2003-03-27 - 11:05 a.m.

I'm really amazed at the venom some people have been spewing about the war & the situation in Iraq, and various people's attitudes towards these things.

I don't talk about politics a lot � I find it awkward at the best of times, and near impossible these days. I have some opinions that are unlikely to change, and some that have changed over time, but they rarely change as a result of people�s venomous mouthings (rather the opposite in fact).

That said, I�m gonna go out on a limb here. This will likely piss some folks off, get me into assorted arguments in the guestbook, and may even cool off some friendships. C�est la vie. I think it�s time someone spoke out for the other side.

Yes, I grew up in a granola-eating, Friends-meeting-attending, war-protesting, civil rights & women�s rights activist family. I�ve volunteered for at least three presidential campaigns (and it�s probably not the three you�re thinking of!)

Yes, I think George Bush is a complete and utter incompetent idiot.

Yes, I am buying every Dixie Chicks album I can afford � I�m not just embarrassed he�s from Texas, I�m embarrassed he�s from this *planet*. It becomes apparent we choose our world leaders by some sort of reverse Russian roulette.

Yes, I�m against waging war in the nominal name of peace.

I�m distressed by the student who was interviewed on the radio yesterday who said (approximately) �We�re all too worried about our careers to speak out or protest.�

Yes, when I hear the phrase Homeland Security, I hear jackboots in the distance. The billboards over the highway asking people to report suspicious activities make me incredibly uncomfortable.

Yes, I�d like to be down on the mall with a picket sign, but I�m not a �trust fund� whatever or an �overpaid� whatever, so I�m at my mediocre job, trying to support my husband, my family, and my version of Family Values.

That said, yes, I support our troops. I think what they�ve been ordered to do is wrong, but I commend them for doing it in a thorough, professional and dedicated manner. I regret that Mr. Bush feels the need to flex his "might" in this fashion, but that doesn�t make me any less sympathetic to the plight of living sixteen to a tent without showers and eating MRE�s for months on end, and risking life and limb for a cause they believe in (apparently).

I do not feel it is the job of the US to police other nations, as a rule.

�I believe there should be a constitutional amendment outlawing Astroturf and the designated hitter rule�

So there.

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