Reading notes

This is disgraceful, a shameful state of affairs whose existence among us is reason enough by itself to boot from office those who are causing it:

In World Wars I and II, gold star mothers were the queens of their neighborhoods, the stars in their windows ensuring that they would be treated with great respect for their sacrifice in sending sons overseas to fight and die against the Germans and Japanese.

Instead of a gold star, Sue Niederer, 55, of Hopewell, N.J., got handcuffed, arrested and charged with a crime for daring to challenge the Bush policy in Iraq, where her son, Army First Lt. Seth Dvorin, 24, died in February while attempting to disarm a bomb.

She came to a Laura Bush rally last week at a firehouse in Hamilton, N.J., wearing a T-shirt that blazed with her agony and anger: “President Bush You Killed My Son.” …

The moment was emblematic of how far the Bushies will go to squelch any voice that presents a view of Iraq that’s different from the sunny party line, which they continue to dish out despite a torrent of alarming evidence to the contrary.

Can we make any progress changing the world if we won’t see it as it is, won’t tolerate critical feedback, and won’t accept responsibility for our actions or acknowledge the consequences therefrom? I sometimes dream how different the world might be if Mr. Bush had actually completed the 12 steps and learned from them.

[via SteveG]