Iraq War

Those who know me, know that I've been against the war since I found out that we were lied to about the reasons we went to war. BUT... I've been truly conflicted about stating my objections because so many of my family are either military veterans or are serving/have served in this war. At the moment, none of my kin are other there, thank you, God!

I received an email this afternoon from one of my uncles who is a Vietnam veteran, and I believe he supports President Bush, and I know that he definitely supports the enlisted men and women of this country. The email had a link to this video on YouTube. His email states "No matter your political views, etc. this is a powerful 4-minute (or so) piece I think all, as Americans, can be proud of. This hit me pretty hard. If you feel the same after watching, please send to those you feel would be touched."

Well, Unca, it did. Lizzy Palmer, you did a great job. But as I watched, I wondered who would end up the the last enlisted person killed in this war. I hope it isn't anyone I know, because I'm afraid I couldn't stand it. My family has been so blessed in that our family members who served in the wars, past and present, have all come home to their families. All of them. We've never had any deaths due to war. I hope to God we never will.

For those of you who have had this happen to your family, from the bottom of my heart, Thank You and God bless your family.

As the video said, "they did their job." So, no matter what you feel about this war, remember: there may come a time when our military does have to protect us from imminent, legitimate threat. They don't ask whether it is right or wrong. They do their job, just like the fire fighters and police do -- they protect us, they save us, and they don't ask questions while they do it. They put their own lives at risk for us. Support them, and demand that our leaders don't squander this precious resource on anything but legitimate threats.

I hope they all get to come home soon.

Politics and interesting websites

Do you get tired of trying to figure out who is telling the truth and who is fudging during this political season? Check out the St. Petersburg Times' Politifact meter. If I can figure out how to do it, I'll put the meter on the website, but for now you can read about it here. I like it. I like it a lot. It's like a political Snopes!

Also, if you're wavering on who you REALLY want to vote for, check out this site to see who more closely matches your feelings on key issues. Unsurprisingly, my #1 pick according to the site is Obama. Edwards was a tie for second (no surprise), along with -- egads! -- Hillary. Uh, I don't think so.

Hey, can anyone explain to me how to get paragraph breaks to work in blogging? I don't like looking like I don't know how to break my thought and put it in a new paragraph -- I have run-on paragraphs!!! HELP!

Reason to Hope...

My grandson came to visit yesterday afternoon, and so my hope meter got replenished. He looks so much like his Mom, that it takes me back to when she was my baby, my Pookie, and how sweet and adorable she was, how much hope I had for her future. His temperment, however, is not like hers was/is. She was always such a happy baby, hardly ever cried, always content to be, whether she was being held or when she was in the floor exploring.

My grandson -- Chubawubba -- on the other hand, is more like his Aunt in temperment. My other daughter, while adorable and beautiful in her own right, was called Sweet Pickle. Everything set her off screaming. She was born screaming at the top of her lungs and didn't stop until she was 12 weeks old, and I went back -- gratefully! -- to work. Getting Sweet Pickle to laugh and be happy was the crowning accomplishment of any day. Luckily, my Mom has the patience of Job, and both Mom and my Dad adore babies -- cranky or not. I am blessed to have my parents living close by, and so my daughters spent their days at Mamaw & Papa's while I worked. So both of my daughters grew up with loving adoration beaming down on them every day. Luckily, my grandson gets to see his Papa and G-G every day, and their adoration continues to the next generation. Pookie decided not to go back to work after Chub was born, so he gets a quadruple dose of adoration (parents, grandparents, Aunt, great-aunts and uncles, and great-grandparents) on a regular basis.

So, yesterday my hope was lifted by getting to see and play with my grandson for a few hours. It's funny... when my daughters were young, I was so into saving the environment for them, recycling and conserving, and here comes my Chubawubba, and now I'm all focused on righting wrongs, recycling again (I'm proud to say that my recycle bags regularly out number my garbage bags on Pickup day), and wanting to make sure that our leadership changes to bring us back to the point where we can be proud of our country again.

For Chubawubba, who doesn't deserve to inherit this mess that we've made.

Honest and Straightforward?

I just finished reading Lou Dobb’s column today on cnn.com. The first sentence in the last paragraph, “And let's be honest and straightforward, as I hope our president and the candidates for president will be…” struck a nerve. I can’t remember the last time I believed anything the government said was “honest and straightforward.” For the past week, whenever I’ve seen a headline that talks about some government official saying WHATEVER, I immediately dismiss what they are saying as a lie or twisting the truth. We're not in a recession? Yeah, roight. Winning the war in Iraq? Snort!

Last week, the CIA said that Benzair Bhutto was killed by some tribal leader with ties to al-Qaeda. I thought, right… the government would say that since Musharraf is our puppet. I'm sure that someone in DC looked the other way while Musharraf's people buried evidence that they assassinated her. The same folks who manufactured evidence on WMD probably are working overtime to cook up some to keep Mush's fat out of the fire.

Will I ever be able to listen to our President or even the candidates and believe what they are saying? Have I become so jaded by this President and his administration that I will never again trust someone in power to tell me the unvarnished truth?

I hate that I am feeling this way... last night, my college student daughter pushed me to go onto Youtube and listen to Barack's speech at Ebenezer Church on Sunday. I was too busy last night working, but listened to it this morning. Man, that man can orate! I listened to him and I thought again that this was someone I could believe in, someone -- FINALLY! -- that I can vote for without qualms. I was really feeling hopeful, and then between projects, checked CNN.com. Learned Heath Ledger, who I really admired for his talent and his looks, had died at 28. Bam, down goes the hopeful meter. Then read Lou Dobb's column, BAM, down goes the hopeful meter.

I, and I think America, needs someone to believe in, someone that we can trust to tell us the truth, after two terms of deception and lies. Someone who will give us hope for tomorrow. I'm in need of some hope. Anybody got some to spare?