Shame

The washington post reports that Iraq’s apparent lack of WMDs is not a problem for Bush.

I know I shouldn’t be surprised by this sort of thing. I mean, it’s not like it’s unusual for America to fly off to war on a wing and a lie. Tonkin gulf. The Maine. I am aware of the precedents.

But I am suprised, and ashamed.

I’m ashamed to live in a country where we have a press that is in principle free, but in fact is utterly cowed by proximity to power. I’m ashamed to call myself a Democrat, when the “leaders” of my party are spouting garbage like this, from Nancy Pelosi:

"I salute the president for the goal of removing weapons of mass destruction."

Yeah, ok. And I salute Flash Gordon for his dogged pursuit of Ming the Merciless. Whatever. This is not the appropriate response when a President leads the nation into a war, killing hundreds if not thousands, damaging our national security, and ultimately giving aid to our true enemies, under clearly deceptive pretenses. The appropriate response is to impeach him. Or at least, you know, be annoyed.

I’m ashamed that I didn’t do more to prevent Bush’s election. I won’t make that mistake again. Voting is not enough. Pick a candidate you like. Give money. Give time. Write stuff. Get involved, and maybe, maybe we can get back to our sadly interrupted long national nightmare.

Filed under: politics/war