• Mood: melancholy

Endorse an Ad; Save a Soldier

Over the past few years, when I consider how our current administration has behaved, I find myself feeling increasingly ashamed to be an American. Not to mention angry. News of the abuses committed by our forces in Iraq has brought these feelings to a new level. I do hope that someday I'll feel proud about this country again, but some things have got to change before that will happen.

This, however, is something of which I can feel proud:

From MoveOn.org:

By refusing to hold senior administration officials accountable, President Bush has failed to fully repudiate the torture that occurred at Abu Ghraib. Every passing day brings new photos and new news of how these despicable techniques were sanctioned at the very top, but Bush won't even condemn Rush Limbaugh for saying that the tactics were "brilliant" and the troops were "just blowing off a little steam."

So it's up to us to try to make things right. Our campaign to hold Donald Rumsfeld accountable will continue. But today, there are two other ways we can help -- joining an apology from Americans of faith to the world. An important new group called FaithfulAmerica is putting a very movingTV ad on the air in Arab countries. The ad is a montage of American religious leaders -- Christian, Jewish, and Muslim -- humbly expressing the regrets so many of us feel for what happened.

You can watch the ad, sign onto it, and help get it on the air, at:

http://www.faithfulamerica.org/adclip.htm

At the end of the ad, FaithfulAmerica will state the number of people who've signed on, so the more people who endorse the message, the more effective it will be.

Please sign on today.

And, to quote hiddenriver: The more Americans involved, the more powerful the message will be, and the more likely it is that lives will be saved and the better our chances for a more peaceful resolution. If you can, please consider donating to help pay for it. This is how the "war on terrorism" needs to be fought. This one ad will do far more to hurt Al Qaeda's recruiting efforts and reduce terrorism than all of the Bush administration's actions put together. It's not much, granted, but it's a start.

Feel free to forward this message around. Let's get as much support as we can for something truly positive, for a change.