It makes me so mad...!

Why do families have to go through this?! An article in today's New York Times talks about Americans opposed to the War in Iraq who have lost relatives--mostly sons-- in the conflict. The first mother quoted can't accept that her son was force-fed, fell for and eventually died for the myth that Hussein was responsible in some way for 9/11.

..."He was doing his job," Ms. Aitken said. "He had no choice, and I'm proud of who he was. But it makes me mad that this whole war was sold to the American public and to the soldiers as something it wasn't. Our forces have been convinced that Iraqis were responsible for Sept. 11, and that's not true. I told Tristan that he should go to Saudi Arabia for that. All he would come back to was, `Mom, I have to do my job.' "

Others are less temperate.

...In Baltimore, Michael Waters-Bey held up a photograph of his son, Staff Sgt. Kendall D. Waters-Bey of the Marine Corps, for news cameras, and said, "President Bush, you took my only son away from me."

In Escondido, Calif., another father, Fernando Suárez del Solar, told reporters that his son, Lance Cpl. Jesus A. Suárez del Solar of the Marine Corps, had died for "Bush's oil."

Escondido! My father lives in Escondido--a bastion of conservative Republicanism if ever there was one, located in northeast San Diego County. Dad, one of the area's beleaguered Democratics, makes do on a modest retirement income in a small condo alongside a golf course. Many of his golfing buddies, on the other hand, are downright wealthy and have the conservative political leanings that go hand-in-hand with money nowadays. Some remarks I've overheard when visiting have set me to drinking, rather than make a scene that would embarrass my father.

Trust me, these are not enlightened folk.

Well, the other day my dad got started on GW and the war--it was at the country club--and, the next thing he knew, two other people at the bar were joining in.

Yikes, I was thinking as he was telling me the story, they wouldn't jump an 82-year-old with two artificial hips, would they?

On the contrary. Far from assaulting him, they agreed with him about the war and Bush's harebrained foreign policy schemes. Three to one--in a crowd of retired, white, for-the-most-part wealthy southern Californians--opposed the war in Iraq. Under the circumstances, the one Bush supporter of the four had the good sense to keep quiet while the others had their say.

So. What I want to know is this: where in the hell are the 40%, 50%, 65% or whatever percent of Americans the latest polls are claiming support this insane, immoral military adventure? Huh? Where are they?!