some seriousness

ed. sidenote, i'm tired of the sticky post: donate!

in lieu of the debate tonight, a political diatribe.

i just finished watching john mccain's interview on the daily show.

not only was it irritating because he talked over jon the entire time and wouldn't give him a chance to ask mccain anything (something i'm sure his truly idiotic press people advised him to do, lest he get caught actually having to answer a tough question), but then he pulled the "you're not supporting our troops" card.

you know what mccain? fuck you. then he says, "all i'm saying is that if you talk to these young men and women who are fighting, they'll tell you they think it's a worthwhile cause and that they're fightin' for freedom."

my brother was a first division marine. he was part of the group that left the day after new years (when bush didn't "declare" war until after march) and was part of the group that stormed baghdad, ripped down a statue, the action of which prompted some stupid people to declare the "mission accomplished."

my brother killed people. he watched his friends die. and for what? it is a survival tactic to tell yourself that you weren't sent halfway across the world because some investigators and a bunch of people in the white house made up some stuff about the existence of weapons of mass destruction. you tell yourself that you are "bringing freedom" because you don't want to have to acknowledge that your life is being toyed with.

when your tours are extended, when the hospitals you come home to when injured look like 18th century brothels, when there is no plan for this war other than sending another 20,000 people over and when your president vetoes the bill that funds your stay in iraq (not to mention ensuring that you're protected and adequately trained)...it is all you can do to stay sane.

you have to feel like you're there to provide the most precious thing that we, as americans, have. "we are liberators," my brother says, mechanically, because that's what he's been told a thousand times. i can tell he's clinging to this idea because he needs it. he needs to know he didn't make the trip, risk his life, and come back mentally drained and damaged because of a shifty, lying white house. and i nod and tell him i'm just happy he made it home in one piece. even though he hasn't been the same person since (let's not even get me started on how inadequate the counseling post-combat is).

the house and the senate, those people we've elected to represent our country, have passed a bill supporting our troops.

and bush is going to veto that billl. and i'll be physically ill if i have to listen to any more republican assholes accusing the american people of "not supporting the troops" purely because the american people don't agree with the president or his followers.