No Analysis, Just A Rant

Two things juxtaposed in my mind today have me completely blown away:

1. These Washington Post headlines/news stories I have seen just in the last three days:

April 25, 2007: Nations Balk at Compact for Iraq; Countries Resist Total Debt Relief

April 29, 2007: War Called Riskier Than Vietnam; Military Experts Fretful Over Long-Term Consequences

April 29, 2007: Saudi King Declines to Receive Iraqi Leader

April 29, 2007: Report Finds Problems at Iraqi Sites Built or Aided by U.S.

April 30, 2007: Maliki's Office Is Seen Behind Purge in Forces; Some Commanders Had Pursued Militias

April 30, 2007: U.S. Rebuilding in Iraq Is Missing Key Goals, Report Finds; Production of Oil, Electricity Falls Short

These stories are just the political bad news- they don't even include the latest U.S. soldier death reports, or the latest car bombings killing scores of people.

2. This incredible story in AlterNet about George W. Bush being given someone's Purple Heart. The thing that stood out to me the most are these quotes:

-"We feel like emotional wounds and scars are as hard to carry as physical wounds." -from the Bush loyalist who presented his medal to the president

-"...no one suffers more than the president and I do..." -Laura Bush

I am always telling my staff that our writing needs to be more analytical and less of a rant about Bush, but this juxtaposition is way too much for me to be analytical about. Bush's lying incompetence has given us a mess so deep and so profoundly awful that the damage to the Middle East and our nation may last generations, and Laura Bush thinks she and George are suffering more than parents who have lost their children, or the soldiers who have lost their limbs?

I need to stop writing about this, or my analytic skills may just completely go down the drain...

Mike Lux is the president of American Family Voices, an issue advocacy group sometimes described as the "free safety" of the progressive movement, and consults for progressive organizations and donors through his consulting firm, Progressive Strategies, L.L.C.