Richardson Mail, Surrender Dates (Project 5000), Holidays

I got my first direct mail piece of the 2008 campaign yesterday. Emblazoned with the slogan (paraphrasing from memory, I hope it's close):

"The war in Iraq is not the disease. Arrogance is the disease. The Iraq War is a symptom."

I've got to tell you, whether it's just because I tend to like the horse in his position, or because he does not yet have the shiny coat of spun plastic, Bill Richardson is starting to move out of Default status here. Oh yeah, he was sending me mail to get money. If you'd like to give him money, you can do so through the Blue Bexley ActBlue page. Even if it's just ten bucks, you too can start getting your '08 mail today.

As long as I'm passing a hat, I hope readers have noticed the new widget. I was invited by Eric to join change.org. There was no additional info, and I'm still not sure exactly what I registered for, but it appears to be a social networking site devoted to bringing about positive social change, as defined by the individual members. The coolest thing they have going for them, though, is a widget that you can put on your blog to allow direct donations to any of the more than one million non-profits that they have a listing for. Right now, you can support the Bexley Public Schools by donating to the Bexley Education Foundation from right here at Blue Bexley. On your blog you could raise money for anyone from the NRA to the ACLU to the Discovery Institute to PETA. Please don't raise money for the Discovery Institute.

It was nice to have positive things to think about. This was one of those weeks where it was certainly easier for me to look at the dank side of life. For instance, it's fine and good to be angry with Dems who voted for the war funding bill, but I'm stuck on the cheap shot Junior High antics of Republicans in the debate. We are losing approximately 67 soldiers per month on average in Iraq, leading to the current total of 3441 dead. At this rate there will be between 4700 and 4800 dead on Jan 20, 2009, when a Democratic President takes over. With a little more escalation, it is possible that we could get to 5000 dead by the end of the Bush Administration. Every time a Republican refers to "Surrender Dates," I'm going to refer to his/her support for Project 5000.

Putting those numbers through the calculator makes it tougher to look forward to the weekend. It's a holiday weekend, the kickoff for summer, but it is also set aside to remember those who pledged their lives to protect our freedom and security, and gave their lives in service to our government. May their families have peace, and may the memories bring pride and comfort.