Did anyone else catch former ambassador Joseph Wilson on Charlie Rose? An intersting interview, for many reasons. What most caught my attention was at the end when Wilson spoke about the ramifications of the Iraq War. He called it our biggest foreign policy mistake perhaps ever, one that has fundamentally altered how we're perceived in the world, with potentially dire consequences.
Now, what I want to know is this: How come I could see this happening from the very early stages of the build-up to the war, yet our elected officials, particularly Democrats, either could not or would not see the coming disaster? I was and continue to be astounded at the people that lined up behind the obviously ideologically radical administration.
I wrote my congressmen. I stopped being an independent and registered for the first time as a Democrat. I went to a talk given by my senator. I made "Recall Bush" bumperstickers and put them on my car. I drove hundreds of miles to take a bus another couple hundred miles to the march in Washington, in zero degree weather. I gave money to progressive causes. I started my own blog. I put up "Regime change begins at home" posters in my windows. I did all this because I was more afraid for my country than I had ever imagined I could be.
And I probably didn't do enough. But our leaders did nothing. Shame--Shame!--on all those in a position of influence who voted for this atrocious, stupid war. I thought Florida 2000 was bad, and God knows 9/11 was horrific. But this bizarre neocon wet dream in Iraq is even worse. Listen close: that sound you're hearing is an alarm bell in the night. Our republic is burning.