Beth sent me a good article:

Howard Dean, Nancy Pelosi, and the rest of the "Island of Misfit Toys" gang believe with all their might that, if America will just leave Iraq, all the terrorists will magically disappear! They believe that the UN and the EU can somehow make Iran's weapons-grade uranium go away. And if we all just put down our guns and give Cindy Sheehan a great, big Christmas hug, peace on earth will surely follow.

The husband and I heard John Lennon's "Happy Xmas" song this morning. I remarked that the line "War is over / if you want it" is about the biggest idealistic pile of crap ever. Gee, if we just wish real hard, war will stop all over the world.

Of course, I've been ticked at Lennon ever since I read this, so I was ready for a fight when his song came on.

Posted by: Sarah at 07:44 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Some commenter said yesterday that America's far left is Europe's moderate. I thought of that today in passing while reading Broca's Brain. I think people look at the world quite differently depending on how they classify themselves. If you think of yourself as an American, you see the world differently than if you think of yourself as a Global Citizen, as it seems most Europeans do. And if you think of yourself as a citizen of the universe, as Sagan does, you look at issues completely differently. Thus when Sagan talks of global warming, he thinks all humans should work together to prevent Earth's habitat from being like Mars. When an American talks about it, he typically thinks about what is best for the US first. I think the label you give yourself says a lot about how you deal with The Issues.

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Get. The. F. Out.

This season, America celebrates a holiday whose premise is that God himself came to Earth -- and was given the death penalty. Tookie Williams died at Midnight on the Feast Day for Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mother of God and patron saint of the Americas. How fitting that the GOP and the Religious Right lobbied for the execution -- and that Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Catholic whose church opposes the death penalty, made the final decision.

Celebrity executions, from Jesus to Tookie Williams, have whatever meaning human actions give them. And the meaning of Tookie's? That the Religious Right, that bastion of politicized pseudo-religion and hypocritical power-grabbing, pronounced its own spiritual death by shouting hosannahs for his execution -- as it has done for the anonymous dead before him.

No disrespect is intended by calling the Crucifixion a "celebrity execution." Quite the contrary -- the power and meaning of the Christ story as it was taught to me is just that: that God Himself would come to Earth anonymously and died despised and forgotten by all but a few, only to be redeemed on behalf of all. His celebrity came later, as a result of His sacrifice. The significance of the death lies in its affirmation of life, in the understanding of believers that it was an act of love -- love for life and the living.

This post, found at RWN, is just jawdropping. You have to be absolutely kidding that 1) this was written, and 2) the comments section is full of people who agree. And the last line...

Another Christmas is coming to the Americas, and another American is gone. If you pray, don't pray for him: pray for us.

Must...fight...urge to start swearing uncontrollably.

Tookie Williams was a murderer. He killed four people before my husband was even freaking born, and he's been wasting air ever since. He was a gangster and a thug, and I don't care how many dadburned children's books he wrote. He shot four people that we know of and laughed about it later. He never expressed regret for what he'd done, yet somehow he was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. (Maybe Arafat will show Tookie his while they're both rotting in hell together.)

I clapped the day Timothy McVeigh was executed, and I clapped again Tuesday when Tookie was finally dead. Tookie may have "died despised and forgotten by all but a few", but he most certainly will not be redeemed, and should never be compared to Jesus.

The more I try to grok, the more I feel disgusted at mankind.

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Hey, John Kerry...wanna see some of the kids my husband terrorized in Iraq?

This kid he terrorized by building a school for him...

This kid he terrorized by letting him wear his Wiley Xs...

This kid he terrorized by giving him a water bottle when it was 130 degrees...

The only thing my husband terrorized these kids with was his handwriting...

John Kerry, you're out of your element here.

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When I lived in Sweden, I noticed that my friend had a bald eagle trinket on her desk. "Where did you get this?" I asked. "Maryellen gave it to me," she replied. "Ahhh," I said. "Who's that?" "Your fiance's mother!" my friend gasped.

Is it regional what we call adults when we're kids? When I was growing up, I never would've dreamed of calling adults by their first names. All my parents' friends, all the leaders of my clubs, every adult I knew was called Mr. or Mrs. In fact, I still think of most of my parents' friends as Mr. and Mrs. (Hi, Mr. Schultz!) I didn't even call my in-laws by their first names until my husband and I had been engaged for quite a while.

Tonight I started volunteering with the Girl Scouts, and I was mildly shocked that the girls call the leaders by their first names. I guess there's nothing wrong with that if it's the leaders' choice, but it struck me as a little odd, given that I can remember all my old Girl Scout leaders' names, but they all start with Mrs! I couldn't tell you those mothers' first names to save my life.

I've noticed that most people around her prefer to go by Miss + First Name, as in Miss Sarah. That's OK with me, being 28 and all, but don't any kids call adults Mr. or Mrs. these days? Or am I just a stuffy fuddy-duddy from Texas?

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1 I raised my children to address ALL adults as Mr., Mrs. or Ms. no matter what their age. Adult=living independently and paying bills Here in Oklahoma everyone is addressed as Ma'am or Sir. I love it! I used to think it made me feel old, but now I see it's a simple show of respect.

Posted by: Vonn at December 06, 2005 05:42 PM (dEgRi)

2 My daughter lives in Georgia, it is the norm there. Brad

Posted by: Brad at December 06, 2005 06:26 PM (Qz3ul)

3 Sarah, I don't know if it's regional, but I think it just has to do with how "fuddy-duddy" our parents were. My mom taught me to say "Mr." or "Mrs." until the adult told me to do otherwise. But I hate being called Mrs. Erin. It reminds me of when I was in daycare!

Posted by: Erin at December 07, 2005 02:26 AM (O0IlC)

4 That's interesting that you brought this up. When we were in Germany, I noticed that many children were addressing adults as (esp women) Mr or Miss, followed by first name. I was told that this practice was a "southern thing"...I had never heard of doing this...I'm from the north (Yankee) and I grew up addressing adults as Mr or Mrs, followed by last name, as you said. I actually prefer being called by my first name (Mrs makes me feel OLD). When I was in college, most of my professors asked to be called by their first names...liberal university

Posted by: Nicole at December 07, 2005 10:24 AM (KJBDI)

5 i agree. i still feel somewhat uncomfortable calling "adults" by their first name. Even though i fit Vonn's definition of "adult" i don't think of myself as one, and i'd e horrified if some young whippersnapper referred to me as Ms.

Posted by: annika at December 07, 2005 11:58 AM (6x0dA)

6 yes, we are fuddy-duddies, and we happen to be correct... i'm an asst scoutmaster for my son's Boy Scout Troop, and i can guarantee that all of our adults are "Mister" or "Mrs." we even had one of our Eagle scouts turn 18, so we brought him back as another asst Scoutmaster, and all the Scouts have to refer to him as "ASM {last name}", even though they use his first name in the hallways at school.

Posted by: MajMike at December 07, 2005 12:52 PM (zXWkt)

7 My friends children either call me Miss Tammi or if we are really close Aunt Tammi. It's always been there - with all of them. But I noticed so many children don't any more. I still struggle with that. I'm in Sales and when I'm making calls I still refer to them as Mrs/Mr/Miss until I've gotten to know them or they tell me other wise.

Posted by: Tammi at December 07, 2005 09:25 PM (fG4Jz)

8 There has to be SOME benefit to being an adult. I would have never dreamed of calling an adult by anything other than their honorific and surname. I expect the same treatment now that I'm the "grown up". Let's expect more from the kids of the world. GOOD MANNERS.

Posted by: Miss Rogers at December 12, 2005 02:15 PM (WE6BG)

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My neighbor moved over the summer, and she and I were instant messaging last night. She said that she had watched Barbara Walters' The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2005 program on TV, that is until it started to sicken her and she turned it off.

I love how celebrities can't get enough of themselves. (My husband is brutal to celebs, calling them "people who are attractive for a living".) Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning fascinating? In what way exactly? The winner, the most fascinating person of the year, was Camilla Parker Bowles. Really. That's funny to me, because she's about the last celeb I'm interested in hearing about.

My neighbor was upset. "What makes Tom Cruise more fascinating than Sean Sims?" she asked. I know that's not the point of these stupid celeb-backpatting shows, but for regular Americans, the contrast can sometimes be rather striking. The last sentence of that article killed me:

Rounding out Walters' "Most Fascinating" list are "Desperate Housewives" star Teri Hatcher, Academy Award-winning actor Jamie Foxx and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice."

Really, how dare they lump Condi Rice with Teri Hatcher? Rice works her butt off as one of the most powerful people in the world; Hatcher pretends to be a slutty housewife for a living.

I told my neighbor about something I had seen on TV recently that had made me guffaw. Sharon Stone organized some benefit for Katrina victims, and lots of singers participated to raise money. I swear Sharon Stone started crying during her interview clip, saying what "heroes" these singers were. I laughed out loud. Heroes? For showing up and recording a song that regular non-millionaire Americans could buy to raise money for Katrina? That makes you a hero? I swear, celebs wouldn't know a hero if he bit 'em.

My neighbor replied to the Sharon Stone story: "That just means she has never really met a real hero before. She should talk to me, I live with one."

Amen, sister.

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1 Your Captain is one of my heroes; my nephew, who is soon to be in the 'Stan is one of my heroes. And you, Sarah, are one of my heroes, as was my wife, when she too had to maintain the rear guard while I was sailing the ocean blue in a navy gray ship. Thanks for your service to Russell and to this country. Jim

Posted by: Jim Shawley at December 01, 2005 10:05 AM (CnYsu)

2 I’ll never forget reading a letter to the editor of a newspaper in Virginia during the opening days of OIF. An Army wife wrote in response to all the celebrities griping about how wrong war is, how soldiers don’t want to go and fight, blah blah blah. Anyway, her response was along the lines of “How dare these people talk for me and my family? Why would anyone listen to the opinion of someone whose job is to pretend to be someone else?” She put it much better than I did, and I really wish I had saved that paper, but her thoughts are right on. Ben Stein also puts it in perspective so eloquently and so often. Thanks for all you and your husband do! Rude1, USAF (ret)

Posted by: Rude1 at December 01, 2005 12:34 PM (Cgo1/)

3 Real Heroes have HEART! Celebrities are hollow!

Posted by: Vonn at December 01, 2005 11:12 PM (sDFje)

4 Barbara Walters' list of fascinating people is such a joke. Your post prompted me to e-mail Ben Stein (via his website link) ~ I thanked him for all his support to the troops but especially for putting things in perspective re: the "celebrity" world. Did you catch the article about Bruce Willis making a movie about Iraq? He said he couldn't believe what is NOT being reported about all the positive things going on in Iraq. You have such a wonderful blog. It is always thought provoking. I've been reading it since Jenny and Heidi told me about it last year but this is the first time I've posted anything. I think I was a little intimidated by all you grammar police out there Patti

Posted by: Patti at December 03, 2005 01:06 AM (b/PAv)

5 Sarah, I loved this line: My neighbor replied to the Sharon Stone story: "That just means she has never really met a real hero before. She should talk to me, I live with one." I think you ladies have a helluva lot more credibility when it comes to teaching us about real heroes than Sharon Stone or Tom Cruise. If military wives don't know what heroism is all about, then no one does. From living with them --- and from being our heroes for putting up with us. Bless you all ladies for your love, patience and understanding in living with Uncles Sam's Wayward Boys Club -- the United States Armed Forces. Subsunk

Posted by: Subsunk at December 03, 2005 01:10 PM (SBriA)

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Dang, I just wasted a lot of time playing around with these lists of celebrity Republicans. The most surprising people? 50 Cent and John Malkovich.

I emailed my friends about 50 Cent and said "Did you know that 50 Cent would've voted for Bush if he weren't a convicted felon?" And then I realized that sentence has a grammatically ambiguous modifier...except for the fact that there's nothing ambiguous about which of them is the felon. So does that make the sentence ambiguous or not?

Man, I wish I was still in touch with my best friend from college; we'd have a blast analyzing that one.

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1 come on Sarah, diagram that sentence... you know that it is ambiguous as written. C+ for effort.

Posted by: MajMike at November 29, 2005 02:29 PM (zXWkt)

2 I'm not arguing that it's not *grammatically* ambiguous, but what I'm asking -- from a Descriptive point of view -- is whether *meaning* should count at all for ambiguity.

Posted by: Sarah at November 29, 2005 02:34 PM (3l/e2)

3 Can we just agree to say that there is no ambiguity about which one has been convicted?

Posted by: Pericles at November 29, 2005 10:00 PM (eKf5G)

4 Sarah, I knew what you meant. :-) Erin

Posted by: Erin at November 30, 2005 06:39 AM (AUtEP)

5 How about, "...had he not been convicted of a felonious crime", or "...had he not been a convicted felon"? Love your site, Sarah, and wish you and your Captain a great Christmas and New Year. Jim

Posted by: Jim Shawley at November 30, 2005 08:06 PM (bKR1b)

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Apparently the American Film Institute is trying to pick the most inspirational film of all time. Good luck. The list of nominees is long, including movies that definitely belong (Apollo 13, Stand and Deliver) and some dubious choices as well (Ferris Bueller's Day Off? Moulin Rouge?) John Hawkins has a good list of his own choices; I agree with most of his picks, especially Spider-Man 2 and Rocky. I'd add a few movies of my own that either bring me to tears or have me jumping out of my seat cheering: 12 Angry Men, From the Earth to the Moon, The Great Escape, To Kill a Mockingbird, Rudy, The Lord of the Rings, Miracle, Amistad and Band of Brothers. In no particular order, all of which made the cut except for the HBO ones. Props to the AFI for including The Karate Kid, which is one of my all-time favorites, even if it is a bit cheesy. (For the record, my husband said that he never laughed so hard as he did in There's Something About Mary at the line "I guess I just wish they made movies like they used to make. You know, classics like The Karate Kid" because he thought that was the dumbest thing he'd ever heard. But the joke's on him, because his paycheck bought the whole trilogy.)

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(via LGF) There was a rally against the Iranian regime held at Berkeley. Although it was small, I'm glad to see people speaking out against this horrible theocracy. When my husband and I first got married, we lived near a wonderful Iranian family. During the build-up to Iraq, they half-jokingly begged my husband to invade Iran instead. They were so upset at what their country had become.

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My husband hates to write, and the only thing worse for him than composing at a computer is writing with a pen. He didn't write me much from Iraq, but when he did, I knew he had forced himself to sit down and do it. That's touching.

Absence really does make the heart grow fonder, and I think deployments can sometimes bring out the best in a relationship. Mrs. Greyhawk found a letter from a husband in Iraq to his wife. It's positively breathtaking. You just have to see it to believe it.

UPDATE:

I swear I have never laughed so hard as I just did. I asked my husband if he had read the letter and -- right hand on a Bible -- he said, "Yeah. Was he talking about a chicken or a rooster or something? Man, there's a lot of them walking around Iraq. And how did he mail a bird to his wife? I don't get it."

My husband, the romantic.

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1 Your husband's reaction is too funny! Thanks for the link to the post!

Posted by: Pam at October 30, 2005 01:25 AM (NLkiM)

2 LOL, your husband's reaction is hilarious. At the risk of sounding non-PC....typical male. (grin)

Posted by: Maggie at October 30, 2005 03:37 AM (8eu7Q)

3 "This is true love.. do you think it happens every day?" Westly -- A Princess bride. To be honest.. I get the feeling that Millitary Marriges are either the best of times.. or the worst of times... they seem to either shatter under stress.. or like yours... be forged into something stronger... Just remember.. Beer is Temporary.. so keep plenty on hand.. Love is forever.. so you are all that is needed

Posted by: Larryconley at October 31, 2005 05:19 PM (TKt3d)

4 "This is true love.. do you think it happens every day?" Westly -- A Princess bride. To be honest.. I get the feeling that Millitary Marriges are either the best of times.. or the worst of times... they seem to either shatter under stress.. or like yours... be forged into something stronger... Just remember.. Beer is Temporary.. so keep plenty on hand.. Love is forever.. so you are all that is needed

Posted by: Larryconley at October 31, 2005 05:19 PM (TKt3d)

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Tanker sent me a link to an article about the perceived risk of investing in France. It reminded me of something that I forgot to share a few weeks ago. Someone recommended an international mutual fund to us, so my husband looked into it as a possibility. That is, until he saw that Total was one of its top holdings. "Guns, tobacco, and other vices are no problem," my husband said. "I'd invest in those in spades. But I refuse to invest in French oil companies." Despite protestations that Total is a very lucrative market -- well, no kidding: Saddam treated them well -- my husband put his foot down and said that we're not buying into that mutual fund. I was awful proud of him.

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Last night my husband and I watched the final episode of From the Earth to the Moon. I must say that after this week's revelation that we might return to the moon, I watched this episode completely differently than I did nine months ago. The finality of it all really hit me the first time I watched it: Cernan would be the last man on the moon for forever, we'll never have another chance to leave hammers, rovers, or golf balls up there again, we've lost the gumption that got us to the moon in under a decade. But this time around I had hope, hope that we'd be back again.

When it ended, my husband turned to me and said, "I wanna go to the moon." I do too, I said.

I was saddened to read much negative commentary online about returning to the moon. I know it costs money and time, but I just want to go back. And to imagine a staging point for a future trip to Mars...well, that's just beyond my comprehension.

Hope is a wonderful feeling.

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How's your laser beam this year?

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I could use some advice on behalf of a reader who contacted me with an perplexing dilemma. This reader was conducting interviews at his job and interviewed an Egyptian man who set off a couple of warning bells. This Egyptian seemed "jittery and anxious" and became agitated when he learned that this particular job would not get him maximum money pronto; the man said that he was only planning on being in the country for a short time and needed to make as much money as possible as fast as he could. This reader couldn't help but shake the feeling of "terrorist" that was creeping in. The reader doesn't want to be "racist" but also doesn't want to be caught wishing he'd done something (like those who met Atta and got a bad feeling). The reader wonders if he should report this, and to whom.

So what do you think? Is it better to be safe than sorry, or is it intrusive to potentially shake up someone's life on nothing better than a hunch? I'd appreciate as much input as any of you can give me as to what you'd honestly do if you were in this reader's shoes. He needs our help.

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It seems at least one commenter thinks I write about President Bush too often. The explanation is quite simple really: the reason I write about him is because I think about him all the time. There are three men who dominate my life, three men whose respect I work hard to earn every day: President Bush, Bunker, and CPT Sims. In every action and every thought, I consistently weigh how these three men would judge me. Am I doing something that would make them slap sense into me, or would they be proud of me? You don't have to understand this, but it's a big part of what keeps me trying to be a better person every day.

So I'll quit glorifying our President when the other half of the world stops vilifying him.

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1 It is understandable that you are trying to compensate for the external pressure. One has to be careful though not to overcompensate - one would no longer be oneself but just an inverted reflection of the environment. Best wishes (and keep up the good work with your blog!)

Posted by: John Bull at September 06, 2005 07:05 AM (Kdv3T)

2 sarah what amazes me as a spouse of an active-duty serviceman you support this clown.if bush 43 and cronies had it their way there will be more deployment in small FOB places like bulgaria,central asia,etc and damned the servicemembers family.and also i'm shocked that you support a man if he had his way he would overturn roe v wade.like the f*****g government has a right to tell you what you can or can not do with your body.

Posted by: tommy at September 06, 2005 08:50 AM (NMK3S)

3 And thanks to tommy for highlighting Sarah's point in case anyone had missed it.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at September 06, 2005 08:56 AM (QriEg)

4 Tommy, you need to understand that a LOT of people in the military like Bush and dislike Clinton. Not all for the same reason. Bush is a far more pro-military president and has shown much more respect for the military. That is a personal level kind of thing. Heck, most of my union brothers support Bush and I've heard less vitriolic Demo-hating from Sean Hannity (though far worse from Dems) and they're all Democrats. So....... Kalroy

Posted by: Kalroy at September 06, 2005 10:45 AM (AwOS7)

5 kalroy that's what i find so amazing.bush 43 has been trying to CUT veteran benefits in a time of war.and the base closings.and the stop-loss orders.and the IRR call ups.and this fancy new robocop type 21st century star-wars garbage.and that's just the military i won't even get started on his domestic policies.why do the troops like him so much it's obvious he tells them what they want to hear.wraps himself in patriotic rhetoric.and tells them they're doing great work(which most of them are)if he had it his way entirely he would outsource more money and jobs to the private contractors.just something to keep in mind.

Posted by: tommy at September 06, 2005 11:19 AM (NMK3S)

6 Thank you so much Sarah. I have an active-duty son in the Army who is scheduled to ship out Iraq the last of Sept. He loves his country, his God, and his president. So what if Pres. Bush has made some mistakes? Oh my gosh, I guess it's true then, he is human. If he was slow to react to Katrina, I'm sure of one thing. It wasn't because he has a Monica in the Oval Office and couldn't be disturbed!

Posted by: kimberly at September 06, 2005 11:55 AM (/Whm2)

7 I just want to say thanks for remaining unmoved by disapproval of your opinions about the President and military. It's a hard thing to support both/any of those, and I respect you for being both honest and firm. I read your blog frequently. I plan to enlist in the Marine Corps next fall and am eager to serve in Iraq. I've gotten huge amounts of flak about this from my family, teachers, and other people I respect. When I enlist, I'll be pointing my Corps sisters to your journal, saying "here, at least, is someone who appears to be on our side."

Posted by: mick at September 06, 2005 02:08 PM (02rmn)

8 Kimberly & Mick -- it means a lot to hear you say that. I thought I'd get a lot of flak for this post, so it's nice to hear that others understand. And any time I feel like the pressure is too great, like people are getting me down and making me feel bad about myself, I just think that President Bush gets out of bed every day, even though there are posters of him with Hitler's mustache. He's one of the strongest men I can think of. (And Bunker's one of the smartest and CPT Sims is one of the most honorable.)

Posted by: Sarah at September 06, 2005 03:55 PM (7+dr0)

9 Just curious: Would you describe Bush as one of the smartest and most honorable men you know? Especially smartest. It is hard for me to believe that anyone could really be in awe of the man. Even if you agree with the majority of his decisions, on a personal level he seems like such an insipid echo of Reagan, with whom he is usually compared. I was watching old video of Reagan the other day, and whatever you might think about his politics, the man was an incredibly powerful speaker. He had a commanding presence, real gravitas. When Bush speaks, the word "lightweight" just forces itself into your mind. His one Presidential moment was the speech right after 9/11; that was very well done. Normally, though, he can't say more than a few words at a time without pausing, even right in the middle of a sentence where no pause is appropriate, and he says the most serious things as if he is just about to laugh... I'm not going to descend to calling him stupid, because no one really stupid gets elected President. But even if we were going to have a president from the conservative wing of the Republican party, couldn't we have had one who looks and acts like a President? Next to Bush, even someone like Trent Lott looks presidential. And while W. may not have been getting a Monica during the hurricane, can we really be sure that he hadn't been felled by yet another killer pretzel?

Posted by: Pericles at September 06, 2005 05:31 PM (EpPuP)

10 Sarah, Stick to your values - you have thought things through, and you are as entitled to your views as anyone. (Just another one of the rights our military sacrifices so much to protect!) To those who want to question W's esteemed position on her list of 3, I am sure Sarah can speak for herself quite well. But one thing that has not been pointed out is that W has a strong sense of what is right. He makes decisions and sticks with them, despite the support and backlash which are both inevitable in our open society. And he has a moral compass that is constant. This is a real draw. I may not agree with him all the time, but I sure can predict what his position will be, and I can rely on him to stay the course. Intestinal fortitude is a much rarer commodity than we think these days, and I value it. Thanks, Sarah, for being so willing to share your views, even when you expect to get push back. It is a sign that you have the same type of character that I admire - regardless of political views.

Posted by: jck at September 06, 2005 07:35 PM (J9ixV)

11 Pericles - Bush isn't a great speaker. But I'd rather have a President who does what he says, than a President who makes compelling speeches and then doesn't do anything. tommy - Your keyboard has a shift key and a space bar. Find them and use them. If your keyboard doesn't have a shift key and a space bar, your can cut and paste some of these: ABCDEFGHIJKLM NOPQRSTUVWXYZ. Oh, and here are some commas for you as well: ,,,,,, Hope that helps.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at September 06, 2005 07:43 PM (QriEg)

12 Pixy and jck- Thanks for ytour comments. jck raises a fair point about Bush's constancy, but surely there is a golden mean between "blowing in the wind" on the one hand and sheer pigheadedness on the other. Bush depicted Kerry as being at one extreme, but isn't he at the other? Pixy makes a fair point, too; there are things more important than eloquence and bearing. Of course we want a President who follows through and what he or she promises, to the exent this is possible. With all of the people in the country, though, couldn't we find someone with ALL of the qualities we want? Besides, does Bush really follow through on what he promises? You may be focusing on foreign policy, but what about "compassionate conservatism." A lot of the programs he talked about have received far less funding than he pledged: No Child Left Behind, fighting AIDS in Africa, etc. Closer to foreign policy, remember how he went from saying that he would fire anyone who leaked Plame's identity to saying that he would fire anyone who committed a crime? He isn't really as steadfast as the two of you suggest.

Posted by: Pericles at September 06, 2005 08:17 PM (EpPuP)

13 "kalroy that's what i find so amazing.bush 43 has been trying to CUT veteran benefits in a time of war.and the base closings.and the stop-loss orders.and the IRR call ups.and this fancy new robocop type 21st century star-wars garbage." Tommy, I call BS on all of that. First off, elementary school civics lesson; CONGRESS has power of the purse, not the President. Blame congress. Secondly, the stop loss and IRR call ups were neccessary during the first Gulf war. It is more necessary due to the post Cold War cuts. If you want to blame anyone for the military cuts it has been a bi-partisan effort on the part of congress. You do realize that the majority effort, however, has been on the part of the Democrats; many of whom support the military, but a large, vocal part is actively anti-military and have been calling for far more draconian cuts than were made under Clinton (during both the Republican congress and more so during the Democrat congress). You're going to have to realize that though their are exceptions on both sides, the Democrats EARNED their anti-military reputation through both word and deed. Kalroy

Posted by: Kalroy at September 06, 2005 09:39 PM (9RG5y)

14 Kalroy- Remember that those military cuts started during Bush I. It was called the Peace Dividend back then... we won the Cold War so we didn't need as large of a military force. There is an element of BS to the "Congress has the power of the purse" argument anyway. Everyone knows that the president has a lot of influence here also. If the prez. puts something in the initial budget proposal, fights hard for it, but Congress still strikes it, then okay, the responsibility belongs to Congress. Otherwise, it isn't so clear.

Posted by: Pericles at September 06, 2005 09:48 PM (EpPuP)

15 With all of the people in the country, though, couldn't we find someone with ALL of the qualities we want? Well, clearly not.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at September 06, 2005 10:10 PM (RbYVY)

16 If you want to blame anyone for the military cuts it has been a bi-partisan effort on the part of congress. With Republicans holding majorities in both chambers? Bi-partisan doesn't mean one party doing things in two different branches of the government.

Posted by: Visitor at September 07, 2005 02:04 PM (ztSQc)

17 Hint to "Visitor": The military cuts started over a decade ago.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at September 07, 2005 07:07 PM (QriEg)

18 Sarah, I think about Bunker very often, too, and go to his page just to click on the link, a lot. You're a good egg: keep up the fire. Paulie

Posted by: Paulie at The Commons at September 09, 2005 10:18 PM (SWi7L)

19 I, too, think of Bunker daily. I sure do miss him... Another military family here who supports Bush. Husband and I both think Bush is a good leader. Personally, I think he's too big of a spender (my libertarian leanings showing) and should have vetoed SOMETHING by now lol. However, when it comes to defending this nation, I trust him. I thank God that Gore wasn't in office on September 11th. All we needed was another president who lead by polls and focus groups as that idiot Clinton did.

Posted by: Shannon at September 13, 2005 11:08 PM (sHJxX)

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I bought the husband the extended Lord of the Rings trilogy for his birthday, and we watched the movies again for the first time since the movie theater. As I watched preparations for the battle of Helms Deep, I told my husband that there's no way they would've herded me into the cellar. I couldn't imagine sending my husband and son off to fight while I stayed underground. The only exercise my arms get is knitting, but I would've fought, struggled to lift a sword, even though it surely would've meant death at the hands of an orc. But I would've had to try, had to fight.

Hey, maybe I'm a sheepdog.

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I read this story of the quest to appropriate a white cross from Cindy Sheehan's circus. It sounds like things have gotten a little more complicated in Crawford since a few weeks ago when Mrs. Sims' friend uprooted CPT Sims' cross; I guess the police are involved now in order to keep the peace at the peace protest. I love the irony in that one.

But something in this blog post really caught my eye:

Once the details were taken care of, we were given a tour of Camp Reality. There is one father who is trying to raise money to get a bronze statue (of the rifle, boots, and helmet) placed in the hometown of each fallen soldier.

Has anyone heard anything else about this idea? I think it's a beautiful goal, and I'd be interested in donating and advertising this fundraiser. Any chance any of you know more about this man? Google wasn't much help.

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My husbandÂ’s roommate in college came to the US from Poland. He was going to try to make his fortune in New York City, but there was a better deal for flights to Chicago at that time. He left with only the money in his pocket to make a new life for himself. He worked three part-time jobs while he was at college with us; I honestly canÂ’t remember ever seeing him sleep in the entire time IÂ’ve known him. I remember laughing when he finally saved enough to buy a piece of crap car on eBay, and my husband still sometimes brings up the moneysaving kitchen tips he learned from his roommate.

I talked to him this morning, and I can’t erase the huge grin from my face. He has a good job in the cellphone industry now, he’s working on his MBA, and he just bought his second house, one for him to live in and another to “rent out and build some equity.” I laughingly told him that he’s finally living the American Dream; he replied that he is doing so well that he’s actually getting fat. I am so happy for him.

I need to check on our other friend, a Bulgarian who I swear wore the same shirt and pants every day when I first met him. HeÂ’s just finishing up his internship in med school.

What a wonderful country ours is.

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It seems Prager's article on the Left's support for the troops caused quite a stir. I thought more about the outrage that article spawned after I read this line from David Horowitz's book, Radical Son:

Hands Off Cuba! and Bring the Troops Home! were slogans designed to consolidate majorities, but also to achieve agendas that would never have been defended by most of the people who eventually supported them.

Horowitz was talking about the Vietnam era, but I was struck by the parallel to today's cries. And it made me start thinking about all of the people who are offended by the suggestion that they don't support the troops.

My father has had little contact with the military. He didn't go to Vietnam, but he had friends who went and didn't return. He recently surprised my mother with a diatribe about how we should bring our boys home. My father votes Republican, so it's not a matter of politics; I assume he simply can't stand the idea of any Americans fighting and dying, especially when his only daughter's husband is involved. I don't think that makes my dad anti-war...and I would hope that he would be horrified to hear of the birds who have flocked together. That's what struck me about Horowitz's statement.

Who can honestly say that they don't want our soldiers and marines to come home? "Bring the Troops Home!" is a huge umbrella statement that covers many points of view, indeed "designed to consolidate majorities". The scary part is when people who fall under that umbrella don't know about the company they're keeping. ANSWER wants us to bring the troops home too, but they're an offshoot of the Marxist-Leninist Workers World Party, organizing anti-war protests that I'm sure many unsuspecting, good-intentioned people attended. (Hey, if my father went to a protest, maybe some activist could hand him a "Bring Home the Troops" sign, you know, since he's got his hands full with his "Death to Jews" sign anyway.)

Several people emailed or commented to say that they had done X,Y, or Z for friends and family who were deployed. Fabulous. But by being on the Left, you need to be aware of the company you're keeping. Do you know about the reporters such as the one Toby Harnden met?:

Not only had [a well-known journalist] ‘known’ the Iraq war would fail but she considered it essential that it did so because this would ensure that the ‘evil’ George W. Bush would no longer be running her country. Her editors back on the East Coast were giggling, she said, over what a disaster Iraq had turned out to be. ‘Lots of us talk about how awful it would be if this worked out.’

Many mainstream writers and people on the Left are actively hoping for failure in Iraq. So are Daily Kos' readers, and that left-wing blog gets more traffic than any other blog out there. Disgusting characters like Ted Rall and Michael Moore want to bring the troops home, and I wouldn't be caught under any umbrella with them.

Most Americans want the servicemembers to come home safe and sound, but if you google "bring troops home", you get a list of anti-war sites and writings. If you want to bring them home, then admittedly you don't want them to all die (which is more than we can say for some), but it's not the same thing as supporting the troops. Support has to be more than sending a box of deoderant and candy and hoping they don't all die. As Prager said, you have to support their fight too. That's where we argue semantics, and I think it's an important distinction. I wrote about this before, and I stand by my original assertion:

LT Smash points out that we have an all-volunteer military and that "the troops are committed to winning the war. If you donÂ’t share that goal, then you are not, by definition, supporting them." People in his comments section disagree, but Smash points out two different definitions of supporting the troops: "Your definition would appear to be 'wish them good health and hope they come home safe.' My definition of 'support' is a bit more robust than that. In my world, 'supporting the troops' also means letting them know that you appreciate the sacrifices they are making, and believe in the cause they're fighting for."

I tend to think that the first definition should be an understood, that no human would wish that soldiers should be injured or die (though some of the posts on Democratic Underground might suggest otherwise). Therefore, it's not worth broadcasting, just as "I support cancer patients" or "I support the disabled" seem inane.

Not everyone agreed with Smash, as the volume of comments shows, but I do agree with him, as I do with Prager. You don't have to agree with me on the definition of "support" if you don't want to, but just be careful of which umbrellas you're under.

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