... I’ve had a guilty taste in my mouth since the inaugural protest’s cocktail of adrenaline and pepper gas wore off. I haven’t been able to shake the feeling that while the right is wrong, the left might not be right either. I looked around those protests and saw legitimately angry people who were well-fed and intentionally scruffy. Not to be presumptuous, but I didn't detect sadness and suffering ringing the eyes of most protestors. People were angry, loudly vocal, and legitimate in the depth of their feeling...but I didn't see anyone from the middle East. While I would guess that many people there had travelled, I doubt any of them had an Iraqi stamp in their passports.
This is not to discount the suffering felt by thousand of families and friends connected to those lost in the war.
Ever since I got ready to leave America, I've felt the country wobbling out of balance, like world events have been spinning out of control and America is right there at the center pulling the levers. I’ve needed the comfort that comes from answers and been really jealous of the righteous sense of stability that the religious right and Bush supporters and other stupid white people seemed to have. I took refuge in a knee-jerk liberal identity for a long time, but now it's threadbare and not as comfortable as it once was. ...
Go read the whole thing here: And I Am Not Lying, For Real - Iraqi Elections. Jeff's color scheme unfortunately makes the quotes from Iraqis a little difficult to read - use your cursor to highlight these passages, because you won't want to miss a word. Jeff, thank you for your honesty and courage.
Hat tip: the incomparable Plan 9. Thanks, Tanna.
