Lonesome George and the "Reddest State in the Nation"

I am over halfway through my 500-mile peace walk in Utah , the "reddest state in the nation". I spent last night in Panguitch , Utah. Panguitch is a Shoshone word that means big fish. It's been over a week since I've been able to find a news magazine or a national newspaper. The supermarket magazine racks are overflowing with People, Us Weekly, and Teen Cosmo. When you consider that I can learn more about Ashley Simpson's latest surgery than I can about the situation in Iraq (both of which are superfluous and hurt humanity as a whole), then you can begin to understand why so many Utahans still think the Iraq War is about September 11th and weapons of mass destruction.

In my hotel room, the only news station I could get was Fox. I caught the Bill O'Reilly interview with President Bush. O'Reilly was smarmy, but Bush was still defensive. My favorite part was when he accidentally admitted that we invaded Iraq to stop the "Islamofascists" from starting a caliphate across the Middle East to control the oil. It makes so much more sense now.

Still, I couldn't help but notice that Bush is increasingly lonesome in his "stay the course" alternate reality. News of the possible blueprints for withdrawal even made it on Fox. Later that night, a panel of Senators Lugar, Warner, Biden and Levin discussed the need for a plan for a responsible withdrawal from Iraq . The soldiers are saying it. The American people are saying it. And now even Congress has rubbed the sleepy dust out of its eyes and begun to murmur. It's the most hopeful thing I've seen in a long time. This war can end. It can end soon. It can end well. Bush can even claim that he's staying the course as we begin to withdraw. Things are looking good, even from Panguitch , Utah .

For more information about my walk through Utah, visit www.asoldierspeace.org