A Soldier in Iraq Votes
Ginmar, a reservist from Minnesota serving in Iraq, muses about democracy as she casts her vote:
Democracy, like any virtue, can be promoted through small acts and gestures. Its central premise is that every person’s voice should be heard, and that concept never really hit me till I stood in front of that post office with the dust of a hundred histories on my boots, and wrote my candidate’s name on it. My handwriting was messy and blotchy—I think the heat does something to the ink. It was perfectly ordinary—one pays bills in this humble fashion every day. And yet there was that building high above me, the historic river flowing by, the ruins nearby. It was an ordinary act in extraordinary circumstances.
I’ve been reading Ginmar’s journal for awhile now. It’s a good place to get a glimpse of what it’s like for our troops. Her highly personal Live Journal site, A View From A Broad, both relates her experiences and creates a community for folks who have come to care for and support her. Very different from our dryer political blogs, Gin connects with her readers and often goes on classic rants about military stupidity, sexism, and politics. It’s well worth a read.
October 21st, 2004 at 12:27 am
Good Reading
Digby does a good job of explaining why the Bush administration shouldn’t be trusted on the flu vaccine issue, reminding fellow citizens that back in the day, Cheney advocated universal anthrax innoculations but was stopped by the outcry from the…
October 21st, 2004 at 12:48 am
Good Reading
Digby does a good job of explaining why the Bush administration shouldn’t be trusted on the flu vaccine issue, reminding fellow citizens that back in the day, Cheney advocated universal anthrax innoculations but was stopped by the outcry from the…