War? What war? CICADAS & SEASON FINALES!

[Bertha Venation]

Donna Britt, the Washington Post: Looking Away From War, and Our Own Hearts, Friday, May 14, 2004; Page B01 (free registration may be required -- worth it)

The nation is at war. But you could almost forget it when the arrival of cicadas is hyped as being slightly less momentous than the Second Coming, and the finales of "Friends" and "Frasier" are treated like the deaths of beloved companions. As one who will miss "Frasier" and who's grossed out by the popeyed bugs on my screened porch, I understand.

It's easier to be distracted by minor annoyances than to focus on the mess in Iraq. Who doesn't want to forget images of naked Iraqi prisoners humiliated in ways that would be impossible to believe had we not seen the pictures? Then there are the images that most of us are grateful not to have seen, of a Pennsylvania businessman's "retaliatory" beheading and of additional -- and reportedly even more repellent -- visual proof of prisoner abuse.

There's no such thing as a neat war. Everybody's hands, and countless people's minds and souls, get dirty. Our cicada and series finale obsessions suggest that some of us are intent on looking everywhere but at the dirt.

~snip~

Because whether we say it or not, we know:

The most frightening weapon of mass destruction isn't really hidden at all. It's disguised only by the fact that it also is the universe's most powerful instrument for healing -- the human heart. /column

Donna Britt lives in Washington, DC, and writes a frequent (weekly or bi-weekly) Friday column for the Post.

[boobooday]

1. This is amazing

And she is wonderful.

Donna, :yourock:

Thanks for sharing this. So many voices raised, and yet BushCo works under the "cone of silence" and can't hear all these eloquent people calling them out into the light.

http://www.wgoeshome.com

[Bertha Venation]

2. have you read her columns in the past?

I like her style. I don't always agree w/ her but I like what she says and how she says it. She attacks all kinds of different topics.

Here's her main page at the Post, linking to her columns dating back to October 03. Also has her email address; she and I have exchanged several over the years.

[Mrs. Venation]

3. Donna Britt Makes My Day

Every Friday, I eagerly await her column. I have been reading her for years, and, even though we don't know each other, we are sisters.

Thank you for posting this, Bertha.

:yourock: