Five years ago today, I sat on the computer writing my thoughts as it became obvious that our protests against war would not succeed and an attack on Iraq was coming soon.  I did not realize it would be the very next day.

I am sharing here what I wrote that day, without any hindsight edits, just what I thought then.  I am struck by how embedded I was and we all were in the propaganda of the day about Saddam, weapons of mass destruction, and the notion of war to spread democracy.  I am also struck by the fact that all of Bush's claims that I doubted did indeed turn out to be false.  In the face of what appeared a grave mistake, the best I could do was to hope he knew something important that I didn't.  As it turned out, his propaganda was more hollow than I could have imagined.

What were you thinking five years ago today, just before the war began?  Here is what I wrote that day:

There is a candidate in the race for President whose name may become a problem if he is nominated by his party.

He and his supporters rarely use his full name, especially his unusual middle name.

If he stays in the race and wins nomination, that candidate may be vulnerable to having his troubling name used against him by his opponents.  Some have said his name could cost him the election.

In fact, some wonder how a candidate could even dare to run for President with a name like John Sidney McCain III.

Just consider...

After the ridiculous flap over Obama's lack of a flag pin on his lapel, in which he was accused of being a domestic insurgent, and in which Fox News put this photo on its web site, what Obama should really wear on his lapel is a Constitution pin.

So should Edwards, Hillary, and all the other Democratic contenders for that matter.

Noises about attacking Iran are at their loudest yet, including these words by President Bush, and this warning by former CIA operative Bob Baer, which to John Bolton is a wish, not a warning.  We know Dick Cheney has wanted to attack Iran for a long time.  Never mind that a new IAEA report casts doubt upon Iran's supposedly fervent nuclear ambitions.  Never mind the quagmire and enormous cost of Iraq, far beyond what was ever predicted.  Never mind the sheer insanity of it.  Whether it happens or not, there is clearly a huge desire at the top of our administration to bomb Iran.

Still, plenty of people, including many Kossacks, doubt there will be an attack on Iran.  It's been predicted before, and didn't happen.  Our military is overstretched.  Most Americans oppose it and it would be stupid.  I hope they're right, but here's why I fear they are not:

A truly amazing interview just came across my desk in the September/October issue of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, the group that monitors the risk of nuclear doomsday (their clock is currently at 5 minutes to midnight, not as bad as during the cold war, but worse than before Bush).  

The interview (which is not yet available on-line) is with Sergio Finardi, former consultant on logistical services for the Italian Defense Ministry.  Now in Chicago, he engages in unique research on the global transportation of arms and hazardous materials, as revealed by contracts with companies capable of carrying out these jobs.  His research is supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Ploughshares Fund, and he won't take funds from intelligence or government agencies, in order to ensure his independence.

So what has Finardi's research discovered?  Take a look below the fold:

Hunter has an excellent diary on the front page about Harriet Miers and contempt of Congress.  That's great, but I find it hard to believe no diary on the rec list is about this issue.  Instead, discussion about Cindy Sheehan seems to be dominating DKos today.

There are plenty of important issues for us to discuss, but today, at this moment, the most important one is contempt of Congress.  We need to make sure our representatives know this!

The deadliest six months for U.S. military personnel during the war/occupation in Iraq is now the most recent six months. From October, 2006 through March, 2007, 527 U.S. troops have died in Iraq, more than any other six-month period in the conflict.  And March isn't even over yet.

More below.

I was just reading Paul Krugman's column from today over on Truthout, called "The Greenzoning of America".  He compares the way contracts in Iraq have been given on the basis of loyalty and connections, rather than know-how, to the way the Bush administration has operated domestically, making appointments to regulatory agencies based on political loyalty rather than capability.

Most Americans have become aware of that tendency of the admnistration at least since Katrina and "heckuvajob Brown".  But what shocked me was the blatant advice to that effect given by the right-wing think tank the Heritage Foundation.  

More below.

President Bush's recently-announced plan to build a settlement on the moon is an idea that appeals to the scientific explorer in me, but an article on Wired here: http://blog.wired.com/... today put it in a somewhat different light for me.

The moon could be a useful vantage point for helping to understand and protect the earth.  But apparently, that is no longer part of NASA's mission.

In a spirit of hope and love, I pray for our nation tomorrow:

Certainly, because of how badly things are going in Iraq, it won't pack the punch that it once would have, but I suspect that Bush and the Republicans will try to milk it for all it's worth.  There will be all sorts of speeches about how if it were up to the Democrats, he would still be in power, etc., etc.  The verdict (guilty, probably with a sentence of death) will be one of the lead stories all day Monday, the day before the election.  

Even a small bounce for the Republicans could affect a number of close races.  We know it's coming.  So what will our messages be?

I. The Essence of Strength

Real strength is about strength of heart and strength of mind, strength of character and strength of relationship.

It is about being generous in spirit, honest in speech, reverent toward the wonder of life in all its forms, and unafraid at the core of our being.

This is a theme worth picking up on more.  We're making that point, and Kos has an article on the front page right now about Power over Security, but I think the specific phrase "Abuse of Power" is worth repeating more.

CNN just had those words splashed across the screen...lets help make them stick.  Besides, that really is what most of this is about.

I know I'm not a big-time blogger here, so if this gets ignored, I hope someone with a bigger profile on Dkos will do the same thing.  Just please, let's talk about this.

The question is this: What do we do if there is an emergency (most likely another terrorist attack on U.S. soil, either with or without administration complicity), and drastic measures are taken to shut down all the blogs on the left (or perhaps the whole internet), perhaps even with a declaration of martial law, and a more concerted roundup of those on the left who are politically involved (probably to be sent to the detention centers being built by Halliburton's subsidiary)?  How will we communicate?  How will we know each other?  Where can we go? What should we do?

More below.

I have edited these letters only to remove personal or self-identifying information, not to improve what I wrote or remove errors such as initially referring to the Disney Corporation rather than the Walt Disney Company.  To the list of requested actions I would add airing a full rebuttal by critics.

So what do we do?  I don't want to waste effort on Disney that should go toward more important purposes, but I also don't want to let them off the hook for a terrible decision that associated this propaganda piece with the real tragedy of 9/11, inserting its misleading images and false dialogue into the national imagination just before a national election.

I sent a lot of messages and made a lot of calls on this issue last month, not because it is so important--there are hundreds of more important issues facing our country and the world--but because it threatened something that IS important, namely the Constitution.  Thanks to everyone else who worked on it.