A wave is rolling over this country. It has drowned the Bush/ Gringrich revolution that started in 1994, 'laying the corpse' for the Bush legacy. American citizens came out enmass, during a MIDTERM election, which is unusual. We took back the reigns of power, and handed them to a majority of Democrats. So much news is washing up, it's a veritable treasure hunt on the Internet's beaches. (To find some of these news jewels, see the links at the bottom of this article.)
One thing is very clear, this the beginning of a Change, such as this nation hasn't seen in decades.
Many of the Candidates, who won the election yesterday, ran on peace tickets, calling for a defined end to the Iraq WAR.
This was the lead line in this analysis from the Seattle Times:
Americans finally got to vote on the war. They want change.
The Nation carried this article entitled A Mandate for Peace. It offers a petition to sign and present to The White House, while the effects of this election are clearly felt. The article pointed out this trend:
"Despite all the attempts to spin Tuesday's election results as something else," John Nichols wrote in The Online Beat, "the single most important message to take away from the voting is this: The American people cast their ballots against the Bush administration's approach to the war in Iraq."
The war has been one of my primary motivations for political action. I hurt everytime I read about another death of one of our soldiers, most of whom are barely kids. The total of our soldiers those who have died at this point :
2,839
It hurts to acknowledge this horrible violence. As a spiritual discipline, I have been fasting Sundays and Wednesdays, to remind myself to work for the end of the terrible suffering this administration is orchestrating. I thought I might eat today in celebration of the hope, fanned by Democrats winning these elections. Then I decided NO. It is even more important to keep this fast, and not be lulled away from viligence. I reaffirmed the commitment I made with the Troops Home Fast beginning in July, 2006: NO solid food on Sundays or Wednesdays until the WAR in Iraq IS over.
I cry when I think of the destruction rained on the Iraqi people. It is hard to really feel the joy of winning so many seats in Congress, while these people we were supposed to be 'liberating' are being torn apart. By one recent report, more than 650,000 have died. Riverbend, a female blogger who lives in Iraq had this to says just before our elections:
I'm more than a little worried. This is Bush's final card. The elections came and went and a group of extremists and thieves were put into power (no, no- I meant in Baghdad, not Washington). The constitution which seems to have drowned in the river of Iraqi blood since its elections has been forgotten. It is only dug up when one of the Puppets wants to break apart the country. Reconstruction is an aspiration from another lifetime: I swear we no longer want buildings and bridges, security and an undivided Iraq are more than enough. Things must be deteriorating beyond imagination if Bush needs to use the `Execute the Dictator' card.
Iraq has not been this bad in decades. The occupation is a failure. The various pro-American, pro-Iranian Iraqi governments are failures. The new Iraqi army is a deadly joke. Is it really time to turn Saddam into a martyr? Things are so bad that even pro-occupation Iraqis are going back on their initial `WE LOVE AMERICA' frenzy. Laith Kubba (a.k.a. Mr. Catfish for his big mouth and constant look of stupidity) was recently on the BBC saying that this was just the beginning of justice, that people responsible for the taking of lives today should also be brought to justice. He seems to have forgotten he was one of the supporters of the war and occupation, and an important member of one of the murderous pro-American governments. But history shall not forget Mr. Kubba.
Read the history of the Iraqi war through her eyes in the archives of her blog
Baghdad Burning
Her signature line is full of this hope:
... I'll meet you 'round the bend my friend, where hearts can heal and souls can mend...
Close to 650,000 Iraqis dead since the conflict began, most of which were civilians. Innumerable atrocities have taken place, some known and others unknown, because that is the NATURE of WAR. War is atrocity.
This Atrocity was for Oil, which has been confirmed as the reason we attacked Iraq, after years of emphatic denial. Reasons were given to us that carried more weight. Like WMD's, which were not found. Then, Saddam had connections to Al Qaida, which was pure invention.. Finally, it was because Saddam was such a mean and nasty man, which isn't legal under International law, as grounds for starting a war.
Now that we have spoken, we need to keep our voices tuned and our political muscles warm.. There is alot of work to undo the damage wrought by this administration and the Congress that rubber stamped it's wishes. Our work has just begun.
But for the moment we celebrate!
Thank you everyone who helped turn the tide...
Here's part of our reward. Rumsfeld has resigned!
AND Rush Limbaugh has laid his burden down!
I found some of the news at The Huffington Post,
Some at What Really Happened.com,
Some at Citizen's for a Legitimate Government
And at Daily Kos
Cross posted at Choice Changes.