Empty Chair and Empty Sleeves

[Matilda]

A very thoughtful article from Common Dreams by Joyce Martel:

"Thanksgiving is the day we're supposed to be thankful for things: for family, for the true bounty of America from sea to shining sea, for turkey dinners whether they are caged or free-range, and for the recent election that threw out one of the most corrupt Congresses we've seen in many years.

So why am I spitting mad this Thanksgiving?

Because there will be too many empty chairs and empty sleeves this Thanksgiving. Too many mothers and fathers with cold medals in their hands. Too many men and women not coming back, or living in hospitals and rehabilitation centers, or still serving in hostile lands.

And how can we give thanks without tears for the thousands of Iraq and Afghanistan people who've been maimed and killed in the six misbegotten years since George W. Bush and Dick Cheney came to power."

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1122-33.htm


To us, the evidence of Bush's folly is overwhelming and always has been, but I'm afraid that in your
country and mine, the right-wingers still don't get it. Sometimes I feel angry, and sometimes I
feel sad and hopeless. What is it going to take to finally bring the message home to these people?