Heard on National Public Radio's "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me" today.

Michael Brown's statement to his next boss:

"How in the world could anyone predict that somebody who ordered a hamburger would want fries with that?"

Good one.

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I'm tempted to start a counter, a la Nightline's record during the Iran Hostage/Spy Crisis, to record the number of days that must pass before it is deemed civilized to criticize the aid effort for victims of Katrina. I predict it will be about three months and then the accusation that blaming our elected officials is wrong will change to the accusation that Hurricane Katrina is "old news" and we need to move on to other issues.

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I wandered into a discussion on a couple of liberal weblogs from people who said they would not attend the September 24 anti-war demonstrations because some of the people working in the national office are socialists who support the overthrow of the U.S. government. All, I can think is, what a bunch of whiners! I have spent years working on important political issues that are run by people with all kinds of absurd beliefs that I find astonishing. Like the incredibly hard-working nuns who believe they are married to Jesus Christ and labor under a tremendously sexist and anti-gay international organization called the Catholic Church. Yeah, it's pretty absurd, but they do good work and they are working for a good cause. So I not only tolerate them, I actually enjoy working with them.

Maybe if these liberals actually talked to those scary commies and socialists who are working their butts off to carry off a national demonstration, they might find that they are actual human beings, not stereotypes to mock.

Having spent 25 years as an activist, I've got to say that there is something odd about each one of us. "Normal" people do not spend their time working on hopeless causes like women's rights, worker's rights or anti-interventionism. "Normal" people do their jobs as best they can and try to keep their loved ones safe and healthy.

Every one of us in odd in some way. It is the odd people who do the grunt work that allow other people to become involved in useful political activity. These people needed to be celebrated, not condemned. At times, I find it impossible to tolerate the ridiculous opinions of liberals. But most of the time, it is worth it.

Ignore the frightened man slinging red-scare nonsense from behind the curtain. Come out on September 24. Allow your voice to join with others, some of whom believe in bizarre things, to express unanimity on this crucial issue for ourselves and for the Iraqi people.

Bring the troops home now. End the war against Iraq. Fund human needs, not war.

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