For me, this is the key line in this piece: "When we send our troops to war, we have an obligation that includes at the very least paying attention to their sacrifices. American soldiers should never have to wonder if we care about their well-being."

You know what? The fact that Americans are not caring enough is just about everyone in power's fault. The media? Absolutely. The Left wing? yup. President Bush et al? Them too.

I commented on this blog back during the holiday season how the only place where American shoppers would know we were at war is the freaking post office, (where you can still buy calling cards for our troops, which I urge people to do).

I agree with the oft-repeated critiques of the Left, and the Media, (people like the immature and awful Joel Klein at the LA Times who boasts about he DOESN'T support the troops). But it's also time to put a lot more criticism at the foot of this administration and President Bush who have deliberately failed to make Americans realize the sacrifices we need to make to win this war. These are sacrifices our soldiers are and have been making for years. I suspect this is all done in favor of keeping Americans happy so we vote these guys in again next time. That may be good electoral politics, but it's bad for America. When a loser president like Jimmy Carter succeeds at getting Americans to cut back on gas usage, (something that we need to do again; I had an oil expert on my show today who said if Americans cut back just 3% on their driving, the price of gas would CRASH), then we know ANYONE could do it if he wanted to.

I don't care how much anyone admires or supports President Bush's agenda; I have to wonder about anyone who thinks he's doing enough to bring our troops the credit they deserve. Just because he has a lot of company in sharing the blame doesn't absolve him in my book.

Jake, you're kicking me into gear to do something practical for our men and women in uniform.

That's great. It's not like most of us have to do very much. But a little from everyone goes a long way. Calling cards are a big deal for the guys over there and it's an easy one for us to do. I bet sending over a few iPod shuffles, something like one per family if you can afford it, would be a nice gesture for those long lulls. I mean marching in the streets for these guys is nice too, but I think they'll know we know about their sacrifice if they received these kinds of tokens.

Unfortunately, I find myself more and more changing channels when something about Iraq appears on the screen. I know this isn't something that can be 'fixed' overnight. But it's beginning to appear so hopeless, especially considering Iran's role in the belagan. American troops were in Germany - for how many years after the war? This is probably something that will take a long time; but Americans don't have the stomach anymore for it, especially with people like Cindy Sheehan rooting for the enemy.

Teach:

I don't blame you. The way the news is presented almost compels you to change the channel. Don't forget that the media is dead set against this war, against this President and the way they mediate the "news" has a great deal to do with how you react to it.

You are being manipulated in a perfectly Orwellian manner.

They do not report from the Kurdish areas where not one homicide bomb has detonated. And don't forget, the reporters are not even reporting from the Red Zones, they are in their hotels in the Green Zones. Basically, they have no idea what the heck is going on in Iraq. They just sit around talking to each other trading gossip.