AMY DA LAURA

The Messenger

I am watching a movie on SHOtime about two soldiers informing families that their children and spouses have died in war. The movie is intense and brutal. It makes me think how insulated the majority of Americans are related to the realities of war. Ex-President Bush is on TV and in the press hocking his book. No mention of the fact that he sent Americans to war without cause. Because, again, the realities of that decision do not matter. Guess what, men and women have died. Men and women have suffered life-long injuries that you and I cannot imagine, but injuries that have consequences for them and their families. But the fact that decisions have consequences, and the decision to invade Iraq without just cause, has had profound consequences for many American families is lost in the narrative that surrounds Bush and his supposed come back. Is Obama tough enough? Was Bush so incredibly patriotic that sending soldiers to war without cause is proof of his patriotism? It is so bizarre and twisted, and emblematic of today's discourse.