“The war fought against us is diabolic – that is, subtle, slow, ordinary and unsurprising.  Seldom are the forces of evil so obvious as demon possession or the traumatic onslaught of Job’s troubles.  The war against us is disguised behind humdrum monotony and imperceptible of daily living…”  (Dan Allender, Bold Love, p.92)  The quote above was the basis for the sermon I heard at Church yesterday.  While hate is a pretty strong word for my feelings of the president; what he is doing to our country, I have to admit, occasionally interrupts my ability to fully appreciate some otherwise joyful experiences in my life.  I am resentful of what I see as corrupt uses of power and I fear that fostering that resentment may interfere with my personal spiritual development.  Our pastor equipped me with some tools to work on that and I think I can apply it to a whole lot of different areas of my daily life.

            Some of what I took from that sermon can be applied to a post that I have wanted to write for a week or so but had difficulty starting.  It has to do with the way we talk to each other and the decline of civility in American culture.  At first I thought the divisiveness that is rampant in our dealings with those who think differently than we do was based on our adoption of monologues over dialogues in our communications.  It seems that even when we attempt to engage in dialogue, in debate, we resort to sound bites and rarely listen to one another anymore.  Our arguments are more about a person’s morals or motivation than the actual issues at hand.  And it has become clear to me perhaps both sides in the contentious issues of our day go at things with a sense of superiority. 

            Yeah, I know.  It seems to be a pot - kettle thing coming from a left wing blogger who only yesterday was blasting away again at the president for the mess he has made in Iraq.  I don’t suppose my pastor gave me much ammunition to use when the other side refuses to listen to reason and relishes in the fact that Bush holds nearly unlimited, albeit temporary, power to ram his vision of the world down our throats.  And just now the serenity prayer came to mind, “God grant me the serenity to change the things I can, accept the things I can not change and the wisdom to know the difference.”  So while I can not know what evil lurks in the hearts of men it is not for me to question their motivation but rather to ensure that their actions are made known to all who will listen in the hopes that you will reflect upon the possibility that we are not progressing in ways that we ought to aspire.

            Perhaps I have it all wrong.  Perhaps it is selfish of me to wish that all Americans had the ability to see a doctor when they need one, that all kids get an equal opportunity for a quality education, that all couples have a right to civil liberties and the pursuit of happiness and that all Americans have a right to worship their God in the manner that works best for them.  Maybe we are better off rocketing towards a two class economic system with an expanding division of wealth and maybe, just maybe, the stockholder interests of energy and automobile companies outweigh God’s instruction to be stewards of our planet.  Perhaps pharmaceutical corporation’s profits are more important than the distribution of their life saving products to people who can not afford them.  And maybe, just maybe the more money you are able to amass and share with legislative candidates really is the most significant underlying consideration for your right to have access to the leaders of our democracy.

            Maybe all Muslim’s aren’t terrorists but maybe all terrorists are Muslim’s so I can feel justified when I smugly use the word Muslim as a means of a put-down.  Maybe I should ridicule that which I fear and do not understand in an attempt to cover my insecurities with a changing world.  Should I believe all Mexican’s are stealing all of the good jobs so they can have a cover for their meth distribution operations and that we should deport everyone with light brown skin because they are a burden to our health, school and judicial systems?  Some say they are going to steal our social security without ever having contributed a penny to it so I suppose that is reason enough to kick them out of the country.  Maybe it is worth the lives we are losing in Iraq because the DOW is setting new records at a record pace.  The defense industry and oil stocks are through the roof and I suppose that is good for my 401K. 

            Nah, I think I will continue being the steadfast left wing blogger that you have come to love or hate and try to keep Matthew 5:44 close to my heart in my postings “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”  In loving my enemies or even those who merely think in dramatically and diametrically different ways than me I can continue my desire to be the best person that I can.  I won’t suppose that my views and actions are anything more than that which I am betting my interpretation of my life in eternity will be based upon.  If I can sleep any given night with that thought in mind I will have had a pretty darn good day.  I hope you have a good day today too.

 

            Ex-CIA Director (1997-2004) George Tenet has written a book, “At The Center Of The Storm” which is due to be released on Monday.  The book outlines how the Bush administration was warned of nearly all of the problems we would face in Iraq seven months before the 2003 invasion.  Probable scenarios from the invasion included anarchy, the territorial breakup of the country, a surge of global terrorism against US interests and deepening Islamic antipathy toward the United States.  The CIA also warned the Bush administration of the possibility of “regime-threatening instability in key Arab States, major oil supply disruptions and sever strains in the Atlantic alliance.”  And yet somehow the Bush administration created an environment where the press and the public were highly critical about our intelligence agency being wrong about much of the pre-war intelligence on Iraq.

            Six years into this administration it comes as no surprise to us that our Commander in Chief was all to willing to let blame for bad intelligence fall anywhere except upon “the decider” and his Vice President.  The fact remains that our occupation of Iraq in the midst of their civil war has fueled Islamic resentment toward the United States and given a whole new generation reason for joining terrorist factions and hating America and all it stands for.  Tenet was especially critical of Vice President Dick Cheney who he claims “rushed the United states into war in Iraq without serious debate.”  Even more disquieting was the revelation of what many of us suspected when Tenet outlined that the White House was determined to attack Iraq from the first days of the Bush administration, long before the attacks of 9/11.  In a CIA threat briefing for the incoming Bush administration late in 2000 CIA officials did not have Iraq on the radar as a threat to the American way of life.  Tenet and his peers at the CIA were surprised by questions and a demand for an Iraq briefing from Dick Cheney.

            The reasons the administration has given for this war have changed as often as the seasons in the four years of conflict.  Weapons of mass destruction, free the people of Iraq, establish democracy, nuclear threat, stability in the Middle East, terrorist threats, and others seem all so hallow sounding now that the first assumption by critics of Bush seem more likely.  It’s about the oil, stupid.  And let us not leave out the allusions to the character of the president that he has never felt comfortable in living up to his perspective of his father’s approval.  The idea that; were George junior able to avenge the failed plot against George senior’s life he might gain that sought after approval once and for all.  The plot against George senior was to be executed in a visit he made to Kuwait in April 1993 and resulted in the prosecution of 11 Iraqi’s and three Kuwaitis and a missile strike, ordered by then President Bill Clinton, on the Iraqi intelligence headquarters in Baghdad in June, 1993.  The plot weighed heavily on juniors mind as, on more than one occasion, in speeches made in September of 2002 as we ramped up for war, he said, ''After all, this is the guy who tired to kill my dad.

            The cost we have paid for this war is at first easily measured in lives and dollars but the cost of the shattered lives of those who lost a loved one or the missed opportunities in domestic spending will not be so easily measured.  The erosion of our 4^th Amendment Rights, the willingness of some to give up privacy rights to feel more secure in a world made more unsafe by the actions of “the decider” is a price we will surly come to regret.  Our newfound responsibility to report all things suspicious and our distrust of neighbors based on ethnic or religious affiliation and the inkling of alarm we may sense when we board an airplane with Middle Eastern co-passengers seem too high of a price to pay for the monetary considerations and unresolved childhood issues of our national leaders. 

 

Oliver Stone will make a public service announcment of the Video Vets statement by John Bruhns to help spread the word of what is really happening with the war in Iraq.

            It would seem that “hawkish patriotism” is only in fashion if “your guy” is in the White House for some people.  The few people who actually still support the Presidents war are trying to mandate that there are only two courses of action that we can take regarding our presence in Iraq.  The claim that we should support the presidents failed policies or cut off funding for the troops immediately suggests that there are only two options where infinite scenarios exist.  The myopic Neo-con practice of seeing everything as black or white, with us or against us, red or blue has run the course of “stay the course.”  The sooner the president and his supporters abandon communication via monologue and open their minds to meaningful dialogue the sooner we can begin to unite as one America.

 

JOHN MCCAIN ARGUED FOR WITHDRAWAL: In Oct. 1994, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) called on President Clinton to withdraw forces from Haiti "as soon as possible." "In my view that does not mean as soon as order is restored to Haiti," he said. "It does not mean as soon as democracy is flourishing in Haiti. It does not mean as soon as we have established a viable nation in Haiti. As soon as possible means as soon we can get out of Haiti without losing any American lives." A year before, in Oct. 1993, McCain argued against giving any strategy the chance to succeed in Somalia. "Mr. President, can anyone seriously argue that another 6 months of United States forces in harm's way means the difference between peace and prosperity in Somalia and war and starvation there? Is that very dim prospect worth one more American Life? No, it is not," he said. A McCain spokesman said, "It's intellectually dishonest to compare the situations in Haiti and Somalia to the current situation in Iraq." The only intellectual dishonesty comes from McCain's willingness to contort his views to defend Bush's failed Iraq policy.

 

JON KYL WANTED FORCES OUT BY CERTAIN DATES: Another senator who has displayed intellectual dishonesty over the need for a timetable is Jon Kyl (R-AZ). Recently on CNN, he attacked the withdrawal plan claiming it was "the first time I know of -- in the middle of a war -- that a country just announces that on a specific date it's walking off the battlefield." But in June 1998, Kyl voted in favor of provisions that called for U.S. forces to "walk off the battlefield" by a certain date in Kosovo and Bosnia. In June 1998, he supported a bill to "require the President to submit Congress a plan for withdrawing United States forces from Bosnia and Herzegovina if the Congress does not so act by March 31, 1999.” In May 2000, Kyl supported an effort by Congress to compel Clinton to withdraw all ground forces from Kosovo by July 1, 2001.

JOHN BOEHNER VOTED TO LIMIT TROOP DEPLOYMENTS: House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) recently warned that we cannot leave Iraq -- "like we did in Somalia" -- because "we will leave chaos in our wake." Yet, Boehner voted numerous times to limit the deployment of troops in Somalia. On at least two occasions, he supported amendments to move up the deadline to bring troops home from Somalia (House Roll Call Vote #179, 5/22/93 and House Roll Call Vote #555, 11/9/93). He also voted against $1.8 billion in funding for the operation in Somalia (House Roll Call Vote #188, 5/26/93).

EVEN BUSH ARGUED FOR DEADLINES: Earlier this week, Bush said, "I believe artificial timetables of withdrawal would be a mistake. An artificial timetable of withdrawal would say to an enemy, “just wait them out" But in 1999, George W. Bush criticized President Clinton for not setting a timetable for exiting Kosovo, and yet he refuses to apply the same standard to his war. Bush explicitly said, "I think it’s also important for the president to lay out a timetable as to how long they will be involved and when they will be withdrawn." Bush also said, "Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the president to explain to us what the exit strategy is." Now, Bush has taken exactly the opposite position, arguing it's important for the president not to explain the exit strategy. 

Material from Think Progress.

The Democratic-controlled Congress cleared legislation Thursday to begin withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.  “The president's determined to win in Iraq. I think the bill that they sent us today is mission defeated," said deputy press secretary Dana Perino. "This bill is dead before arrival."  And so continues the fact that all of the lost lives, all of the lost good will in the world and all of the cost of this war will remain in entirety with the Commander in Chief.

 

 

The voting is in on the Video Vets Project.  Our president keeps saying that he's the one who supports the troops and those of us who want to end the war don't. Someone has to take him on for that. And John Bruhns—who served in Iraq as a sergeant—is the man to do it.

MoveOn members chose John to be the subject of a TV ad by Oliver Stone as part of the VideoVets project. After coming home, John decided he could no longer remain silent. He says keeping our troops in Iraq without end is "wrong, immoral, and irresponsible." He's brave and patriotic, and his first-hand truth is an essential antidote to the administration's lies.

MoveOn.org talked to John after the votes were tallied, and he's really moved by this whole experience. Here's a note he asked Moveon.org to pass on to MoveOn members:

 

I'm overwhelmed by the statements of those who saw my video. I can't put into words how honored I am that people were so moved by it. For so long I felt so helpless—in a sense that there was nothing I could do to make a difference in regards to ending the war and educating the American people on the reality of the situation. I made a promise to myself in Iraq that if I was lucky enough to make it home I would do everything in my power to help transition us out of the war. Thank you all so very much for giving me this tremendous opportunity. I am very grateful.   

 

Oliver Stone and his team are already working on the ad and John is getting ready to get on a plane and go work with them. Moveon.org wants to make sure as many people as possible hear John's message about the real cost of war and they are seeking contributions to help get John's message out there through a big online and TV ad campaign.

The president is accusing Congress of playing politics with our troops because they want a plan that starts a responsible redeployment this year. John's video, along with the interviews of all the VideoVets participants prove that supporting our troops does NOT mean supporting the president's reckless policy in Iraq.

The truth is that it's President Bush and his Republican allies who have not supported the troops. Our brave men and women are stranded in the middle of a civil war, with inadequate protection and resources—and the president wants to send more still.  Supporting our troops is more than a catch phrase. The way to support our troops is to listen to them and their families. Folks like John have stepped up to get the truth out there.

 

            Compare and contrast.  On Wednesday, Rudy Giuliani suggested that the United States could face another major terrorist attack if a Democrat is elected as President in 2008.  He claimed Democrats would be weak and wave a white flag to the war on terror where he would remain on offense and anticipate what the terrorists are going to do and try to stop them before they do it. Come on Rudy, you can do better than the “if you’re not with us you’re against us/stay the course/opposing the war is undermining the            Rudy's Wives              troops” rhetoric, can’t you? 

John McCain said on Wednesday, “We must rethink and rebuild the structure and mission of our military; the capabilities of our intelligence and law enforcement agencies; the purposes of our alliances; the reach and scope of our diplomacy; the capacity of all branches of government to defend us. We need to marshal all elements of American power: our military, economy, investment, trade and technology. We need to strengthen our alliances and build support in other nations. We must preserve our moral credibility, and remember that our security and the global progress of our ideals are inextricably linked.”  Based on recent history, when you have candidates who offer the dynamic differences of these two front runners it would seem Giuliani is a lock to receive the GOP nomination.

            McCain also said, “In the many mistakes we have made in this war, a few lessons have become clear. America should never undertake a war unless we are prepared to do everything necessary to succeed, unless we have a realistic and comprehensive plan for success, and unless all relevant agencies of government are committed to that success. We did not meet this responsibility initially. And we must never repeat that mistake again.”

            And then there was Mitt Romney, the great outdoorsman hunter.  I guess as a cynical blogger it might be fun for me if Republicans run Romney.  In the weeks leading up to the election I could just pull out the attacks against Kerry as a flip flopper from the 04 election to write my posts.  The big difference between Kerry and Romney, however, is that the accusations of flip flopping by Kerry required some stretching of context and misrepresentations of fact.  Romney’s flop flops are all well documented on video archived on thousands of servers across the web.

            Clearly among the Republicans only one candidate stands out.  We will get to learn a lot more about the candidates for both parties in the next weeks.  On Thursday evening all 8 Democratic candidates, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd, John Edwards, Mike Gravel, Dennis Kucinich, Barack Obama, and Bill Richardson are all confirmed to participate in their first televised debate.  On May 3, 2007, all Nine GOP candidates will debate: Sam Brownback, Jim Gilmore, Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, Duncan Hunter, John McCain, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, and Tommy Thompson.  It just occurred to me that maybe an American Idol series of vote-off debates might not be a bad idea. 

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Shame: the painful feeling arising from the consciousness of something dishonorable, improper, ridiculous, etc., done by oneself or another.  Dictionary.com  I shared that in the hope that somebody from the Bush administration might stumble across this post.  I can’t help but wonder if they have any concept of what the word means.  Some of the greatest heroes in American history achieved their notoriety out of valiant efforts of selflessness in time of war.  It is unbelievably ironic that the administration who is accused of waging a war based upon lies is now defending itself against the very real probability that perhaps the two biggest examples of heroism presented to the American public in this unpopular war were based upon distortions and misrepresentations. 

            Our government actually made up facts and created ill advised public relations inspired stories about the death of Pat Tillman and the rescue of Jessica Lynch.  Lynch was badly injured when her convoy was ambushed in Iraq in 2003. She was subsequently rescued by American troops from an Iraqi hospital but the tale of her ambush was changed into a story of heroism on her part.  Jessica Lynch said, at yesterday’s hearing, "The bottom line is the American people are capable of determining their own ideals of heroes and they don't need to be told elaborate tales."  The Pentagon claimed Lynch fought off attackers valiantly but in fact her weapon jammed and she claims she put her head down and prayed.

            When Pat Tillman was awarded the Silver Star, the citation awarding Tillman a Silver Star isn't accurate when it says:  "Corporal Tillman put himself in the line of devastating enemy fire as he maneuvered his Fire Team to a covered position from which they could effectively employ their weapons on known enemy positions. While mortally wounded, his audacious leadership and courageous example under fire inspired his men to fight with great risk to their own personal safety, resulting in the enemy's withdrawal and his platoon's safe passage from the ambush kill zone."  By now you all know Pat Tillman was killed by “friendly” fire. Kevin Tillman, brother of Pat Tillman said "Revealing that Pat's death was a fratricide would have been yet another political disaster in a month of political disasters, so the truth needed to be suppressed." 

            In December 2005, Columbia Journalism Review Daily reported that the documented budgets of US propaganda efforts in the Middle East totaled $57.6 million, "more than the annual newsroom budget allotted to most American newsrooms to cover all the news from everywhere for an entire year."  Talk about fraud, waste and abuse; $57 million per year for the last four years doesn’t seem to have done much to keep the wool over the eyes of the American public and it has been especially ineffective abroad.  One of the primary moral values I try to instill in my home is one of honesty.  If politicians are running on platforms of moral values in 2008 we might want to pay close attention to their ability to stand up for honesty in dealing with the issues in 2007.

 

            Some, probably most, of the students of Virginia Tech went back to class on Monday; their lives forever changed.  Across the land some flags remained at half staff beyond the Presidential decree that the tribute to the victims of last Monday’s shootings be paid from April 17th through sunset, Sunday, April 22, 2007.  I suppose it is a sign that we are healing that some might feel slighted by the time honored tradition of flying the flag at half staff in this time of national mourning.  There has begun a rumbling around the web from some who have lost loved ones in the war on terror who are asking, “What about our fallen soldiers?”  There are others who are asking where our sense of grief is for the hundreds of Iraqi civilians who are losing their lives every month?  How about the hundreds of thousands of genocide victims in Darfur?  I do not feel the argument that the students of Virginia Tech are less deserving than other groups is an appropriate discussion yet the points of dissension are worth our attention. 

            As I watched the media coverage scroll over pictures of those who lost their lives in Virginia it occurred to me that our soldiers are not getting nearly equal treatment for the sacrifices they make.  Many times we are lucky to receive the names of our fallen soldiers and rather we are more likely to hear of their deaths under the bullet point references of “three soldiers were killed,” or “two marines were killed at a checkpoint,” or “suicide bombing kills an American soldier.”  I would imagine the local news near military installations is more in depth with regard to casualties but the national media and my local media are doing a really lousy job of telling us who these brave men and women are that so bravely give their lives in service to our country. 

            There continues to be heated debate about the terminology and political posturing employed as we grapple to find a way to end this war.  There is a new movement of Veterans who are trying to bring the soldier’s perspective to America that the corporate media refuses to cover.  Votevets.org has teamed up with MoveOn.org to bring these soldiers stories to our attention with a series of videos.  The website states, “The administration tries to call anyone who criticizes their policy in Iraq ‘anti-troop,’ but the interviews below show that ’supporting the troops’ does NOT mean supporting an endless war. The voices of these veterans and military families are missing from the debate in Washington. Together we can make sure they become a vital part of the national dialogue around ending the war.  You watch the videos and tell us what you think. Then, Academy Award winning director Oliver Stone will turn it into a TV ad-spreading this message even further.”

            The Daily Kos recently reported that “the death rate, April 2007 will be the worst month since April 2004 for "coalition" fatalities. That was the month of the first battle of Fallujah. How many of THEIR names do we remember?  But at least we may have once heard their names in passing. It is, of course, the rarest of occasions when we hear the name of one of the dozens, sometimes scores, of Iraqis who are killed on any particular day. A member of parliament or a general may rate a few lines, but the average Iraqi stays nameless in the American media.” 

            It matters not who takes the poll, the vast majority of Americans want to see this war come to an end sooner rather than later.  We do not want to stay the course, chart a new course forward or follow any other talking-point of the week that the President wants to use to stretch this war out for the next administration to clean up.  One thing we might do is to contact the media, who continually treat casualties in this war as anonymous pawns, and ask them, “Who died?  Did they have family?  Who were their friends?  What did they like to do in their time away from war?  How long had they served?  Are their loved ones being looked after?  Until we can put a face on the brave soldiers who pay the ultimate price for this war, until we can feel the pain for our soldiers that we felt for the innocent students who were gunned down in Blacksburg, VA this war is unlikely to end.   

 

            The sun was out most of the weekend and the temperature was in the lower 80’s.  I mixed in a wide variety of activities that all came together to seem to make the weekend, once again, pass too quickly.  Saturday morning my boys and I went to my office to finish unpacking my boxes after last weeks move.  The youngest had spied a kite display at the local hardware store that we had stopped at to buy some wall anchors for picture mounting.  He had given up his Saturday morning cartoons to go with us so when he asked if he could get a kite I told him no.  You can’t go kite flying with just one kite I explained.  We bought a couple and called “She Who Must Be Obeyed.”  We were going to need to go to the county park near our home to fly the kites in the afternoon and we told her a picnic lunch might be just the thing for such an outing.  SWMBO thought that I finally had completely lost my mind.  You see, when it comes to kite flying and a picnic…our family has history.

            Toodle oodle, toodle oodle, toodle oodle, (for those of you who have not been reading the Red Hog Diary since the early days the toodle oodles mean we are going back in time.)  The year was maybe 1992 and was eerily similar to this last Saturday in that it was one of the first perfectly beautiful days of spring.  We had the notion that it would be a great idea to take our 105 lb Great Pyrenees puppy and the twins, who were about the age my youngest is now, to the park to fly kites and have a picnic.  The dog got loose, ate some of our lunch and then kept running away.  The dog seemed to smile every time we got close enough to grab his leash and he would bound away reveling in his own appreciative feelings for the arrival of spring.  We finally coaxed him to behave by offering the remainder of the turkey sandwich he had tried to make off with in the first place and hurried through our lunch because the twins were all about getting those kites in the air. 

            We assembled the kites and proceeded to make our way into the big open field that is adjacent to the picnic area when I noticed that the kids already had their kites in the air.  As I calmly began to explain the finer points of "kite eating trees" I noticed a similar “full of spring mischief” grin come across their faces.  It was oddly reminicent of the grin that I swore I had seen on the dog only 15 sweaty minutes earlier.  As I made my way towards my son to help him reel in some of the string he had already let out I heard a blood curdling scream followed by heart-broken sobs from his twin sister.  I spun to see what was the matter not missing the fact that my wife was completely tangled in dog leash and clumsy puppy feet as she helplessly fought to keep her balance and make her way to be of assistance.  Sure enough, a tree had eaten one of the kites.  I ran to comfort my daughter and no sooner got to her and sobbing could be heard behind me.  The other kite had its line snagged on a tree, snapped and the kite was caught in prevailing winds and vanished from our view in a matter of seconds. 

            That was about the point where I lost it and yelled at their mother that if she could just stop playing with the dog perhaps the whole day would not have ended in such a fiasco.  I scolded the kids for not listening to me and directed everybody back to the car.  Our fun was over.  Needless to say that the first few miles of that ride were pretty quiet and ever since then; all I really ever had to do when the kids were complaining about there being nothing to do is suggest that we go kite flying and they suddenly get very creative. 

            Oodle toodle, oodle toodle, oodle toodle.  Present day.  I won’t say that it was not without some trepidation that we crossed the gate into the park with a picnic lunch and two brand new kites.  This time it was the mom and dad who had the mischievous spring grins on our faces.  It was like returning to the scene of a crime only we felt wiser for our earlier fiasco and the 10 years of parenting skills we had developed along the way.  We had this planned out like a finally executed military operation and understood that, kites be damned, the weather was so wonderful that it wouldn’t matter if we even got one of them in the sky.  With no expectations and the resultant pressures the picnic was a great success and before long we had both kites in the air long enough that when one did eventually end up in a tree it was time for its pilot to go play on the cyclone slide anyway so we were none the worse for wear. 

While Clayton began the tedious task of winding 500 feet of kite string back in 5” at a time a family across the way caught his attention.  A young couple with two kids and a rather expensive looking dragonfly kite was having absolutely no luck in getting their kite in the air.  Every attempt to launch the kite was met with a whirlwind of ever widening circles with the kite ultimately biting dirt after only seconds of flight.  Each family member waited patiently; sure that they could better manage the kite and yet each, in turn, were ultimately disappointed.  As they all took turns to no avail they eventually gave the control over to the next family member who was sure they had learned something watching the others mistakes.  It didn’t take long and the body language of the kids took on a look of disappointment and their meanderings in the meadow clearly showed they were losing interest.

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"She Who Must Be Obeyed" had some things on her mind yesterday and decided to offer up a guest post.  Here ya go...

   

Perhaps it's not so surprising that I would think about heroes today.  I'm sure we've all done some thinking about heroes this week, especially as we consider the tragic events at Virginia Tech. And as we continue to pray for the victims and their families, I think about that professor, a Holocaust survivor, whose first thought and instinct was to protect the lives of the students he loved.  Holding the door of his classroom shut so his students could escape and giving his life in the process.  I know that he is a hero.  I think about the heroes in my own life and the heroes I have known.  And I wonder if I would have had the same instinct and courage in his situation.  For my own family -- no question.  For others, I think I'd like to think so, but I'm not entirely sure.  That self-survival instinct is pretty strong. And I hope I'll never be in a situation where I'd find out.

            I think about my own heroes.  Let me tell you a little about some of them.  First of all, my mom and dad; I can't imagine better parents -- if you have some who you think might be better, then you are very lucky.  As some of you already know, they aren't my original parents.  My biological parents died when I was little and I was adopted when I was almost 7.  They already had four children and took me anyway.  I can't imagine doing that.  They treated me as they did their other children which helped me define what the word "family" means.  They are my parents in every way that word makes any sense, except perhaps genetically.  It's the same way for my siblings.  I'd like to hear you tell one of them that I'm not "really" their sister.  I'll just back away slowly and watch the fireworks.  (Okay, maybe I'll laugh too).  These people made room in their lives for this rather somber girl who needed them.  Those are heroes to me.

            And my Uncle Jim; He's not with us anymore, but he was just such a great guy.  You would have liked him.  He was a Cubs fan.  He never saw a kid he didn't like, and I do mean never.  If a kid said hello to him, he'd give them a dollar.  (Okay, when I was little, I think it was a quarter, but inflation, you know).  He always gave out the big size candy bars at Halloween -- a tradition I carry on in his honor to this day.  (And, no, you can't have our address).  He always made you feel important.  He took my brothers and me to our small town drug store one time to buy some penny candy. And he decided I hadn't filled my bag sufficiently, he started shoveling it in for me.  When Uncle Jim died after a massive heart attack, the minister cried.  At his funeral, his daughter said, "You know, you were one of his special one's."  But I think we all were.

            And my husband.  I'm not sure why you'd ever be under the impression that someone referred to as "SWMBO" might be difficult to live with, but sometimes I am.  And he puts up with me pretty well.   But what he wouldn't tell you is that he has always supported me in every decision I've made.   Like telling me he was sure I could do it, even when I was sure I couldn't -- okay, he turned out to be right.  Like following me into the Army -- oh wait -- he never told you he was an Army wife?  Oops, sorry about that dear.  Like letting your wife leave you for a year to go do some work in D.C.?  I don't think all husbands would support that decision, but mine did.  I love that guy and no, you can't have him.  Harrrrrrruuummmmmpppphhhh.

            And because I was in the Army, I heard a lot about heroes.   The most poignant story I remember was told to me in a speech by our general on Law Day (which is May 1st in case you didn't know that) oh . . . . about twenty years ago.  He had been an enlisted man, a private, during Vietnam.  His unit took fire and he lay there, wounded in the muck, needing help.  And he looked up to his lieutenant and he thought, " Okay, I'm okay now, my lieutenant will help me."  And then he watched his lieutenant run right by him.  And things were looking pretty hopeless.  And then behind him he heard some noise, and he saw the man that would be his friend for life, SGT Willie Mack.  Sgt Willie Mack dragged this private who would grow up to be a general back to safety and medical attention.  Without him, he would have died.  He said, "SGT Willie Mack -- he is my brother."  I'll never forget that.  I salute you, Willie Mack, where ever you are.

            The other day I was talking to one of the women I work with and she wanted to show me something that she had made for her husband's upcoming birthday. (It's a surprise so I hope he doesn't read the blog!)  It is a framed display of replicas of all his military medals along with his rank and unit insignia. It's cool.  As I looked in awe, she said modestly, "Yes, my husband is a war hero" when I spied his Purple Heart medal.  He had served in Vietnam, something I'd never known, and had saved lives and been wounded too -- still carries the shrapnel in his body.  I salute you too, Charles. 

            It's comforting to know that there are a lot of heroes out there, and these are just a few of mine.  I'm sure you have yours too.  We should all find our ways to salute them because some of them makes our lives possible and all of them make our lives better.

 

Professor Bryan Cloyd lost his daughter, Austin Michelle Cloyd, in the Norris Hall shooting in last Monday’s mass murder at Virginia Tech.  As those associated with the school attempt to pick up the pieces their lives Professor Cloyd sent this letter to a school publication:

 

“If we don’t meet again, your final assignment from me is perhaps the most important lesson you will learn in life,” Cloyd wrote. “Go to your mother, father, brothers and sisters and tell them with all your heart how much you love them. And tell them that you know how much they love you, too. Go out of your way to make good memories. At some point, these memories may be all you have left.”

 

            We can not imagine the pain that Professor Cloyd must feel but his assignment should be accepted by us all.

• When asked to provide the 5 million plus emails that are missing from RNC computers that could be damaging to the White House in the Congressional inquiry into alleged improprieties at the Justice Department, "some official e-mails have potentially been lost." 
• In one of the nations highest profile terrorism cases, that of suspected Al Qaeda operative Jose Padilla, the Pentagon has “lost” the video of Padilla being interrogated now that the case has been moved from military tribunal to the light of US District Court. 
• Key documents are missing from the batch of newly declassified documents the White House released this week on its policies on torture and the treatment of prisoners.
• E-mails were reported missing that may have implicated higher level White House officials in the Scooter Libby trial. 
• Key pages are missing from a report to Congress detailing the alleged acts of abuse by soldiers against Iraqi inmates at Abu Gharaib. 
• Documents that explained gaps in Bush’s Texas Air National Guard service were missing from military records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.     

          This administration continues to demonstrate an unparalleled proclivity to be either incompetent or dishonest.  How else could you explain the fact that every time they are subject to oversight, every time there is a question of ethics violations or criminal intent – they lose or refuse to turn over evidence that could potentially clear accusations against them?  It would be great to think that all that is needed to restore our faith in government is a very large shipment of Mead Trappers.  I think handcuffs are more in order.

 

            Life is funny sometimes.  In a period of a couple hours last night I went from expressing that my life was in kind of a shit-slide to feeling more optimistic than I have in months.  I wouldn’t suppose that stress and negativity is all that uncommon among those of us who live in the more northern states.  Emerging from the icy grip of a long winter can do that to ya.  My particular set of circumstances was weighing especially heavy upon me over the last several days.  Work has been crazy with the recent move to the basement and on top of that She Who Must Be Obeyed and I have come dead-smack-center with the reality of preparing to send two kids off to college next year.  We have a first grader who is not liking school and begging for home schooling and someone dear to us has admitted themselves into rehab.  Okay, the last one is a good thing but knowing someone you love is struggling is always difficult news to digest.  The list goes on and those are just some of the highlights… (low points?) 

            My stomping around the house, as a result of all these concerns and transitions, did not go unnoticed by the members of my family and truth be told we all were doing our share of expressing various elevations of disgruntled behavior.  Finally we decided the only way to work past much of what was bringing us down was to have some heart to heart conversations.  We needed to assess how serious each of the problems we are facing really was.  I am relatively certain that we did not resolve much in our discussions but airing them out was truly liberating.  In the end it was almost as if I was a character in the Robin Williams movie, “Dead Poets Society.”  I felt strangely connected to the scene where Robin Williams does the “Carpe Diem” scene.  “Seize the day lads, seize the day.”

            If last evenings discussions did nothing more than serve as an awakening then things are going to be okay.  I’m not sure how it works that we can get so caught up in our routines that we let ourselves fall asleep to important things in our life.  It seems so easy to slip into a mindset where we dismiss our blessings as being owed to us or lose sight of how remarkable some aspects of our lives truly are.  One doesn’t need to spend a whole lot of time watching the evening news to understand that there are always scores of people who are having a worse time of it than we are.  The challenge is to reach out and offer a hand up where we can and to do the best we can with the things in life that we can control. 

            Actually my recovery from the “life is like a shit sandwich and everyday is another bite” philosophy began in the afternoon.  There are many philosophies one can adopt in life and I’m thinking the “shit sandwich” philosophy is not one of the better ones.  I would be lying if I did not admit that I was feeling extremely sorry for myself concerning my recent relegation from my 9^th floor private office to a basement cubicle.  But then this afternoon, as I was wallowing in self pity, I decided to share my sorrow with the three other workers who had been cast to the lower level with me.  I had searched out “The Cubicle Song” which is conveniently available for you on this post.  I emailed it to my cellar dwelling co-workers and noticed that I could hear some soft chuckling coming from the cubes around me.  It wasn’t long before we agreed we had a theme song and the beginnings of newfound unity took hold. 

            I think we all had been feeling a little disappointment with our new digs and through the magic of music we came to realize that we were all in the same boat and that we should maybe make the most of it.  Things are going to be okay.  We are going to get the kids into school, someone we care deeply about is getting the care they need and I am going to have a heart to heart with a first grade teacher to ensure my youngest is able to live his life to the fullest while at school.  And then I think I will opt for a turkey-club sandwich for lunch today.

 

           

            The pain of the Massacre in Virginia is still raw as we try to make sense of it all.  The airwaves are inundated with breaking news as we grasp for some reason, some way we could have prevented it, some sign we can identify to ensure it never happens again.  When you consider the enormity of this incident, the impact it has had nationally and more specifically in Blacksburg and more significantly among those who knew and loved the 33 fallen souls it is easy to be overwhelmed.  People are not supposed to die at the hands of disgruntled mad men for no other reason than being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Young college kids on the cusp of making a life for themselves should not be senselessly slain before having the opportunity to contribute to making the world a better place.   And that is what happened.