Grief upsets us

One of a thousand.

No Stars, Just Cuffs
By MAUREEN DOWD

Published: September 19, 2004

WASHINGTON — In World Wars I and II, gold star mothers were the queens of their neighborhoods, the stars in their windows ensuring that they would be treated with great respect for their sacrifice in sending sons overseas to fight and die against the Germans and Japanese.

Instead of a gold star, Sue Niederer, 55, of Hopewell, N.J., got handcuffed, arrested and charged with a crime for daring to challenge the Bush policy in Iraq, where her son, Army First Lt. Seth Dvorin, 24, died in February while attempting to disarm a bomb.

She came to a Laura Bush rally last week at a firehouse in Hamilton, N.J., wearing a T-shirt that blazed with her agony and anger: "President Bush You Killed My Son."

Mrs. Niederer tried to shout while the first lady was delivering her standard ode to her husband's efforts to fight terrorism. She wanted to know why the Bush twins weren't serving in Iraq "if it's such a justified war," as she put it afterward. The Record of Hackensack, N.J., reported that the mother of the dead soldier was boxed in by Bush supporters yelling "Four more years!" and wielding "Bush/Cheney" signs. Though she eventually left voluntarily, she was charged with trespassing while talking to reporters.

The moment was emblematic of how far the Bushies will go to squelch any voice that presents a view of Iraq that's different from the sunny party line, which they continue to dish out despite a torrent of alarming evidence to the contrary.

Aside from moms who are handcuffed at Bush events and the Jersey 9/11 moms who are supporting John Kerry after growing disillusioned with White House attempts to suppress the 9/11 investigation, the president is doing very well with women. The so-called security moms, who have replaced soccer moms as a desirable demographic, are now flocking to Mr. Bush over Mr. Kerry, believing he can better protect their kids from scary terrorists.

..........

Even with the help of his new Clintonistas, Mr. Kerry is nibbling around the edges of the moral case against W(rong) and Dark Cheney. He charged that the president was living in "a fantasy world of spin" on Iraq.

But the Bushies are way beyond spin, which is a staple of politics. These guys are about turning the world upside down, and saying it's right side up. And that should really give security moms the jitters

This is all about perceptions, not reality. Bush looks like what he never was, a tough guy. That will soon end. We're in the gap between buying the Kitty Kelley book and finishing it. I'm only halfway through and I read fast. Not nearly as sleazy as one would think.However the Bushes come off as hustling scum with no taste.

Bush will fail, because he has ALWAYS failed. He has always found a way to lose. And the Iraqi resistance will help him along.

Bush may be the most remarkable president of our time, a man who fails, has failed and will always fail stands a slightly less than even chance to be reelected. Because of perception and fear. Not reality.

What I don't think people get is how 9/11 rocked suburbia far more than New York. People are still scared about terraists even though they aren't coming to Spokane. No one would care if they did. Nope, terraism and the war on terra is a big city concern. But when you have people who think no-contact soccer is sport for kids, and ban even claymation games because of violence, real violence scares them. How else to explain the distribution of Homeland Security money to Wyoming.

Sadly, I think Iraq is going to smack us in the face. Why Kerry waited so long to hit him over the head with it? Because it took this long to have the cudgle (1000 dead) to use against him. 1,022 dead, and Iraq is worse off, Al Qaeda is stronger. Four more years of this, and the draft WILL be back because we'll need it.

posted by Steve @ 11:23:00 AM