A couple hours ago I was within a 5 mile radius of Bush and I hated every minute of it. He was in Dublin at the Wendy’s Int’l. HQ to talk about healthcare. For those unfamiliar with the Central Ohio area, let’s just say that Dublin is a very safe suburb for Bush to visit, as is always the case. Don’t even try to figure the logic in choosing Wendy’s as the venue to discuss their “Reforming Health Care for the 21st Century” plan. The logic is that Wendy’s donates 94% of their political contributions to GOP candidates. Just a few minutes ago I found some pictures on the local NBC site that showed his plane leaving Port Columbus Airport, so I feel a little better knowing he’s out of my city. Not far enough out of here though, he’s still on planet Earth. At least until his global-warming-inducing-Corporation buddies find a way to melt it into oblivion once and for all.
But I digress… Based on all the recent headlines I’m encountering, I’m going to throw out a gutsy prediction: either all of these embarrassing and illegal stories will magically fade from the headlines and memory as they always seem to do (which is not the gutsy part), or, they will aggregate and this country will finally say enough is enough and get the ball rolling to get the Bush Administration out of here. Although with our “democratic process” of endless committees, commissions, and proceedings, it could very well be 2008 before impeachment is reached anyway. But it’s almost the 3rd Anniversary of the War/Occupation of Iraq, what a motivating and honorable way to mark the occasion.
I am re-dedicated, re-fueled, and re-pissed off about the war thanks to a book I found at the Book Loft called Baghdad Burning. If the name sounds familiar, it’s because it’s based on the popular blog of the same name. The book, printed by the Feminist Press at the City University of New York, captures a year’s worth of this young Iraqi woman’s blogging of life in Baghdad, before and during the occupation.
I have a few things in common with this woman, we’re the same age, same interest in technology with a job in the field, a lack of adherence to society’s “traditional” values (she wears pants and no hijab)… so it’s a constant dose of perspective to read it every night and think “wow, I could be sitting in a room in Baghdad with no electricity or clean drinking water, listening to bombs and guns going off in the distance, praying my house doesn’t get raided tonight, and hoping for the electricity to come on just long enough to post a new blog entry telling people what the hell is going on”… but no, I’m here in Ohio where I can come and go as I please without needing a group of male relatives to escort me in public. I can drive to work without fear of the streets exploding under me. I don’t have to cross through military checkpoints and worry that occupying troops, who think they’re playing a video game, will open fire on me for no reason. Neither my Dad nor my Brother-in-law have to police the city with insufficient training and no armor, they actually have employment that doesn’t endanger their lives.
So thank you to Riverbend for giving us another look at this war. If you’re interested in reading some other Iraqi blogs, check out Alive in Baghdad. Now back to my dark glimmer of hope of an end to the Bush Regime, a series of recent news stories that should wake people the hell up, if they are somehow still asleep:
- Whistleblower Alleges a 2nd (and much larger) NSA violation
- Vice President Cheney talks to Fox News about accidental shooting
- Three Schoolchildren blown up in Baghdad
- New Abu Ghraib images broadcast
- US Gov’t. unprepared for and overwhelmed by Katrina
…Of course you will probably not hear much about these stories because it’s much easier to talk about the Olympics right now. Lots happier and more colorful… go Team USA!
[tags]War in Iraq,Bush in Ohio,Baghdad Burning,Riverbend blog[/tags]
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