn pledge. It can't be any clearer than this:

"We pledge to keep alive and honor the legacy of the multitudes of our people who perished in the Holocaust.

We pledge to fight anti-Semitism, anti-Zionism, Holocaust denial and all other forms of hatred directed towards the Jewish people and Israel.

We pledge to fight every form of discrimination manifested against any religion, nationality or ethnic group.

We pledge to actively participate in the strengthening of Jewish life in the Diaspora and Israel.

We pledge to increase our knowledge of our Jewish heritage and to pass on a love of Jewish life and learning to the next generation.

We pledge to give tzedaka, to assist in helping the Jewish needy, wherever they may live in the world.

We pledge to involve ourselves in tikkun olam, to build a better world for all members of the human family.

After the Shoah the promise of 'Never Again' was proclaimed. We pledge to create a world where 'Never Again' will become a reality for the Jewish people and, indeed, for all people.

This is our solemn pledge to the Jewish people, to those who came before us, to those of our generation, and to those who will follow in future generations."

That's our future and our children's future, those special words: Never Again.

Iraq War - 5 Years Too Long, 4 K Too Many

Mike Rosen visited the grave of his friend, Sergeant Michael Carlson, yesterday in a section of Arlington National Cemetery dedicated to US servicemen and women who have lost their lives in Iraq since 2003. That number passed the 4,000 mark Sunday. (WIN McNAMEE/GETTY IMAGES)

We have never been permitted to see the reality of those deaths. Of this horrible war.



War is draining our resources everywhere. Billions for Iraq war seen squeezing food aid.

As the stock market tanks, military suppliers get richer.

And we are haunted by the thoughts of fallen soldiers, in their own words.

I remember sitting on my bed alone in the dark watching Richard Nixon's face fill the TV screen to tell us the War in Vietnam was over. I could only hug myself, tears streaming down my face.

"Peace with honor," Nixon called it. Wrong. A disastrous war. A dishonorable peace.

All these years later, President Bush mouths the same empty platitudes: Bush Says Iraq War Deaths Not in Vain.

I say, ENOUGH!

Remembering Those Lost In 2007

"Pale death knocks with impartial foot at poor men's hovels and king's palaces." Horace

I was lucky this year. I didn't suffer many personal losses. Some of my friends and family did. The world of arts and letters did. Sports too. And our country did. Too many mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, children and spouses lost loved ones to violence in 2007.

Yes, I'm talking about the war in Iraq. And Afghanistan. Hate-based murders and suicides in the Middle East.

But I'm also appalled at the number of violent deaths right here in my own hometown. The killing sprees escalating around the country.

I've banged the same drum about that violence in Philly and Omaha and Virginia Tech -- WE NEED GUN CONTROL.

Now that I have that--temporarily--out of my system, here's my short list of loss in 2007... from the ridiculous to the sublime, from those I only met to those who significantly touched my life.

My husband's aunt, one of the purest souls I've ever known: Everybody's Aunt Rebecca.

A seminal mentor from my early professional years: Mal Johnson - Boss and Friend.

Another boss who was also a colleague and friend to the end: Dick Doran - Really RAD and Dick Doran - A Fitting Farewell.

The wonderful father of my wonderful friend: Suzie's Dad - A Righteous Man.

An opera star with brass and class: Betsy and Bubbles, Take 2.

True media lights: Bergman, Antonioni, Kurt Vonnegut, Merv Griffin and My Tom Snyder Quote.

Last but not least, some horses asses and an actual horse:

Anna Nicole - Legacy of Lunacy

Tammy Faye, Merv, Brooke - Who's Next?

Barbaro - Horse, NOT Human

There were many more deaths this year, of course, and we'll see them endlessly looping through TV, newspapers, magazines and online specials as 2007 becomes 2008.

But these are the ones who touched me ... or raised my hackles. I send sincere condolences and prayers to those left behind to grieve their deaths, no matter how ridiculous or sublime they were in life.

Fox Plowed Sally Field

LiveLeak.com - Sally Fields UNCENSORED Speech

"And let's face it, if mothers ruled the world there would be no g-ddamn wars in the first place." Sally Field

Fox TV should be ashamed of what they did to Sally Field--and all Americans--Emmy night. But they're probably still congratulating themselves on striking another blow for the self-appointed freedom censors of the Conservative Right.

The first buzz was that Fields got the hook for using the F-word. Which, really, late at night on a show few were even watching on a network that regularly uses the N-word and other vulgarities is hardly the crime of the century.

And guess what? Turns out she only took the Lord's name in vain. Like nobody at Fox ever says g-ddamn. Puhlease. That wasn't it.

In Fox's world, Field's crime was taking the War in Iraq's name in vain. The Right Wing political agenda's name in vain. The policies of the Bush administration's name in vain.

Fox sent the final words of her acceptance speech into a Soprano-like black void not because of her language. Let's be very clear: it was her politics Fox bleeped.

Liberal, anti-war, Democrat, anti-Bush are the real dirty words to the Right Wingnuts at Fox. But if any of them listened, they would have heard Sally Field patriotically dedicate her award to all mothers of all soldiers serving our country.

All those Fox conservative creeps who conspired to bring censorship to the Emmy's should have their mouths washed out with soap for taking the name of Freedom in vain.

9.11.07

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"Understand the causes of terror? Yes, we should try, but let there be no moral ambiguity about this: nothing could ever justify the events of September 11 and it is to turn justice on its head to pretend it could." Tony Blair

9/11. That's all we'll ever have to say to call up one of history's greatest horrors. It's on a Tuesday this year. Just like it was on September 11, 2001. I have my own memories of that Tuesday, lived out online.

Remember last year? It was a big media deal on the 5th Anniversary of 9/11. An artificial milestone, but the memories are just as important.

The memories of horrendous terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers and--let's never forget--also on the Pentagon and who knows where else if not for the heroic efforts of passengers on Flight 93.

Every day of the year thousands of people around the world commemorate the anniversaries of the deaths of loved ones. Many from illness, accidents even natural causes.

But there's nothing natural about dying in a war. The number of Americans killed by the War in Iraq has now exceeded the number of those killed here at home on 9/11/01.

How can that be? How could we have let our president and our congress take us to war in a country that had NOTHING to do with the attacks on America? We were hoodwinked. Tricked. Given false information for still incomprehensible reasons.

Why did George W. Bush and his administration of Crooks and Liars want a war in Iraq? Afghanistan, yes, that's where terrorists train to kill. Pakistan's not looking so pro-America these days either.

I don't know what to say any more.

I only know this: The best way to honor the decent, honorable men and women killed on 9/11, in Iraq and Afghanistan is to make our government stop the killing. End the dishonorable war.

Please. No more bodies.

A Bad Fit for Mitt

"One of the ways my sons are showing support for our nation is helping me get elected because they think I'd be a great president.'' Mitt Romney

"I misspoke. It's not service to the country, it's service for me, and there's just no comparison there. Service in this country is an extraordinary sacrifice being made by individuals and their families.'' Mitt Romney

Open mouth. Insert foot. Open mouth. Remove foot.

As a liberal left winger, I allot blog space to Republicans only when they tick me off. I honestly can't think of a time I ever defended one. For Mitt Romney, I'm making a small exception.

Caveat: I'm not defending Mitt the Candidate, but Mitt the Father.

I'm seriously impressed with Mitt and Mrs. Mitt for raising five sons, none of whom appear to be underachievers or crack addicts. That's an accomplishment right there. Keeping them out of Iraq is another.

As the mother of one son, nothing and nobody could convince me to let him serve in Iraq. I'd throw myself in front of a tank first.

Don't tell me I'm being un-American. I'm being a Mother. And asserting my right as an American to oppose a political war launched by evil men under false pretenses for their own ego and monetary gratification.

Why in god's name should my son--or Mitt Romney's sons or anybody's kids--serve and die for that?

Sadly, horribly, America's underserved underclass make up the majority of our fighting forces. It's beyond unfair. No way those men and women should be decimated further by war just because they reached for education and opportunity offered by the military in peacetime.

But don't blame me as a mother for hating the war in Iraq. Or for wanting my son to Be All That He Can Be right here on American soil. And don't blame Mitt Romney the Father for wanting his sons safe and sound too.

Rich, poor or anywhere in between, none or us wants our children added to Iraq's obscene body count. And I'd like to know how many of the reporters currently hounding Mitt Romney have kids of their own serving in Iraq.

Yes, Mitt the Candidate gave a dumb answer when asked why his sons aren't serving in Iraq. But it was a DUMB QUESTION. So his reply was off the cuff and rightly tongue in cheek.

A candidate for president should be asked serious questions about his stand on the war. Taking part of an offhand reply to a personal question out of context and blowing it up into a media circus doesn't serve the public interest. It is an insult -- more even to military families than to the Romney family.

Mitt's correct, we have a volunteer army. The reality is that his kids (and mine) are lucky they don't have to "volunteer" in order to feed themselves or their families. We should applaud the dedication, hard work and sacrifice of those who do.

Bush, Cheney and the rest of the warmongers don't applaud anything but greed. They love to call us unpatriotic if we're against the war. All the while they get rich on the graves of thousands. They should all burn in hell.

Bottom line, we should not make lack of military service a political football. Unless we kick that sucker right in Dubya's smirking face.

We Didn't Start the Fire

"We didn't start the fire. It was always burning since the world's been turning.
We didn't start the fire. No we didn't light it, but we're trying to fight it.
We didn't start the fire. But when we are gone, will it still burn on and on and on and on..." Billy Joel

If you're a Boomer, this will take you back. And hit you at the most elemental levels. Over and over and over.

If you're not a Boomer, watch it with one. Pay attention, ask questions, you'll learn something.

Because, sadly ... Nothing. Has. Changed.

100 Years of Pictures

Iraq - Three Wars Too Many

"He who is the author of a war lets loose the whole contagion of hell and opens a vein that bleeds a nation to death." Thomas Paine

I can't stand it. The 5-year anniversary of 9/11 came and went ... as a media event. And its outgrowth--the war in Iraq--continues unchecked and largely unnoticed by the American public.

The 9/11 families live with the tragedy and loss 24/7, 365. The country lives with the memories and the threat it could happen again. The soldiers in Iraq live in constant fear and continue to die virtually unrecognized, except by their families and friends.

Our president and his posse--who should have to live with their own monstrous guilt--instead used the 9/11 anniversary as a cynical opportunity to shore up their evil agenda, promote the war and undermine its detractors.

Who are these people? What happened to their souls? Why have we given them so much control over our destiny? Where is the uprising of protest against them, their overwhelming failures and their dirty stinking war?

If you ask me, the real "godless infidels" are George Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Condoleezza Rice and all who support them.

They are responsible for not one, but three distinct wars in Iraq.

The Political War
The self-serving lies through which our president and his minions tricked this country into war with bogus claims that Iraq had Weapons of Mass Destruction and was responsible for 9/11.

The Bush administration's blatant pandering to greedy corporate cronies, funneling obscene amounts of money into their coffers and thus into the campaign chests of Republican candidates.

A personal Bush family vendetta against Sadaam Hussain.

The president's continuing arrogant claims of victory and "stay the course" ... not only to deny personal responsibility, but to help keep Republicans in Congress.

The Military War
The outrageous lack of readiness as America's vast Military Industrial Complex sent soldiers into battle woefully unequipped and unprotected. Local communities hold bake sales to buy body armor for their soldiers ... while the fat cats in the White House and at Haliburton sit on $1200 toilet seats smoking $800 cigars.

Reservists promised one or possibly two tours, called up a third and fourth time--many to die as their luck ran out--because the military doesn't have the volunteer manpower to support this endless conflict.

Soldiers killed by friendly fire, which the Pentagon covers up. Then releases piecemeal with the lamest possible excuse: an inevitable consequence of war.

Retired military generals, heroes, strategists and former officials reversing their positions on the war and publicly calling for a pullout, only to be bullied, fired or defamed as unpatriotic for acknowledging this egregious error and facing reality.

The Personal War
The greatest tragedy of all--the loss of thousands of lives--for personal, political and military gain. And the irreparable damage done to thousands of families as they struggle to cope with staggering loss.

It just doesn't get any more personal than this Carrying the Weight of Iraq.

When will we see a united public outcry to leave the wars in Iraq?

I can't stand it.

Carrying the Weight of Iraq

"You always hear all these statements like freedom isn't free. You hear the president talking about all these people making sacrifices. But you never really know until you carry one of them in the casket. When you feel their body weight. When you feel them, that's when you know. That's when you understand." Sgt. Kevin Thomas

There is a web site called Pictures of the Year http://www.poyi.org/, which together with the University of Missouri School of Journalism chooses from among photojournalism's finest to award the year's best pictures.


Todd Heisler, The Rocky Mountain News

This is the First Place General Reporting photo, which is one of a series about a soldier's body returning from Iraq. It includes this account:

When 2nd Lt. James Cathey's body arrived at the Reno Airport, Marines climbed into the cargo hold of the plane and draped the flag over his casket as passengers watched the family gather on the tarmac. During the arrival of another Marine's casket last year at Denver International Airport, Major Steve Beck described the scene as one of the most powerful in the process: "See the people in the windows? They'll sit right there in the plane, watching those Marines. You gotta wonder what's going through their minds, knowing that they're on the plane that brought him home," he said. "They're going to remember being on that plane for the rest of their lives. They're going to remember bringing that Marine home. And they should."

Mr Heisler also took Second Place for his heartbreaking follow-up picture. It literally made me weep. And then, oh god, the description.

The night before the burial of her husband's body, Katherine Cathey refused to leave the casket, asking to sleep next to his body for the last time. The Marines made a bed for her, tucking in the sheets below the flag. Before she fell asleep, she opened her laptop computer and played songs that reminded her of 'Cat,' and one of the Marines asked if she wanted them to continue standing watch as she slept. "I think it would be kind of nice if you kept doing it," she said. "I think that's what he would have wanted."

A first person account from another passenger on a plane bringing home yet another dead soldier was just about more than I could bear.

Last week, while traveling to Chicago on business, I noticed a Marine sergeant traveling with a folded flag, but did not put two and two together. After we boarded our flight, I turned to the sergeant, who'd been invited to sit in First Class (across from me), and inquired if he was heading home.

No, he responded.

Heading out, I asked?

No. I'm escorting a soldier home.

Going to pick him up?

No. He is with me right now. He was killed in Iraq. I'm taking him home to his family.

The realization of what he had been asked to do hit me like a punch to the gut. It was an honor for him. He told me that, although he didn't know the soldier, he had delivered the news of his passing to the soldier's family and felt as if he knew them after many conversations in so few days. I turned back to him, extended my hand, and said, Thank you. Thank you for doing what you do so my family and I can do what we do.

Upon landing in Chicago the pilot stopped short of the gate and made the following announcement over the intercom.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to note that we have had the honor of having Sergeant Steeley of the United States Marine Corps join us on this flight. He is escorting a fallen comrade back home to his family. I ask that you please remain in your seats when we open the forward door to allow Sergeant Steeley to deplane and receive his fellow soldier. We will then turn off the seat belt sign."

Without a sound, all went as requested. I noticed the sergeant saluting the casket as it was brought off the plane, and his action made me realize that I am proud to be an American.

So here's a public Thank You to our military Men and Women for what you do so we can live the way we do.

signed: Stuart Margel -- Washington, D.C.

How much longer must all of us carry the horrendous burden of the war in Iraq?

A War, Between Friends

"We have always said that in our war with the Arabs we had a secret weapon--no alternative." Golda Mier

My colleague, comrade and great friend Jesse Kornbluth (aka beliefnet.com's Swami Uptown) and I have been talking about Israel. In emails. IM's. And now, on our blogs.

We are both Jews. We are both Liberals. We are both Humanists. We are both passionately committed to Ideas.

We often debate. Discuss. Exchange thoughts and sentiments and beliefs. We don't always agree. But we do listen to each other with respect.

And sometimes--but, we hope, with humility and humor--we even argue existential concepts.

There's nothing existential about the current war in the Middle East. It's brutal and bloody. It's polarizing even the best of friends, including us. But it hasn't beaten us. Because we agree on our secret weapon -- Communication.

Jesse and I have been burning up cyberspace with our differing opinions on the Middle East conflict. I am fully--but not blindly--behind Israel. Jesse is far less sure. He is justifiably concerned about the wanton destruction wreaked on innocent civilians by Israel. I am more concerned with the unending havoc and destruction rained down on Israel's citizens by Hezbollah.

So our debate escalates, opinions and articles buzzing fast and furious through the cyber ether. In the process, I'd like to think we're each learning something valuable from the other. Perhaps you could learn something too.

Jesse has aggregated and distilled our recent exchanges here Two Jewish friends debate the new war in the Middle East (Oy, vey).

If only the countries of the Middle East were as receptive to a thoughtful exchange of ideas.

My Questions on the Israel Question

"Still on Israel's head forlorn, Every nation heaps its scorn." Emma Lazarus

I've been pounding away here and in exchanges with friends, putting forth my position on the war in the Middle East, supporting Israel. I'm passionate about it, though I'd like to think not rabidly so.

But the whole issue is so complex, the posts and emails just get longer and longer.

It occurred to me maybe I should simplify. Make a list of top questions and try to give answers, one by one, with just a little elaboration. You can give me your answers too.

Question 1: Does Israel have a right to exist as a soverign nation?
Answer: Yes.
Elaboration: If you disagree, move to Syria.

Question 2: Does the Arab world in general believe Israel has a right to exist?
Answer: No.
Elaboration: I'm not referring to ordinary, reasonable citizens, but to their governments, and/or the powerful organizations which control them: Syria, Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah ... it's a long list. All of whom have made numerous and public anti-Israel statements. And blow up Israelis on a regular basis.

Question 3: Is forcing Israel to withdraw to pre-1967 borders the solution?
Answer: No.
Elaboration: Israel--and the world--would lose Jerusalem. Not. Gonna. Happen. Israel would also become a sitting duck with no buffer zones and nowhere to grow.

Question 4: Does Israel have a right to defend itself?
Answer: Yes.
Elaboration: The US had the same right after 9/11. But we went after the wrong targets. For bogus political reasons. And we still haven't found or routed the real bad guys. Israel historically has not made those mistakes. At least not all at once.

Question 5: Is Israel currently overreacting to real and percieved threats?
Answer: Maybe.
Elaboration: The threats are real now and have been real enough in the past. Imagine how much greater the danger would become--to America and the world--if Hezbollah and Hamas were allowed to continue to grow unchecked, underwritten by Syria and Iran. Which America has been unwilling and unable to stop.

Jackpot Question: Why is the Bush government supporting Israel in this conflict?
Answer: Let the Jews do the dirty work of smacking down rogue Middle East governments we can't control and eliminating terrorists we can't find. Let them put their soldiers in harm's way and bomb the hell out of the Middle East for a change. Let them take the blame now--and especially later, if the plan fails.
Bonus Answer: Takes the war in Iraq off the front pages.

At the end of the day, while there is certainly blood on Israel's hands, far more blood drips from the hands of the Middle Eastern countries that shelter and support terrorist groups and the rabid, hateful causes--especially genocide--they espouse. They MUST be stopped. And the process will never be pretty.

Let's face it, when it comes to the Middle East, nobody's hands are clean.

Israel At War

"After al-Qaida, [Hezbollah] has been blamed for more deaths than any other terrorist organization, including suicide truck bombings that killed over 241 U.S. servicemen, most of them U.S. Marines in Beirut, the bombing of the Israeli Embassy that killed 29 and a Jewish community center, killing 95." Stephanie Sonntag, UPI

"I want someone to address the problem (of) how you get a cease-fire with a terrorist organization." John Bolton, US Ambassador to the United Nations

Americans were given a horrendous lesson in fanatical terrorism on September 11, 2001. But we don't seem to have understood the reality of the message. Maybe because it was a one-off. Maybe we're just too filled with nationalist conceit.

Maybe it's because it happened almost five years ago. Here in America we don't live with the very real threat of terror attacks every single day.

And we're such a big country, whatever horror might happen in New York or Tulsa or Kansas City has only an emotional--or briefly financial--impact on the citizens of Chicago or Seattle or Philly.

So when Hezbollah, the radical and deadly proficient advocate of Israel's destruction locates itself in Lebanon and starts ambushing soldiers and lobbing bombs at civilians, what is Israel supposed to do? Call the UN? Yeah, right.

I don't mindlessly defend Israel's every action, but I do get seriously pissed off whenever some pundit analyzes Israel from a safe American armchair and talks about Israel's "overreaction" to terrorist attacks. Israel is surrounded by loaded rockets in the hands of lunatics dedicated to its total destruction. There can be no debate on that.

Listen to Hamas and Hezbollah threats, the impotent whining from Lebanon, the ominous silence from Syria and Iran. The hands-off support from Bush administration. The toothless condemnation from Arab controlled and/or oil dependent France, Italy and Russia. Notice Spain and England haven't added their voices too loudly to the chorus ... they know firsthand the power of terrorist bombs.

Give me one example when "measured and sober approaches" have worked. A few prisoner exchanges -- tiny stop-gaps. The Camp David Peace Accords -- in the end a failure, accomplishing no lasting peace or safe borders.

I stood on the tarmac at Lod (now Ben Gurion) Airport in 1978 and watched Egypt's President Anwar Sadat come down the steps of his plane and shake Israel Prime Minister Menachem Begin's waiting hand.

The collective dream of a nation was wrapped in that handshake, hope was palpably buzzing in the air. I will never forget it. Nor will most Israelis, especially today's leaders.

But history has forgotten that handshake and the goals behind it. Iran and Syria never came to that peace table. Hamas and Hezbollah could care less.

And by the way, why is no one asking for "measured and sober approaches" from Hamas and Hezbollah or the puppet governments they control? Because everyone knows it's pointless. They will never compromise. Never.

Their fanatical dedication to nothing less than Israel's total annihilation will never cease. Two primary reasons it hasn't happened to date: 1. US support and 2. Israel's superior intelligence and military might.

But the danger to Israel also has grown exponentially as the US becomes even more overextended and under-supported in Iraq. And as Hamas and Hezbollah have gained strength and support from Syria and Iran.

So Israel's current response, I believe, is not a rampage but a carefully planned campaign to rout Hezbollah and serve notice to Hamas, Syria and Iran that, to quote our president, this shit has to stop.

Are the conditions in Gaza deplorable? No question. But who supplied Gaza's food and water and housing and refrigerators and TVs and air conditioners and cell phones in the first place? Not the Palestinian government -- Israel. And where do the citizens of Gaza earn the money to pay for those things? Israel.

And what would those Gaza citizens do if they had arms and centralized leadership? Attack Israel.

And why haven't the Palestinian leaders stepped forward with aid or military force to address Gaza's plight? Because the poor, disenfranchised people of Gaza are only important to Hamas and Hezbollah as propaganda fodder. They are, in a word, expendable. How twisted is that? And how naive to blame it all on Israel.

The hypocrisy in dealing with Israel is stunning. The Western world is engaged in a subtle and insidious form of racism when it expects Israel to behave in a civilized way largely because Israel's citizens, while mostly Jews, are also descended from white Europeans. While it has only an expectation of primitive savagery from the Semitic Arabs, whom most outsiders picture as depicted in the movie Lawrence of Arabia.

Yes, Israel is hitting civilian targets. This is war, and war is never pretty or pleasant or carefully thoughtful of civilians. Especially civilians who claim to believe in their fanatical leaders' cause and whose kafias those bastards hide behind.

So Israel is sending Hamas and Hezbollah a message: You value the lives of your people? Get out of town.

And keep in mind, Hezbollah is now bombing the hell out of Northern Israel and Haifa regardless of the huge civilian Arab population in harm's way there.

Does Israel make political and military mistakes? Of course! But one mistake it has never made is to underestimate its enemies. Something the US and other nations continue to do.

Israel - Reality Check

"In Israel, in order to be a realist you must believe in miracles." David Ben Gurion

Why do so many intelligent people have such a hard time understanding the reality of Israel's position in the Middle East? Especially its obligation to defend itself.

Yes, defend. To this day, throughout the Middle East, countless Arab organizations, religious leaders, politicians and entire government manifestos--not to mention terrorist fringe groups and fanatics--continue to call openly and vociferously for Israel's destruction.

That's not Zionist propaganda. It's reality TV.

But you still think Israel is the aggressor, the villain? That Zionists are fooling the world into thinking Israel is surrounded and desperate?

Did you watch the celebrations when Hamas won the Palestinian elections? Did you read the signs? Did they say, "A New Day" or "Hope is Here"? No. They said "Death to Israel." What, you think Zionist Israelis wrote those signs? No.

That's reality. Offered openly to the world.

Why do they hate Isreal so? Why have they chosen Israel as their scapegoat? The bottom line is, and always has been land. Much of the land sacred to the three major Western cultures and religions happens to be occupied by Israel. At the moment. And not without tremendous effort and loss of life.

Why is keeping that land so important, aside from assuring Israel's survival as a nation? If you were in Israel when Arabs controlled Jerusalem in the 60's, you'd know. Only Muslims were allowed access to the holiest city in Christendom. Not just Jews were shut out. The city was closed to all non-Arabs. Period.

When Israel controls land, it's open to all. So in addition to being a sanctuary for disenfranchised Jews around the world, Israel protects some of mankind's most sacred shrines.

We all should value Israel for that alone. And support its claim to the land. And no one should pontificate--or point fingers--unless they've been there. It's the only way to understand.

Walk the Stations of the Cross through the Old City in Jerusalem. Sit in the incredibly beautiful olive gardens at Gesthemene.

Gaze upon the huge rock from which Muslims believe Mohammed ascended to Heaven.

Pray or simply stare at the Western Wall of the 2nd Temple, Judaism's holiest of holies and not incidentally one of the oldest structures in the world.

And everywhere, touch, walk on, see and wonder at millennia-old stones imprinted with history's hands, populated by the seminal ghosts of our civilization.

I'm a Jew, my great-grandparents came to America from Palestine. My family's connection with Israel is deep and strong. That's my mother in the photo above with David Ben-Gurion, architect, founding father and first Prime Minister of the State of Israel.

I've lived and worked in Israel. I go there regularly. Members of our family live there. I know the country and its citizens. I know Arabs too. Many decent, hard working people who just want to live in peace. As do most Israelis. I've been in Israel during times of hope and despair.

Nothing gets me angrier than hearing American Gentiles and fellow Jews underestimate the importance of protecting Israel. For the world, not just for the Jews. We of all people should know better.

If only you could stand as I did in Bethlehem's Manger Square on Christmas Eve and hear voices swell in harmony, the world's languages blending as one to carol 'Silent Night.'

Or go to Nazareth and see such joy on the faces of the faithful at the Church of the Nativity. Wander through Jericho and listen for the echo of Joshua's trumpet.

You can't go to Bethlehem, Nazareth or Jericho any more. Why? They are under Palestinian control now. Many of the sacred buildings and ruins are untended, turning to dust. No one from the outside world can visit them regardless.

But Israel still controls Masada. The Dead Sea. Ein Gedde. MT Sinai. Jerusalem. The Galilee. And the world is welcome. So those shrines you could see. And try to comprehend their massive historic and cultural value.

Anyone who tries to fit Israel's role in the Middle East conflict into a neat ideological package just doesn't get that. They can't see the forest for the trees we all planted.

My friend Swami posits

My Zionist friends like to say that every Arab hates Israel and wants every Jew dead. I've never bought this line. In my --- granted --- limited experience, most people want to be left alone to muddle through life with their loved ones nearby. Nobody I know wants to kill a neighbor's child before the neighbors throw bombs into nurseries.

Oh Swami, it's far more complex than that. Yes, most people want to be left alone ... individually.

But collectively, it's a different story. A society of people worn down by conflict and poverty and displacement, then spoon-fed images of an evil scapegoat and uplifted by promises of milk and honey in return for rage will respond in kind. How could they not?

Those people don't live in a vacuum. They live in communities, they talk to each other. Tell tales. Promote urban legends. Share outrage. Pass on to each new generation a legacy of centuries-old distrust and animus.

You think Israel's so different from America's cities? We have an underclass here too, mostly African American, and they're killing each other in alarming numbers -- with no war declared.

They have a more diffused focus for their anger. It's not directed at a single religion or nation, there are a multitude of oppressors. Cops. Teachers. Parole officers. Rival gangs. The government. Anyone trying to enforce more authority on people who already feel a heavy foot on their necks.

And here they use bullets, not bombs. Throw knives, not rocks. But innocent people--especially children--are killed nonetheless.

Innocent people are always killed in deadly conflict. Including Israeli children. And yes, Arab children too. But so many of them also watch their fathers and uncles and even mothers die willingly for a self-destructive cause of hatred for Israel. And they learn to hate as soon as they learn to speak.

Israel is a small country of roughly 2 million Jews--and Christians too--surrounded by more than 40 million Arabs--Christians and Muslims--led by or harboring regimes that regularly proclaim their dedication to Israel's complete annihilation.

No matter what smoke their puppet government leaders and diplomats blow at the US and the world, virtually every country in the Middle East would like nothing better than to see Israel destroyed. Period.

They want a strong US partner removed from the Middle East. And remember the other reason why? They want the land. Such a small piece of the vast Middle East pie.

But they want a place to put the displaced Arabs of the world--the Palestinians--far away from their own countries. It's despicable. The Palestinians have a legitimate claim to the Holy Land along with the Jews. If only they were willing to share.

But it will take a miracle.

Since before Israel became a state, it has begged the Arab nations to share the land. To make more land available from the enormous areas of Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia. To help Jews and Arabs live in peace side by side. I've lived in towns and settlements where this works.

But until the knife is lifted from Israel's throat, it will never happen.

And that's a hopeless reality.

More on the war tomorrow. It's time to turn my attention back to my sister.

My Most Embarrassing High School Moment

Aircraft Gunnery_Ball Turret

"From my mother's sleep I fell into the State,
And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze.
Six miles from earth, loosed from the dream of life,
I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters.
When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose."
Randall Jarrell, Death of the Ball Turret Gunner

You'd think any girl's most embarrassing high school moment would have something to do with boys or sex or--at the very least--PE. Not mine. My worst high school moment was an academic faux pas. Don't laugh. Even decades later I still cringe at the memory.

To be sure, I had my share of minor humiliations along the bumpy road of early adolescence. The unfortunate "pixie" haircut. The perfectly executed high dive which lowered my bathing suit. The rope climbing incident. The unrequited crush. All pale in comparison to the mortifying Poetry Debacle.

First, some background. I come from a long line of academic and professional achievers. All the way from my grandparents' generation to the present, we're lousy with PhD's, MD's, JD's, MBA's and MA's.

From pre-school through prep school we know we're going to college and to grad school. We're not hounded by flash cards as tots or played classical music in the womb. Instead, from earliest childhood we're lovingly introduced to the power of imagination, words, intellect.

There was no Clifford the Dog in our house. Our bedtime stories were Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass. Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie. And oh, Louisa May Alcott's Little Women -- my all time favorite. Our mother would read one chapter a night. Which we'd discuss the next day and try to predict what would happen.

Little Women introduced me to literature -- and the wonder of a compelling story. My connection to the March family was so strong that the chapter-a-night rule became agony. So I taught myself to read. And finished the book on my own. I was four years old.

I'm not unique in our family. We're smart, engaged, competitive, curious and accomplished. That's not hubris or elitism. It's the natural outgrowth of a confluence of culture, dedication and genes. And a tradition that stresses educational excellence. Intellectual fulfillment. Personal best.

So it's no wonder I still shiver with embarrassment over my unbelievable gaffe in Miss Pabst's 10th grade Advanced Literature class at The Baldwin School, best of the best. To this day I don't know where my head was, why I spoke before I thought, who spiked my morning cocoa with Idiot Juice.

We were studying poetry. Specifically Randall Jarrell, new to all of us. My first clue should have come when Miss Pabst warned, "This is not Elizabeth Browning, Young Ladies. Nor does it resemble those trashy romantic novels you all love so well. This is about Real Life."

Then she read aloud his poem, Death of the Ball Turret Gunner, quoted above, as we followed in our books. The title alone should have been my second clue. The words themselves should have clinched it.

But I wasn't paying attention. And I certainly wasn't thinking. So when Miss Pabst asked me, one of her shining lights, for my impression of the poem I winged it. I said (God, how I hate this, even now), "I think it's sweet. And sad that little guy left his mother."

Sweet? The agonizing death of a WWII soldier?

Dead silence in the classroom. Then a few nervous twitters. Miss Pabst's face frozen in shock. Turning red before my eyes. And finally, twelve 15-year-old girls exploding with laughter as I quickly reread the poem and grasped the enormous stupidity of my bluff.

Here's my paltry defense. I didn't know that a ball turret was an attachment to the rear of a B-17 bomber. Or that ball turret gunners were the soldiers who squatted painfully in that small space, manning machine guns to protect the plane during its bombing runs.

Plus, I was a city girl. The only animal life in our neighborhood--aside from the ubiquitous fancy dogs--were squirrels. Dirty balls of fur. I saw the words "mother's sleep," "wet fur" and "washed me out" -- and made the leap. Down a rabbit hole.

Death of a Ball Turret Gunner is a small poem encompassing a huge idea. Every one of Jarrell's words was meticulously chosen to convey the visceral and impersonal horror of war.

Regardless of my own knowledge--or lack of it--had I shown respect for those words, I would have learned from them. And spared myself the humiliation of trivializing a fiercely important anthem to peace.

I had other high school moments. My slip fell off at the prom, for example. (I just stepped out of it and continued dancing, leaving it on the floor with--I hoped--no connection to its owner.) But that's not nearly as shameful a memory. At least not to me.

It's been years since I thought about the Poetry Debacle. Thank you, Jesse. Not for calling up my most embarrassing high school moment. But for reminding me that the written word has power beyond imagination. And that war is hell.

Terrorism - A Daily Fact of Life

"People forget about the past too easily, and the effects terrorism has in all its forms." Gary Thompson

Americans think we know what it means to live with terrorism. We haven't got a clue.

Yes, 9/11 taught us a hard lesson about our vulnerability to sudden atrocious attack. But no matter how horrible, it was a one-off. It hasn't happened again. We go through the business of our daily lives more concerned about tax hikes than terrorism.

In the end, the most lasting reminder of 9/11 for the majority of Americans is this: it's harder to travel through airports. We have to stand in long security lines and wait while our luggage is scanned. Poor us. What an inconvenience.

We are such innocents.

Right now I'm in the Motherland of terrorism -- Israel. Here, every time you get on a bus, sit in a cafe, walk down a street, you're literally risking your life. Danger from fanatical bombers is real and imminent all the time.

You see signs everywhere, "Report Unattended Packages to Police." Army vehicles are as commonplace as taxis on the streets. It's impossible to walk around without seeing the signs of violence, whether craters in sidewalks and buildings ... or the empty sleeves and pant legs of its victims.

All Israeli citizens must join the army when they turn 18. But even that is unique. The country is so small, most soldiers go home at the end of a day fighting insurgents and terrorism. The ones who aren't killed, that is.

Forget duct tape, every home in Israel has a bomb shelter, if only one specially reinforced room. And yet Israelis too--at least on the surface--worry more about taxes than terrorism.

That kind of pressure takes its toll. Israelis have some of the highest rates of hypertension, heart attacks and ulcers in the world. Everybody smokes. Oddly, alcoholism isn't a big issue, but reckless, aggressive driving is. Divorce rates are high too. But so is hope.

I'm staying with members of our family who live in a town in the middle of the country, not near the West Bank or other hotly contested danger zones. It's also a religious enclave.

But ultimately nothing and nowhere here offers any guarantee of safety. Throughout Israel risk management is a necessary daily fact of life.

Yesterday I went shopping at the local super market. And did what all shoppers do at every store, movie theater, restaurant, health club or public building in the country. I opened my pocketbook for inspection and passed through a metal detector. Imagine doing that at your neighborhood deli or dry cleaner.

The truth is Americans are more at risk from our own leaders than from foreign fanatics. There's more dangerous, despicable behavior going on at the highest levels of American government in the name of protection from terrorism than in actual reality.

In America and most of the Western world, terrorism is a political issue. Not in the Middle East. Here it's a cold, hard daily fact of life.

It's been quiet in Israel recently. But as every Israeli knows, that can most often mean the calm before the storm. And quiet is relative here.

Rockets were lobbed into the North last week. Fortunately they missed their targets. No one was killed. But every single day, terrorists with bombs strapped to their bodies are stopped and disarmed at checkpoints around the country.

I wonder, if that were true on American soil, how much more effective would Homeland Security become?

Around the world, controversy rages over the Hamas election victory, and who's going to supply or cut off aid to attempt to control Hamas's power. But that's theoretical. A job for the politicians and diplomats. Who aren't doing their jobs very well.

Israeli elections are coming at the end of March. No matter the outcome, all hell is sure to break loose. Nothing theoretical about that. It's just another daily fact of life in the Middle East.

And if you still think we live with terrorism in America, think about this: Every time your kids get on a school bus, go to a mall or dance at a nightclub, you don't have to worry they might be blown to bits.

Dising Mohammed

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"What the fundamentalists are doing is a total negation of their own faith - encouraging and lionizing suicide bombers and killing women and children, hardly in keeping with the teachings of Prophet Mohammed." Alexander Haig

I'm not a big fan of General Haig, but he sure got that one right.

There's a fundamental difference between religious fundamentalists and the rest of us. Christian, Jew, Muslim or Buddhist, anyone who embraces only the most radical tenets of a religion loses touch with reality.

And those who twist religious doctrine to suit their own bigotry and prejudice definitely lose touch with the true meaning of their faith.

Radical fundamentalists who so wrap themselves in religious zeal they allow it to define them, jettison all hope of perspective. They become unable to recognize the value--or even the existence--of a different religion. Or belief system. Or culture.

It's hardly surprising that Muslims, arguably a depressed, oppressed people cling desperately to any interpretation of their religion that offers them a sense of power ... and a feeling of superiority over their oppressors.

Sociologists tell us that poverty and ignorance spawn an atmosphere of despair and fear. And create a need to find something, anything to bring meaning and hope to desolate lives. If a cause is found, repressed anger is released in visible, visceral waves of relief ... and even pleasure.

It's troubling to see how many Muslims are diving into violent demonstrations over cartoons about Mohammed, not just with anger, but with glee. They can't seem to see the forest for the trees, mainly because they are so helpless and isolated from the real world.

Mohammed, who preached peace and brotherhood, would surely not condone the havoc his followers are wreaking in his name.

Let's be clear. I'm not crazy about those cartoons. But I don't think violent attacks on a government, race or religion is a positive way to make a point. And it's even more unacceptable to censor any idea or point of view simply on the grounds that it's content is insulting to any one group.

Western culture and democracy are a powerful force in the world. And not just because of McDonalds and Nike. Democracy and its inherent freedoms are flawed to be sure, but history and experience has shown them to be the best form of government -- and to provide the most meaningful source of human growth and achievement.

Many Jews deplored Mel Gibson's depiction of the Jewish people in The Passion of the Christ, but no one attacked the Australian embassy in response. Or burned down the movie studio. It would be unthinkable in a free society.

Just as it is unthinkable in much of Muslim society to recognize and embrace the benefits of genuine freedom. That kind of freedom carries responsibility. To think. To interpret. To understand. To behave in a manner that brings honor to one's religion and culture, not betrayal of it.

The Muslim religion is one of the oldest in the world. Too bad so many of its modern day adherents seemed to have learned so little from its teachings.

Politicians and Religion

rockcitynews.com

"Politics is not religion and we should govern on the basis of evidence, not theology." Bill Clinton

The issue of a Palestinian State and peace in the Middle East is more complex than DNA, and I'm certainly not going to solve the equation here. But neither is any politician who says, "God told me to/how/that..."

No matter your belief system--or lack of one--you can't, as an intelligent person, honestly agree that Allah wants terrorists to kill innocent people in His name. That Mohammed wants to wipe all Jews off the face of the earth. That Jesus has a vested interest in any laws the US Congress might enact. That God voted for George W. Bush. And routinely tells him what to do.

That last one is a biggie these days. The BBC released some quotes from an upcoming series called Elusive Peace: Israel and the Arabs, in which Arab leaders describe how Bush told them in June 2003 of his conversations with God.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas claims Bush said, "God told me to strike at al Qaida and I struck them, and then he instructed me to strike at Saddam, which I did, and now I am determined to solve the problem in the Middle East. If you help me I will act, and if not, the elections will come and I will have to focus on them." Haaretz - Israel News

The unspoken subtext: God will be too busy helping me win reelection to pay attention to you.

Palestinian deputy prime minister Nabil Shaath told the BBC that he heard Mr Bush tell Palestinian Mahmoud Abbas, "God would tell me, ‘George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan’, and I did, and then God would tell me, ‘George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq’, and I did." America, United States, Times Online, The Times, Sunday Times

When the White House press office went mildly ballistic, Shaath backed up, but just a bit.

"It was really a figure of speech (by Bush). We felt he was saying that he had a mission, a commitment, his faith in God would inspire him ... rather than a metaphysical whisper in his ear."

Americans aren't so sure it's just about faith. We're all too familiar with George W. Bush's intimate personal relationship with God. With amazing hubris and chutzpah he once said, "I believe that God wants me to be president."

It's one thing to have strong abiding faith in your religion -- and in yourself. It's another to allow the lines between the two to blur until you can't make a clear distinction or rational decisions based on non-religious facts. We know what happens when radical fanatics use religion to justify their actions. People die.

People died on 9/11 for a perverted cause abusing belief in Allah for political ideology. People have been dying in the Middle East for decades--centuries really--in the unholy name of religious entitlement. And people continue to die in Iraq -- because God told George W. Bush to start a war there. As Bill Cosby said in his brilliant comic routine Noah's Ark, "Riiiight."

Any time anyone anywhere claims to further a political agenda at the direct behest of a Higher Power, I get suspicious. It's too easy, too pat, far too self-serving -- and impossible to refute. It too often comes at the expense of other people's lives and liberties. Which, let's face it, no self-respecting Supreme Being would ever endorse. In any religion.

Antiwar Protest - Arrested Development

Jim Watson, AFP / Getty Images

"I would like to say to Cindy Sheehan and her supporters don't be a group of unthinking lemmings. It's not pretty. [Antiwar demonstrations] can affect the war in a really negative way. It gives the enemy hope." Mitzy Kenny of Ridgeley, W.Va., whose husband died in Iraq

My heart goes out to Mrs. Kenny and to all who've lost loved ones in the War in Iraq. But I must ask her and others who have chosen inexplicably to continue their support for the war--and to devalue antiwar protests as unpatriotic--Why? Haven't you had enough? Don't you get it?

Antiwar protests don't give the enemy hope -- the big, ugly American War Machine does. As long as we're a major presence in Iraq and Afghanistan, we give our enemies more than hope, we fuel their Hate. We provide targets to aim at, reasons to fight, excuses to lash out against our country.

Cindy Sheehan and her supporters don't give the enemy hope -- the lackluster response to the antiwar movement from our own citizens and Congress does. As long as the American people and our government continue to support aggression in the Middle East, we legitimize our enemies' rage, and their cause.

Either way, nothing we say or do here will stop the enemy from unleashing more fury at our military personnel and at innocent civilians. Until Congress acts.

Our president and his administration misled us into this war and have consistently lied to keep us there. Almost 2,000 Americans have died in Iraq, along with thousands more Iraqi citizens. And for what? One heartless dictator sits in a jail cell -- which he would have done anyway, eventually. While another, far more dangerous, mocks us safely from a cave and continues to orchestrate death and destruction for America and the world.

And a small country half a world away, its greatest strategic value a Bush Political Legacy, stays locked in an ages old struggle that the American military, and the blood of thousands will never end. Here at home, Congress still fails to engage in a viable, legitimate debate to end this travesty. Why? Because their own Political Legacies are at stake. A presidential election is on the horizon, and god forbid any potential candidates risk appearing to have "waffled" on the war.

As if it matters any more. Bush sucked us in, some of them went along, now they see it was wrong and want to make it right. How hard is that to say? Apparently impossible. They're using the wrong benefit-harm scale. Congress can't take its eyes off the win-lose ratio: American lives are peanuts compared to the Big Prize: the Presidency in 2008. That's the Despicable Answer.

And then there's the even more Grotesque Reality. Big business and the profit-loss ledger. What's a few thousand lives lost compared to the billions of dollars gained by Halliburton and other defense contractors? The bookkeeping might be complex but the bottom line is simple: money talks, freedom walks.

And Cindy Sheehan is arrested, and carried away to jail. One of my best critics, David at Essential Emmes--and by "best" I mean informed, thoughtful, insightful--takes me to task for questioning Cindy Sheehan's effectiveness if she goes too mainstream.

"It doesn't matter, because she represents the right side of the issue... the cause is more important than its elements, and those of us who back it will continue to do so regardless of its leadership, which is SORELY thin right now.

"I would rather hammer away non-stop against the immoral and lying criminals who are running this outrageous, costly, and ultimately self-destructive occupation on foreign soil for narrow, greedy, and unjustifiable motives. The sooner politicians like Hillary and her ilk realize how important it is to establish Iraq exit dates, and get the impetus to getting out of Iraq going, the sooner we the people can hope, as a country, to get our international policies back on track for the mutual benefit of everyone.

Cindy Sheehan knows this, and hopefully won’t falter in her message due to any doubts in the air."

He's right, of course. I was so concerned about the negative ramifications of Mrs. Sheehan being photographed hugging Jesse Jackson, I forgot the bigger picture. Small missteps can't stop the momentum of a righteous message. It's The Cause that counts. We have to keep up the pressure on Congress to take the right action, and fast.

Because that should be Our legacy: a speedy, safe exit from Iraq. For us, and for Casey Sheehan and the thousands like him who lost their lives on our behalf. The sooner we end this horror, the surer we can be that no more sacrifices will be made in vain.

Cindy Sheehan: Dissent or Descent?

Jason Reed/REUTERS

"Ahhhh, I love the smell of Patriotic Dissent in the afternoon! We are out here in force today to take our country back and restore true democracy and sanity to our political process. The time is now, and we are here because we love our country, and we won't let the reckless maniacs destroy her any further." Cindy Sheehan, Speech at the United for Peace and Justice Rally, September 24, 2005

Cindy Sheehan has become ...how can I put this?... mainstream. And not, I'm altogether sure, in a good way. I have been and remain a fervent supporter of her righteous and imperative cause to see an end to the War in Iraq. And of her anger at President Bush for his lies and misdeeds in getting America into this unholy mess. President Bushwhacker, Bush Can't Shake Cindy Sheehan, War Gets Personal in Crawford, Anti-War, The American Way, Friday Wrap Up: War and Death.

But somehow in Sheehan's evolution from a single voice crying out in private pain to the media darling of organized Public Outrage, she lost something. Her credibility? No. Her son is dead. Nothing is worse than that. Nothing. Her humanity? No. She's a True Believer in the antiwar crusade and a Gold Star Mother. Her innocence? Closer. She's learned how to play the game. How to get those sound bites front and center. How to arouse a crowd. And how to make headlines.

She's become so adept at it, her singularity is diminished. She was, in the beginning, a symbol of Real America. Everywoman. A mother from a small town in California whose son was killed in Iraq. With her confidence in her country shaken and a simple goal to find an outlet for her justifiable outrage, we could relate, on a visceral level, to her personal tragedy and to her courage in bucking Big Government.

But she's part of an orchestrated effort now, an antiwar movement with some real Power, or at least it appears that way. She's not really savvy enough to know which photo ops to seek -- and which to avoid. Which gives her detractors plenty of grist for their mudslinging PR machines. They call her Shrill. Pushy. Unpatriotic. And, if you can believe this, a communist.

Antiwar Democrats are beginning to distance themselves from her. Howard Dean, John Kerry, Russ Feingold and a long list of liberal dems avoided Saturday's rally. Even feisty Hillary Clinton was forced to equivocate. “I don’t believe it’s smart to set a date for withdrawal. I don’t think you should ever telegraph your intentions to the enemy so they can await you,” she said after meeting with Sheehan's Gold Star Families for Peace and--to cover her bases--with Sheehan's opposite numbers, the pro-military American Gold Star Mothers.

Those of us who came of age during Vietnam know that protest is powerful but can also be perilous. We didn't know then how to manipulate the media, and through them, the public. We just went out there, willing to take the slings and arrows ... and baby, they came at us hot and heavy in the 60s. But just by persevering in spite of them, through sheer force of Belief in the Cause, we pulled it off. And the alliances we made were easier then, much less complex, because the lines were pretty uncomplicated: Us against Them. So we came across as exactly what we were: Unsophisticated. Committed. Sincere. Determined. Right.

Times have changed in a big way. It's not enough simply to stand up for your beliefs. You have to negotiate. With the Devil. Who assumes many forms -- and has political agendas now. Who often masquerades as One of Us. And when he claims our innocence, he also takes away our clout.

So is dissent truly Patriotic? Or has it descended, sadly, into Political?

America to Bush: We Need A Break

Susan Walsh/AP

If You Gotta Go...

"I think I may need a bathroom break. Is this possible?" George W. Bush

What, the president's not sure about the state of his own bladder? A facetious interpretation, of course, but it makes you think. He does virtually nothing else on his own initiative without consulting his demon advisors, so why should taking a pee be any different?

According to Gary Hershorn, a picture editor for Reuters (which published the picture), the real reason Bush may have written that note to Condi Rice during a UN Security Council meeting was his lack of familiarity with UN protocol on asking to be excused.

Makes sense to me. And on so many levels. Bush knows nothing about protocol. Bush knows nothing about the UN Security Council. Bush cares nothing about what's happening in a UN Security Council meeting. Or pretty much anywhere else.

My pal Swami Uptown explains it this way, dead on target, "The President wasn't communicating that his bladder was full. He was saying that he'd had enough of the UN. That he was bored. That he wanted o-u-t. 'Bathroom break' was code --- a witty way of expressing an unacceptable thought. Yeah, it was a weak joke...but so is he, kids, so is he."

You go, Swami ... so to speak. But media-wise, should Reuters have published that picture? Why not? If we can be shown photos of a stained blue dress, there's no reason we shouldn't be given a look at the stain of presidential indifference.


Generating More False Hope


Susan Walsh/AP

"What makes you mad is that it's the same things we saw on 9/11. Whoever is responsible for acting in these places hasn't acted. Are they going to do it now? What else has to happen for people to act?" 9/11 Commission Chairman Thomas Kean, former Republican Governor of New Jersey

A chilling indictment of the Leader of the Free World, from a fellow Republican no less. And unfortunately there are piles of bodies and thousands of shattered lives to back up Kean's logic and concerns.

There was similar reaction to President Bush's speech last night from Katrina survivors currently being housed in Philadelphia. We've heard it before. Empty promises. Saving face. Image rebuilding. One man, very articulate on those subjects, finally said, "You'd have to edit it out if I told you what I really feel."

I'm with that guy. I self-edit here, but that doesn't mean I wasn't hurling a bunch of expletives at my newspaper this morning as I reviewed how Bush tried to tap dance his way out of trouble and back into America's hearts. (We didn't watch the live speech because our house is a Bush-Free Zone. There isn't enough Anger Management in the universe to handle my reaction to watching him live.)

So did he accomplish his self-aggrandizing goal? No way. He's broken too many hearts, lives, families and Promises to win us back that easily. If there wasn't a solid plan in place--and money allocated--to manage a foreseeable disaster like Katrina, what the hell will happen if (when?) terrorist bombs start exploding in our streets?

Bombs are still exploding in Iraq and Afghanistan, at huge cost in dollars and human lives, with no end in sight. We're paying billions for a war we never should have entered, and now Bush proposes we pay billions more for a relief operation with no sound fiscal strategy or proposed safeguards against corruption.

Here's an idea: take truckloads of the pork money allocated to needless roads and bridges in the recent highway bill and just turn it over to Halliburton for the Katrina rebuilding effort. If anybody's prepared to deny that more Bush Republican cronies will get even richer from the Gulf Coast recovery plan, you're either badly deluded ... or one of them.

Out of all the analysis and discussion about last night's Presidential Address, one sentence from the New York Times story sprang out at me, "The Bush White House, well practiced in the art of presidential stagecraft, provided its own generators for the lighting and communications equipment that beamed Mr. Bush's remarks to the nation."

Well, that tears it. Where was the White House with those generators when people were dying of hunger and thirst and heat on the ravaged Gulf Coast? I'll tell you where. They were eating and drinking and freezing and fumbling, far away from reality, and the madding crowds. Then finally, when they themselves were in deep trouble ... presto! They're ready and able to shine false light on more false hope from the President of the United States. (Question: did they leave those badly needed generators behind for a hospital or a shelter? Not a chance. They're far too critial for National Security as image-saving devices.)

Paul Krugman of the New York Times nailed it today. I couldn't possibly improve on his comparison of F.D.R. and George W. Bush, "the anti-F.D.R." Read it here Not the New Deal and weep.

And then ask yourself: Under George W. Bush, when will America get a break?