War Stories

I've tried to write about the President, and Iraq, over the past several months, and yesterday I even tried putting together a few words about the (then) upcoming State of the Union address, but instead I just ranted about outdoor music festivals.

I'm not trying to be superficial and aloof to what's going on in the world, I just don't know what the hell to say about it any more. Every day the news pops up on my screen and it's more explosions, more dead, more chaos.

According to a search on my blog entries I only wrote about Iraq once last year. War entries tend to get peoples' blood boiling, and for a while I thought I'd try and focus on more positive matters.

The war is still with us, though; I just don't have any more words. It's all just anger and disbelief and frustration. Had a Boundary Committee meeting last night so I missed the address, which I would have watched had I been home. It's still The State of the Union address to the Congress, and that should be respected no matter who's in charge.

Instead I caught the postgame, where Senators Obama and Edwards and Clinton made the rounds and tried to nudge their way to the front of the line and again I don't really know what to say. Edwards and Clinton try to distance themselves from their yes votes and Obama just sits back there and has a smoke and says, "Hey, I was against this damn thing from the beginning."

Lucky him, though; he didn't have to be a sitting senator in 2003 when everyone else sweated and kowtowed themselves into yes votes so they wouldn't seem weak and unwilling to go against a then-popular president.

There's gonna be some serious shit going down soon and I'll be watching closely to see what our new presidential contenders do. This is 4th and inches for our elected leaders and they need to make some hard decisions and not fuck around for once.

Please find a way to solve this horrible mess before more people have to die.

I Declare

Turned 35 this morning. An announcement concerning my bid for the presidency in 2008 will come soon; I'm still talking it over with my family.

Pretty good year this year. Ending on a good note. Well, not for this guy. Great, now my birthday has to compete with Christmas, New Years, and the execution of Saddam.

Christmas with the extended family today, party at the house tonight. See you there.

November 2006 looms...

Lots of talk these days about the U.S. and Iraq. Baker wants to meet with Bush and give his plan for a way out. Now today comes word that the U.S. military is "rethinking" their role in Iraq, admitting they can't control the violence and are going to look at other ways to control the emerging civil war.

All of this is because an election is coming in a few weeks, and those in power want to remain in power. The Republican administration knows things are going horribly wrong in Iraq, and if it looks like they're finally willing to admit their mistakes and try alternative means to victory, maybe that'll turn into a victory on November 7th?

At first I was deeply troubled by the fact that it takes an election to force our leaders to admit their strategies are wrong. I would like to think that decisions are made because they're the logical, correct decisions, and not being made because polls are trending Democratic and congressmen are quaking in their boots.

But wait! Perhaps that's the whole point of elections. Maybe that's how these things work: a national biannual referendum on our leaders. The vox populi voted in these bastards, but that's what gets rid of them as well. If this wasn't an election year, perhaps the war could drag on and on and on until the next even-numbered year, as more people die and more anti-U.S. sentiment is created.

Maybe the election will be the thing that will finally end this thing. And maybe there's hope for democracy after all.