Yikes! I just had a local firefighter come to my door for money.

[Ripley]

I invited her into my home while I got my checkbook in the other room. The TV was on PBS where they were talking about Iraq. When I came back she said "I don't know why they keep saying post-war...our men are still dying."

I said yeah. She told me about a fellow fireman who had been Reserve and had just gotten back from Afghanistan. He saw horrible things...lots of mutilated dead bodies. I said American or Taliban? She said Oh, Taliban but it is horrible what they did to them.

We talked a bit about how the National Guard and Reserves were being abused by this war and how their families (we both know of some) are being put into positions of losing their homes, etc.

Then, boom. She said well, the Bible said this would happen. I said, well, I don't really believe in that theory about Armeghedon (sorry can't spell) but I believe Bush should have told us the truth about his wanting to go in. If it was about finding the anti-Christ, then he should have said so to Congress and the American people instead of lying about WMD.

She said Oh, Saddam is a smart man, he hid them in the sand. I said it was good to kill him if they did. She said no, he is alive and he will rise up and cause the holy war.

I said I hoped her fireman friend got help for his mental anguish from his tour in Afghanistan (he wasn't physically hurt). And we ended up agreeing that the Reservists from this state (Alabama) are being screwed by the government on length of tour, etc.

I gave her a big check for our local firefighters and said good luck.

Bush's first proclamation that we should consider this a "Crusade" has done a real number on people who actually see the government is wrong in what they are doing to the Reserves/Guard, because he played on their Fundie beliefs. So they forgive him.