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July 28, 2005
Red Dots Cover Houston Area: Time to Hold Republicans Accountable
A visit to the Iraq Fatalities City Map is a sobering exercise indeed: the dots symbolizing fallen U.S. soldiers form a small sea of red around the Houston area. As we contemplate what this means for many of our neighbors' families, it is important to remain aware of the Republicans' latest attempts to escape all accountablity for this war based on lies.
In an article largely ignored by the mainstream media, Reuters reports that House and Senate Republicans will be holding hearings on the effects of leaking on national security and that the Senate will also "review" the work of Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald on the Karl Rove "Leakgate" case. In other words, much as they did with Ollie North in the Iran Contra hearings, the Republicans are setting up future immunity for Rove, the "architect" of the structure of lies that led to war. In case that does not work, the Republicans will also try a little old-fashioned intimidation by investigating the investigator, Fitzgerald.
Below the fold, see what one of our Houston-area Gold Star mothers has to say about holding the Republicans accountable, and view a photo that brings it all home.
Here is part of an open letter from Amy Branham, a Houston-area Gold Star mother, and a member of Gold Star Families for Peace:
I am no traitor. What I have done and will continue to do is to exercise my Freedom of Speech as I talk about how I feel about this illegal war. To do otherwise would be to become a complacent citizen, something I do not want to be. The truth is George Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Condi Rice, Colin Powell and so many others betrayed the trust of my son and the rest of the country. If I do not speak my truths and share my story, the story of Jeremy and over 1780 American sons and daughters, I would be doing them a great dishonor.
Every day I hear stories from other Americans that will break your heart. These stories are about their beloved soldiers who are serving in Iraq and stories about loved ones who have died. Some of these stories give me nightmares and I can’t stop thinking about them. They make me want to scream at the top of my lungs about the unfairness of it all.
Please, I ask all of you to help me so that no more of America’s sons and daughters get killed for an illegal and immoral war. Do not let our children be cannon fodder for the lies of Bush & Co. Tonight there will be yet another knock on the door in some neighborhood in America by the messenger of death. Another family’s heart will be broken, never to be healed.
Join with me to bring a stop to this. Join with me to end this war.
One way to join with Amy is to communicate with our Representatives and Senators and ask them to make sure that these "Leakgate" hearings are devoted to uncovering the truth. These hearings should not be used to protect the liars who led us into an unnecessary war for political gain. Nor should Republicans be allowed to discredit Special Prosecutor Fitzgerald and thereby perpetrate a stealth version of Nixon's "Saturday Night Massacre." Maybe Congress should be holding hearings about an honorable exit strategy, instead.
As for the photo that brings it all home, here are Amy Branham's daughters, as they follow their brother, on the way to the Houston National Cemetery:
Posted by at July 28, 2005 11:51 PM | Permalink
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