Dear Mr Rumsfeld,

I hope you listened to Keith Olbermann tonight, because he, and Edward R. Murrow, are right.

It is not just the right of every American to question, and to disagree. It is often our responsibility.

This country is set up to give us leave to follow the voice of individual conscience, not the voice of a dictator. Do not tell me to stay quiet, that my disagreement with you is dangerous and unamerican. There is nothing more American than dissent.

Don't talk to me about "moral confusion". You sound like the likes of Warren Jeffs when you say things like that. That is not the kind of leader I want. That is not the kind of leader we need.

We are now at war. There is nothing more serious than that. You seem to think that importance means that there must be no questions and no disagreement. I believe that the gravity of the situation means that we must ask questions. There are many lives at stake. The decisions this government makes now will reverberate for years to come, and may lead to war or peace or both in the future. We need to ask the questions that lead us to the right decisions. This is the time when we must mot only have the pride that tells us that we can win, but also the humility to realize that we are not perfect and will make mistakes.

When will you realize the truth? A true patriot does not blindly follow.

A true patriot holds the government to the very highest standards.

A true patriot asks the questions that make you feel uncomfortable.

Most of all, a true patriot speaks his or her mind.

Sincerely,
one American who will not be silent

Dear Connie Chung

Don't

EVER

"sing"

again.

Thank you,
The viewer of Countdown with the bleeding ears.



Dear Keith Olbermann,

Why did you feel the need to play that? Why? How could you?

Sincerely,
The loyal viewer who now wishes for the pain to go away

Three days off in a row. It has been sweet, but I have to go back to work tomorrow. Sigh. It has been too nice catching up on sleep and accomplishing nothing else that can be called useful.

I wish now that I had gotten around to washing a load of laundry. I guess I'll have to do an overnight load or hope no one stands too close to me at the store tomorrow. Come to think of it, that might make things easier, considering how much I dislike having someone stand behind me....

Nah. I like most of my coworkers too much.

Most of my reading lately has been my friends list (especially customers_suck and kittypix but I have also been reading Widdershins by Charles de Lint. I love the book, truly I do, but I can't read it for more than about half an hour at a time without having to take a break. His work has always hit so close to my heart, but this one has the best aim of all. And the language that de Lint uses never fails to draw me in with a kind of enchantment. This is the kind of book that enticed me to work in a bookstore in the first place.

And what's next on my reading list? Dispatches from the Edge, in which Anderson Cooper talks about not only the news but also about the loss of his brother and the effect that it continues to have on him. It would be simpler to stab myself with a rusty spoon and pour lemon juice on the wound. At least I'm reading again.

As I write this, Keith Olbermann has been ranting against Bill O'Reilly. This isn't the fun that he usually has with the Fox "News" anchor; this time he is really pissed and I agree. In Malmedy, during World War II, the Nazis captured a group of American soldiers. Despite the fact that the soldiers surrendered peacefully, 84 of them were shot to death, some with their hands in the air. Bill O'Reilly said the Americans were the perpetrators of a massacre of Nazi soldiers. He said this in front of General Wesley Clark. This is why I can never watch The O'Reilly Factor. I get stomach aches too often as it is.

Well, Rowan, one of my cats, is all curled up and glaring at me for keeping the television on and not going to bed. She's right.

Maybe I'll check my friends list again first.

Edit: apparently the link to Keith's rant won't work. It's easy to find at MSNBC.com although you will need to use Internet Explorer (yeah, I know - I use FireFox, too) to watch the video.