Oh the Monkey Wrapped His Tail Around the Flagpole...

Stepping out of the airport terminal last night at 10:30, I felt the soft, welcome embrace of Baltimore humidity. Home. The Long Term A bus was right there so I jumped on. There were only 2 of us so he took us right to our cars. Feeling good, I punched button #1- WRNR - on the radio and was soon zipping down a rarely wide-open I-95 listening to a funky acoustic version of 'Stagefright' on Damian's Diner. This is my turf and I like it.

I've just gotten back from 5 days visiting my folks in Sandpoint, Idaho. My folks are great but visiting is a chore since they moved away from PA. It was still good to see them - I just wish we could visit for a day frequently intead of a week rarely. I subscribe to Benjamin Franklin's rule about fish and houseguests (they both stink after 3 days). Mom taught me how to make a hooked rug and I went on a date with her dentist which was far less painful than I ever would have imagined. It feels like fall in northern Idaho. Sandpoint is beautiful. Idaho is weird. There are Espresso stops everywhere. Like in the Bus Depot and the Used Car lot. It'll say, "Jim's Bait and Tackle. Now Serving Espresso!". There are little kiosks - like the ones where you used to drop off your film - in the oddest places. I saw one in the middle of a parking lot that looked like a construction site. I passed a low building where they had sort of garage-style bays with fiberglass doors. One of the doors said, "Drive-thru Espresso". I like espresso, but I'm wondering if they really understand their market niche out there.

Anyway, I wasn't the only one visiting Idaho this past week. So was our fear-based leader, GW. The headline in the Bonner County Daily Bee said:

Soldier's family to meet with president

Cindy, you did it!, I thought. It turned out that President Bush has chosen Ted Benson of Sandpoint Idaho to meet with him. Mr. Benson had not asked for a meeting with the President but his son, Bobby T. Benson, died Nov 5, 2003 in Iraq. The article says Bobby enlisted before he finished High School and Mr. Benson had to sign for him. Mr. Benson was quoted as saying that he is not bitter about the war that took his son and that the president has a hard job.

So President Bush not only refused to meet with Cindy and look her in the eye. He actually found a way to spit in her eye. Well, an eye for an eye as the Good Book says, right? I guess he'd know.

In my extremely limited knowledge of military types and their families, I am getting the impression that there is the same split of opinion as there is in the rest of the country. But for them, it isn't a discussion about politics. It's life and death and did my child/husband/sister die for NOTHING??

The answer, I'm afraid is yes. They died for nothing. This in no way detracts from their courage and sacrifice. The soldiers' willingness to die for their country - this has to be one of our greatest national treasures. For our president to spend this sacred trust on political and petty causes is heresy, blasphemy and a criminal abuse of constitutional powers. It takes courage beyond most of our comprehension to look that fact in the face as Cindy Sheehan has done. I can forgive those who insist that this war is just or that it is about terrorism. Even when the evidence against this stance is overwhelming. For to admit the truth is simply too painful and I don't know if I would be able to face it under the same circumstances.

But as Thomas Jefferson said, "Dissent is the truest form of patriotism". Especially in cases such as this where our leaders have abused our trust and stolen lives in a heedless, selfish and egotistic fashion.