In honor of Armistice Day

 "It is good that war is so terrible less we grow too found of it"
                           - Robert E Lee.

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.
Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime. . .
Dim, through the misty panes  and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest 
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est
Pro patria mori.*

*it is sweet and right to die for your country.

 -Wilfred Owen

Wyoming Bans Gay Marraige.

Today Wyoming has passed a law that not only bans the union of same sex couples with in the the  state, allows the state to not recognize same sex marriages that occurred in other states.  Meaning that the marriage contract that was sign in a state that allowed two men or women to get married in any other state is not valid once you cross over you are no longer married. This is interesting because that it states in the Constitution, under the full faith and credit clause that each state is required to honor public contracts from other states. " Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State."  Marriage is some thing that i would argue falls under the banner of  public acts or records. So then denying marriage that was valid in another state would be unconstitutional.   If you are married in Vermont  the law of the land says that no matter where you move in the US  that you have to be treated as though you are married.

Also on related note that just drips of rich pancake smothering irony did you know that  one of  Wyoming's official names is the equality state, and their state motto is"Equal rights." 

Good show Wyoming good show.

In some very saddening and shocking news, Gabrielle Giffords the Representative from Arizona was shot yesterday outside of a  Safeway while attempting  to listen to the concerns of the people in her district.  there are conflicting reports as of now of wither or not she was killed and how many other people were killed or injured in the attack.  The gun man was brought into police custody and at this time his motives for the attack have not been  released.
Gifford was a Democrat and was "targeted" by Sarah Palin on her take back the 20 campaign. In this campaign she wanted to make sure the Representatives were held accountable for voting for the Obamacare health plan. she said
"I launched my “Take back the 20” campaign, focusing on 20 congressional districts that John McCain and I carried in 2008 which are or were represented by members of Congress who voted in favor of Obamacare. They need to be held accountable for those votes. They voted for Obamacare. Now we can vote against them. We need to replace them with representatives who will respect the will of the people."
The recent language of the the extreme right has been something that  has been worrying me of the last few months,  Palin has been telling the people to lock and load, prepare for war and to take back what is theirs.  In the mind of Palin these are harmless metaphors to stir the emotions of her cause. But then something like this happens and these words have a haunting resonance.

As easy it would be to blame this attack on the language of the right we still do not know the motives behind this shooting. this could have been a random act of violence or the shooter could have private motives of his own that have nothing to do with the political stance of the Representative. to make any assumptions at this point would be doing the same thing that the right has been accused of.  it would be the same as when  Glen Beck blames all of Islam for  something blowing up in the middle east.  I know this would be a perfect time to shout i told you so , but screaming it now  before the facts are in will just give the right power they don't need.