Our Support Is Not The Question ...

I know my voice is just one among hundreds of millions, but I've gotta add mine to the fray:

Speaking as one person who didn't agree with this war, who knows that Bush lied to the country about his justification for the nightmare in which we now find ourselves, in which thousands of soldiers have died and tens of thousands of Iraqis have perished: Just because I despise Bush does not mean that I don't support our troops.

I am sick to death of people condeming Cindy Sheehan for her anti-war stance. She is not lowering the morale of the troops. She is standing up the the commander in chief and demanding to know why her son had to die, why we're fighting this war.

Who among us doesn't think that the troops are asking the same exact question, every second of every day?

God bless our armed forces who enlist fully aware of the price they may be asked to pay. Conversely, it should be demanded of our leader that he not send our troops into war on a whim.

Bush's decision to go to war was not born out of last resort. The Downing Street Memo, which has gotten embarrassingly little play in this country, is clear and direct evidence that he architected talking points to justify a decision that had already been made.

I think the president of the United States is despicable, and I think he has led this country down the road to ruin. Our stature in the world has shriveled, and we are infinitely less safe as a result of his bullying tactics. We have stirred the sleeping giant of extremism, pissed off a whole new generation who will take up arms against our tyranny.

But that does not mean for one second that I do not gratefully applaud the men and women who have been sent to do this bastard's bidding. They are soldiers, following orders as they are trained to do.

I sympathize with the families who have lost wives and husbands, daughters and sons. And I wish each and every one who has not yet fallen into harm's way could come home.

But I also recognize that we have to clean up the enormous mess that we've made in the Middle East, and that effort will be years in the making.

Cindy Sheehan is the brave face of a grieving nation whose despair has driven her to demand that Bush be accountable for his actions. I did not vote for him, but more than 53 million people did. He is supposed to represent this country's citizens. He is the face of a nation.

And he is hiding his face at his Crawford ranch, refusing to speak to Cindy Sheehan, refusing to give her the only measure of comfort she seeks.

I will endure the rest of this man's term only by reminding myself that he does not represent all Americans. His political life will soon end, and history will write his legacy.

He cannot hide from that.