Remember When "W" Stood for Women? Calling Mavis Leno...

The women of Iraq are under siege, raked with bullets for going to work, beaten for not wearing socks, kidnapped and not rescued if those who take them don't ask for ransom because it's assumed they've been raped and therefore deserve to be killed. Generally I steer clear of the overused word "shocking," but that's what the situation is, as this Observer article details. Please read and circulate, and after that, call Mavis Leno. Sounds like a joke, but before the invasion of Afghanistan, she was the only person in the US lobbying on behalf of women under the Taliban, and she was having some success. Now, the Taliban-like crews in Iraq are sending women back to the Stone Age. What must Laura Bush think? And Karen Hughes, who campaigned for Bush in 04, using the "W stands for women" line to appeal to soccer moms? What about Condoleeza Rice? Can she sleep at night, knowing that she is not her sisters' keeper? And for that matter, in his heart of hearts, how about Dubya? I keep thinking of Karla Faye Tucker, the killer on Death Row in Texas, who pleaded for her life on the Larry King show when Bush was governor. "Please don't kill me," he mocked, pursing his lips in pretend desperation when a reporter asked what he thought about the interview.

The fact is, the President can't stand the sight of pain, unlike Bill Clinton, who felt everybody's except his wife's. If women in Iraq are now begging for their lives, the plea will not register on Pennsylvania Avenue. And even if it did, with the exception of Kurdish territory, the situation is now out of control.