I just wanted to take a moment and thank the incredible team that has dilligently, accurately and with a dedication to the honest historical record, run the IraqBodyCount.net website since this horribly fiasco of a war began three years ago. Their dedication to the truth, their respect for due process and accuracy in reporting, are an inspiraction to me.
Their horror at the real world costs of this war, and their ability to express that horror through simple unassailable accurate statistical analysis, should inspire us all.
I first heard about the site in the pre-Air-America days when the two professors who run the site were interviewed on one of the blathering noise machine hate radio stations. Hamit Dardagan and Professor John Sloboda were calmly and rationally explaining why their site was so important to maintaining a true historical record. While whichever right wing host was busy slamming them for "hating America" or whatever the rabid reactionary terms of the moment were back then, they calmly, clearly and coherently refuted each of the windbag's points.
Upon getting home I went to the site and realized how vitally important it was.
In today's day of corrupt media, when charlatan whores like Judith Miller and Bob Woodward pretend to be journalists, it is the tireless work done by people like Sloboda, Dardagan and their team that give us all hope. They maintain the truth in a sea of lies.
Their dedication to this cause is tireless and ceaseless, and now nearly three years into this fiasco, I want to give them a heartfelt "thank you." DailyKos, TPM and other sites are important rallying points for the truth for us in this age of corrupt corporate right wing media, but it is the work of the sites of record like IraqBodycount.net that speak truth to power and hum and vibrate with the spirit of the Constitution within their web-pages.
That's really all I have to say. I wanted to thank them for their work, and as soon as this diary's over I'm making a donation too.
But this diary is also a thank you to every other website out there, tirelessly working to catalogue the lies from the right, the hypocrisy of our mainstream media, and the real world results of the disastrous policies of the Bush Administration.
Those of you who dedicate yourselves to fighting for the truth are the true patriots of 21st Century America. Thank you for everything that you do. It may seam exhausting cataloging all the misinformation, lies and distortions from the corrupt republican party. But it bears fruit. Keep at it. Thomas Jefferson would be so proud of all of you. You are the real United States of America, and she lives on proudly in every one of your efforts.