Why I blog

Christoper Cooper wrote a great piece that appeared on Common Dreams recently, and it's a fresh read amongst the usual editorial columns. He boils it down:

When I initiated a discussion with my coworkers this afternoon of this sick collaboration between G.W. Bush and Congressional heavyweights, including the Democrats we elected on the basis of their promises to end our wars, not extend them, my liberal friend said, “So?” “Are you surprised? What’s the big deal? This is what we do; it’s what we’ve always done.” And true, too, of course, but never before in our history has the citizen, the voter, had the opportunity to discover so readily and clearly what terrible, illegal, immoral things are perpetrated in his or her name. We must not, I perhaps somewhat heatedly replied, relinquish our ability to be disgusted and outraged; we must not accept such foul business, such a sellout of our decency as “the way things are.” It is our duty to read such articles and commentary as Mr. Hersh and The New Yorker can supply, to disseminate such revelations, to provoke our neighbors and friends and family.

This is why I blog. It's rarely OK to bring up such subjects in polite company, but I say we must. I can't always say these things out loud to people I come across everyday, so I put it here. I try to highlight stories that don't get enough attention. But whatever I do with this blog, it's because I believe it is Patriotic to speak up about America, and even better to point out problems so we can get to the solutions.