Webb and Iraq and Iran

I should be happy about the progress being made in the Senate and House Judiciary hearings, and I am to a point. I fell into a funk considering our military situation. Stepping back from the motherblog, I spent some time thinking about more mundane matters such as lovely children and my new Louboutins. It does not create a balance against the horror but I must try to find joy where possible.

But there are matters of war and peace which are slipping away from us. The Webb amendment to give troops adequate rest before being sent away to get shot at: 56 favored this, 41 against. And that means it passed? Oh no, it failed, because this was a cloture vote. Now we see who -really- supports the troops.

The Webb amendment was a compromise between historical ratios of fighting and rest, which are 2:1 for regular forces and much greater for reserves and guard. The bill would set the ratio at 1:1 for regular forces; current troops are fighting for 15 months and off for only 12. The Senate couldn't agree to 1:1? Who will agree to sign up to fight with no end in sight, for a bogus war begun based on lies about weapons of mass destruction?

It is destroying our reserves and our national guard as well. Someday we might need the guard at home. New Orleans anyone?

Then the Senate passed a bill using very provocative language about IraN, using terms like murder of US troops. This is the kind of step that can lead to more propaganda, falling into war, real war, the kind where the other country might actually strike back against us. And for what? Oil, power, our supposed ally in the Middle East?

Spare me. No, better: spare our troops.

*******

"Are you from...THAT BLOG?"

At court yesterday SEVERAL people came up to me and whispered—

“You’re from... [looking around]... THAT BLOG right? I just wanted to let you know that I and lots of other people read you very carefully and thank you for what you are doing. I’m in profession X.”

It got to be where I could tell on approach whether they were coming over to compliment my Louboutins or firedoglake. I think my favorite compliment, from a female reporter at a Well Known Newspaper, was "Killer shoes!"

It's been an interesting experience to be in the courtroom and in the media room. Other journalists [notice how I promote myself, a humble citizen journalist, into their number] are seeing that we are not the rabid lambs of the left. We are real, human, interesting, funny. It makes it harder for them to dismiss us when they are laughing at our remarks.

Being a journalist, even a humble citizen journalist, means trying to be aware of our audience and what they need from us. There is a great hunger for the truth, a desperation. Not everyone who works for mainstream media is blind to what is going on. In fact I think you would be surprised at some who express sympathy for what we are doing.

Several members of the public are in the courthouse, following the trial. No one has bothered to interview them, to get the story of why they are there. Just brief conversations show that they care deeply about what is going on with our government, and want to be there to observe. It's a problem that reporters tend to either stay in the media room or go sit quietly in court. Why not interview all these concerned citizens and get their stories?

We are here on behalf of those we represent, including the readers that we know and love, and those who furtively approach us in the hall.

Yes, lots of people are reading us. But they are afraid. Hmm wonder why. Maybe they see the same monster we do. It's ugly.

We have truth and beauty. Our weapons.

*******

Waiting for the baby to be born

It feels like waiting for a baby to be born, the intense excitement surrounding our vigil at the courthouse. People from around the world are waiting and watching with us.

In my post last week about my day as one of the firedoglake court people, I left out a really cool part of the story.

Ok two cool parts. Jane and I both wore our Louboutins to the courtroom, Jane today and me last Tuesday. FDL women rock!! I saw those shoes in an ad and had to have them or die. But they served a purpose, to divert Byron York :) He kept turning around in the courtroom to look at me.

Now the serious story:
On the corridor between the media room and the coffee vendor, a path which is surely well-trodden, there are two glass display cases.

One has documents from the Teapot Dome Scandal. The other is empty.

I pose that they are waiting for documents from this trial. Can you fit our entire blog into the glass case? Probably yes.

It's such an exciting time that people who have mood swings [that's me waving hi] are having a difficult time keeping stable.

This is history in the making. But for now this is hysteria in the making.

*******

ps Yes I did talk with Senator Webb last night. How is he doing in the Senate? GAME ON. Hope he can convince other senators soon enough about Iraq and Iran. MTP asks him like every week to be on but he's busy with constituents. How rude, to turn down celebrity for the sake of ordinary people. For his State of the Union rebuttal he was handed a script by a person who will remain anonymous to protect the banal. Script => wastebasket. The rest is history. "A star is born."

*******