Weekly Death Toll

Two weeks ago the number of Iraqi civilians who had died since, and because of, the U.S. invasion was at 1,225,898. Last Sunday, that figure hadn't been updated, so I didn't post.

Now the toll is at 1,236,604

That means 10,706 Iraqi civilians lost their lives in the last TWO weeks.

Tonight, on the freeway, I saw a family driving a big truck and they had a Bush/Cheney bumper sticker. It's really hard for me to understand the rationale for that kind of allegiance. They had American flags and other "patriotic" symbols adorning their huge rig.

I feel a BIG disconnect. Or at least, I feel totally disconnected from that kind of logic, and those kinds of people. I want to understand it/them--because as it is now, seeing those stickers makes me...angry. I think this kind of lazy blind "patriotism" excuses people from making actually thoughtful civil decisions.

But hey...it is the kind of democracy that you can pick up at Wal-Mart for a buck fifty. And...whatever's on sale. Right?

Can somebody explain how this makes SENSE? How could it be patriotic to support an Executive administration that slash burns a country's Constitution, squanders its resources and the haphazardly spills the blood of its enlisted civilians?

Yeah. I still don't get it.