“Robert Kennedy, whose summer home is eight miles from the home I live in all year round, was shot two nights ago. He died last night. So it goes.

Martin Luther King was shot a month ago. He died, too. So it goes.

And every day my Government gives me a count of corpses created by military science in Vietnam. So it goes.”

Those words were among the concluding lines of Kurt Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse-Five,” finished within days of Robert Kennedy’s assassination.

Every college student in the 1960’s and 1970’s was at least familiar with Vonnegut, if not within an arm’s reach of one of his 14 novels at all times.

From the NYT:

 

Mr. Vonnegut shed the label of science fiction writer with “Slaughterhouse-Five.” It tells the story of Billy Pilgrim, an infantry scout (as Mr. Vonnegut was), who discovers the horror of war. “You know — we’ve had to imagine the war here, and we have imagined that it was being fought by aging men like ourselves,” an English colonel says in the book. “We had forgotten that wars were fought by babies. When I saw those freshly shaved faces, it was a shock. My God, my God — I said to myself, ‘It’s the Children’s Crusade.’

Kurt Vonnegut died Wednesday night in Manhattan at the age of 84.

So it goes.

While many Campus Progress readers and bloggers are tanning or cramming, a manifestation of Lord Acton's description of "absolute power corrupts absolutely" surfaced this week in the form of Libby's guilty verdict. Please take the time during your Spring Break or after you ace all your midterms to see the full breadth of casualties in the Iraq War.

Because of Iraq, our country lost the finest members of our generation. Because of Iraq, our country lost international respect, credibility and the very principles and values that make America great. The first casualty of this war was not a soldier. The first casualty of the Iraq War was truth. Those who believe they are above the law also believe in perpetuating this course of American degradation in the name of saving face and winning political victories of ideology.

I write this post to highlight Libby, the "Gonzales 8" and the atrocities of the Walter Reed scandal. I write this post to call for an examination of the conscience of the citizenry of this country in order to inspire them to action for a better America- the America conceived by our Forefathers and made possible by the sacrifices of the generations that came before us.

While the jury for the Libby Trial deliberates into next week, there is an emerging story forming from seemingly disturbing actions taken by the U.S. Justice Department that could pan out to be far more damaging and long-lasting than any potential result of Libby's trial.

Strong public evidence suggests that the U.S. Department of Justice engaged in a concentrated, coordinated effort to bolster conservatism and GOP loyalty among our U.S. Attorneys- public servants who make a living from our tax dollars, government lawyers who are strictly supposed to stay above politics. This latest coordinated campaign of patronage goes beyond the standard cronyism we have come to expect from the Bush Administration- these actions are immoral, illegal and arguably treasonable to the American public who deserve a U.S. Justice Department unscathed by today's partisan political warfare.

Eight well-respected U.S. attorneys- most recieving high marks on their job evaluations- were fired and replaced by partisan loyalists of the Bush Administration. It turns out that the Patriot Act dismantles American liberties, rights and principles outside the War on Terror. A provision of the Patriot Act allows these "interim" appointees to serve indefinitely and without Senate approval.

David Iglesias, the departing attorney in New Mexico and the inspiration and basis for Tom Cruise's character in A Few Good Men, is the most outspoken of the fired prosecutors as he "said that two members of Congress attempted to pressure him to speed up a probe of Democrats just before the November elections." The Libby Trial touches on the possibility of retribution against Joe Wilson and his wife. Congressional and legal action taken as this story gains ground must explore the likely retribution against Iglesias and his fellow public servants.

Arthur Meier Schlesinger, Jr., native son of Ohio and famed political historian passed away from cardiac arrest in Manhattan on the night of February 27, 2007. Substantial? No doubt. Controversial? You bet.

He is best known for coining "Camelot" during JFK's Administration and "imperial presidency" during the Nixon Administration. American historian, social critic, White House advisor, writer and Democratic activist- Schlesinger will be missed by all who enjoyed his prolific contributions to society.

This Guardian article honors the historic life of Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. in a fascinating, comprehensive account of his achievements.

"If we are to survive, we must have ideas, vision and courage. These things are rarely produced by committees. Everything that matters in our intellectual and moral life begins with an individual confronting his own mind and conscience in a room by himself."- Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. (October 15, 1917 - February 28, 2007)

Considering the GOP's animosity towards the homeless, I suppose this means they don't support the troops? Perhaps these troops chose to be homeless as well.

About 500-1,000 of the 200,000 homeless U.S. veterans served in Iraq or Afghanistan.

For those that have not yet read Dana Priest's excellent, humbling article in the Washington Post on Feb. 18th ("Soldiers Face Neglect, Frustration At Army's Top Medical Facility"), you must do so. Chris Matthews referred to the article as Pulitzer Prize caliber on Hardball last night and rightfully so. Priest and her co-contributor to the story, Anne Hull, comprehensively document appalling conditions at an outpost of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Consequently, they find disgraceful treatment of our brave men and women who gave more than their fighting spirit and courage to their country- they gave their limbs and often times tragically their emotional and mental stability. Too many injured soldiers, after returning home for medical treatment and becoming outpatients in Building 18, find themselves sentenced to a prison of inadequate medical care in an impoverished medical facility- a facility considered America's top Army hospital.

Before the Right-Wing Noise Machine spins yet another failure of the Bush Administration, let us contemplate who truly supports the troops. Every patriotic American must reflect upon the treatment of war veterans in this country and reassess what it means to support our nation's warriors- whether you support the Iraq War or not.

First they accepted donations from the porn industry. Now we have a documented case of the GOP accepting donations from an alleged terrorist.

 From The Blotter, Brian Ross' investigative blog:

 "The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) won't say what it plans to do with thousands of dollars in campaign donations it received from an accused terror financier.

Abdul Tawala Ibn Ali Alishtari gave $15,250 to the NRCC since 2002, according to FEC records published on the Web site opensecrets.org."

 God bless the GOP and their consistent family values.

Virginia Governor Tim Kaine will endorse Senator Barack Obama this Saturday. Outside of potentially improving Obama's popularity in the South, this endorsement strengthens a 2008 possibility birthed by Mark Warner's withdrawal in October.