Over the last couple of weeks, life has been busy teaching me a lesson. As I go through this rocky journey, small blessings are the ones that are the most important. My picture in the previous post was taken in my own front yard. The baby has now fledged and is hopping around yelling for his mother to feed him. He is much larger than his mother who is skinny and worn out from caring for her young.
After spending what can only be described as a horrible few weeks, I came to understand that my spirit was getting pretty skinny and worn out as well. Neil Young got it pretty close in his song "Living with War"...but not right on. The emotional toll is exhausting robbing joy from nearly every aspect of life.
Well NO MORE. It is time for the people who are responsible for this mess to shoulder some of the burden and accountability for it. And I am talking not only the Administration - I am talking about every American who has staked their personal security on the back of the brave young men and women serving in the Armed Forces. It is time to ante up and act like Americans. Don't believe we should be involved in Iraq? Write your rep...and tell him/her. Think that extending deployments, multiple deployments and the like are plain wrong - again make your thoughts known. Griping about gas prices - well remember that in previous wars, gas was rationed to provide fuel for military purposes.
I am of the belief that it is time for the folks who say that the President and Congress are doing the wrong thing and the country is heading in the wrong direction to actually participate in the decision making process. All too often, I hear that the constituents in this district AGREE with what I am doing from lawmakers we approach with a bring em home now message.
I came upon this activisim thing quite by accident: my kid enlisted. Almost immediately, I began to research the reasons for Iraq...and our effectiveness in occupying that country. Some of the things I learned (and not from main stream media sources) were quite shocking. I have read declassified Army reports, reports on how people's lives in Iraq are affected by this war, the way others in this world view the US and her troops, as well as similar reports and analysis regarding Afghanistan. Most of this stuff is online...and accessible to the public.
Don't know much about Iraq and Afghanistan - well look it up. The lives of thousands of US Servicemembers depend on good public policy...and in our system of government, that starts with public involvement.
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