politricks and other distractions

One of the most amazing parts of the Saddam Hussein execution (to me, anyway) was the word that President Bush went to sleep that night while he knew it was happening. He figgered that once the old man was out of our hands, he wouldn't have to worry about the rest of it. And, presumably, the man doesn't need Ambien. He seems to sleep just fine.

Meanwhile, across the world, lots of us lose sleep every night. We wake up at 2 am and worry about our lives. Sometimes we can turn it off with a quick trip to the bathroom and a glass of water before falling back to sleep. Sometimes we don't. We fall back into the same nightmare that woke us up, relentlessly sinking into a nonsensical story that imprisons us in the dark.

Dubya hasn't had any of that, it seems. And so, today, it's appropriate that the very thing he thought would be his savior, his ticket out - or at least a positive blip in the polls - Saddam's execution, has gone south on him. It's going to be an albatross around his neck that will feel a lot like that noose.

So NOW is not the time for him to sleepwalk through this next set of decisions and send more troops off to die for his mistake. Now is the time for protests so loud and raucous around his house that he becomes unable to sleep. It's time for him to be haunted just like all the families of all the dead soldiers and Iraqis are.

If only loud protests would do it, I'd be there on the front lines. Whatever vote I can have on this, I'll cast because it would be a sin to sleep through what's coming.