Of Guts and Gutless Wonders

Remember hearing about the mother of a dead soldier who got herself arrested in New Jersey at a Laura Bush rally, for wearing a T-shirt with her dead son's picture and the words "President Bush, You Killed My Son"? Sue Niederer's her name, and it turns out that we know someone who knows her, and the fact that she isn't a political nor "anti-war" activist but just a grieving mother makes her story and her opinions all the more compelling. She's interviewed on the website "Counterpunch" and speaks with a raw passion that is arresting:

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What is your response to the recent evidence that this war was waged on the basis of "misinformation"?

I wanted to rip the president's head off. Curse him, yell at him, call him a self righteous bastard and a lot of other words. I think if I had him in front of me I would shoot him in the groin area. Let him suffer. And just continue shooting him there. Put him through misery, like he's doing to everyone else. He doesn't deserve any better

Are you worried that Bush could win in November?

Extremely concerned. If this country allows him, we are the fools. We deserve everything we get or do not get from him. We are allowing him to get away with anything he wants to do. He flat out lied to us, killing our troops. He doesn't face the fallen family. If this is what we reelect, we deserve everything we get....

Had you been politically active before?

No, I'm not a political person. I vote for the person, I don't vote for the party...

If you could speak to Bush or members of Congress who support this war, what would you tell them?

Trade places with the troops over there now. You go over there. You send your children, husbands, wives. Let them come back in a coffin. Let me know what you think. You aren't worth being called president. You're not even worth being called Mister. Face me, talk to me, the victim of your war. But you don't have the guts to do that.

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And chances are that Sue Niederer is right ... that the look on El Presidente's face during those seven minutes he sat in that Florida classroom after learning that the second tower had been hit in New York ... that his behavior as a non-performing member of the Texas Air National Guard ... that his cog-draggin' swagger -- all of it is actually evidence of a lack of guts. Ironic, ain't it?