Since I have met you all, this time has been the greatest experience of my life. You are all so wonderful, your energy, your enthusiasm, and your determination to move forward is inspiring. The talent in our group is so impressive, I am learning every day. I'm so new to all this, I look to you for inspiration. We may look back on this as a pivotal time in our history - while most were satisfied to live in the dark, we pursued the light. We strove to defend the Constitution when even our (corporate elected) officials did not. We demanded the balance of power between the three branches of government when no one else knew what we were talking about. And we wanted a resolution to the war in Iraq.
My second cousin Patrick is now 35 miles from the major fighting somewhere in Iraq. I knew he was over there, I just learned how close today. He's a great guy - a loving friend, relative, father and husband - he has two nice young sons and a great wife, but Patrick and I never agreed on politics - he used to be a big right winger. I don't know what his thinking is today - usually I communicate with him once a year at Christmas or whatever like you do with more distant relatives. I can only be determined that we bring him home safely as well as all the others and that we honor his right to express his opinions even if I gnash my teeth at them - and damn the military for chastising Adam Kokesh for doing that. These veterans deserve to voice their opinions whatever they are.
I got a little off track here, I apologize - the pure desire for the rule of law is great, but it isn't the whole truth. We all have our stories, and you know, it's the stories that turn people around more than the abstract argument.
An interesting case in point is my cousin Bette (Patrick is her nephew and she invited me for dinner tonight). My dear cousin is a very conservative person and we have never agreed on politics. But Bette doesn't want the war and after I talked with her for a bit, I think she saw my point that the Bush Administration got us into a war to serve needs of their own, not related to national defense. At first she said, "Well, I don't think we should impeach the President!" But after a while, she wasn't so sure. If she disagrees, at least now she understands my reasons for wanting Bush and Cheney impeached. At first she thought I should be careful of the company I keep. "But Bette," I said, I've met more Christians here than I ever have in any other aspect of my life - and hey I know so many retired military officers you wouldn't believe it." After eating a piece of her delicious jelly cake in her pleasant back yard in Alexandria on this beautiful breezy day, we talked about how badly this country and the world were going.
I got her to see that so much of the war and strife in this world have been caused by our government's insistence on interfering. I told her, take Iraq, before we invaded - a woman could walk down the street there without a veil and go to college. Is that possible in Baghdad today? I don't think so, not without extreme risk. I also asked her to follow me down the thorny path of NAFTA and the illegal immigration problem it has caused.
NATFA, IMF and the World Bank have caused more third world poverty than we could ever imagine. Another whole essay would be needed for this. The recent problems in Lebanon were due in part to our interference.
Afghanistan in the 1960’s was a more enlightened and developed country than it is today. They had movie theaters in the cities then, and a woman could walk outside without a beekeepers suit without being beaten by her male relatives.
What caused Afghanistan to fall into the stone ages? Well as you remember the Soviets and the US used these tribal peoples against each other. Al Queda was born from the American effort to arm a tribal society against the Russian invasion. So we all go on and on – exploiting Third World countries by arming rival tribes against each other and causing civil wars. How many taxpayer -funded child blowing apart civil wars in the Third World will we tolerate before we just stand up and say no?
I think my cousin was most convinced when I voiced my frustration at the Democratic Party. Although as I told her, a woman’s reproductive rights prevent me from voting for most in the Republican Party, I didn’t like the Democrats either. First of all, what happened with being proud to be a liberal? Did that die in Paul Wellstone’s plane that day?
I am proud to be a small part of this movement for impeachment. We are so frustrated today, but I believe we will look back and say, hey, in a round about way, we saved the nation.
Nancy Maynard
Virginians for Peace and Accountability
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