The DisappearanceÖ

Winter arrived in Minnesota and blog time diminished to zero. We finally got our inch plus of snow -- more than 12 days later than any other winter! Seven inches of snow fell last Friday. I spent the weekend shoveling out our house and my brother-in-law's, since he is taking a training course for work in Phoenix. Because he is kind enough to do his neighbor's house, we did that as well. All of which resulted in total exhaustion followed by a full-blown migraine on Monday. But I am back and healthy and happy to be feeling normal again.

There is a lot of information out there about the so-called elections in Iraq coming up next week. The ballots are secret, the candidates are secret, polling places are secret and about half the country will not be voting. Yet it will be hailed as progress. For many people, the very fact that an election occurs, no matter how fake it might be, is reason enough to rejoice. Which is why the entire concept of "demonstration elections" has always worked over the years. I remember these same bogus charades occurring in Latin America in the '80s.

A recent poll suggested that a majority of U.S. citizens were opposed to one of the basic foundations of our constitution: the right to due process. These people believe our government should be allowed to round up Muslims and immigrants from Muslim countries and incarcerate them without evidence and without any of the basic protections written into the justice system.

The rationale for this belief is that the danger we face now from terrorism is so dire and so immediate, that we must give up our idealistic ways and resign ourselves to a partial police state. There are so many reasons why this is wrong. One of the fallacies that sticks in my mind is that some people believe the dangers we face today are worse than any danger the U.S. has faced before. This shows an incredible ignorance of our nation's history and the struggles our ancestors endured over the years. There's an essay in there somewhere, but I haven't written it nor have I found it in searching the internet.

Meanwhile, there is a "Women in War" event on Thursday evening. I put together a flyer to hand out there, that urges people to "hold the date" for activities marking the anniversary of the most recent U.S. war against Iraq on March 19. Another day, another leaflet!