The Median Sib

I read today about Cindy Sheehan being arrested for not following the guidelines for protesting outside the White House. No one denies that she had the right to protest this war. Her son supported what the United States is doing in Iraq strongly enough to risk his life to fight there - and he did indeed lose his life in Iraq. Now his mother is using his death as her platform to give hope, aid and comfort to the enemy that killed him. I watched a few minutes of the TV coverage of the anti-war gathering this past weekend. I wonder how many other young men have already died and will die because of the invigoration and encouragement the insurgents must surely feel when they see the anti-war protestors. The anti-war protestors are short-sighted in their world view. They want world peace, but aren’t able to stomach the difficult and heartbreaking work necessary to achieve it. The citizens of our country should support the president and the war until the war is over. Then they can protest and do what they need to do to make sure it doesn’t happen again. We are in a war, though, and each protest gives more fuel to the enemy — and causes more death to our soldiers and innocent Iraqi citizens. Each protest give more fuel to the barbarians who will take a knife and slowly saw off the head of someone who disagrees with them. Each protest gives hope to the leader of the insurgents who said that he makes no distinction between soldiers and citizens of the United States. All of us are targets of his hate. To me, Cindy Sheehan is trampling on her son’s memory, causing the deaths of more U.S. soldiers and betraying the very country that gives her the right to protest.

A friend of mine told me that George Strait’s new song, She Let Herself Go sounded like it was about me. She wouldn’t tell me anything else about it, and so I bought the CD (George Strait, Somewhere Down In Texas) and listened to the song. It put me in a completely happy mood. Here are the lyrics:

He wondered how she’d take it when he said goodbye.
Thought she might do some cryin’: lose some sleep at night.
But he had no idea, when he hit the road,
That without him in her life, she’d let herself go.
Let herself go on a singles cruise,
To Vegas once, then to Honolulu.
Let herself go to New York City:
A week at the Spa; came back knocked-out pretty.
When he said he didn’t love her no more,
She let herself go.

She poured her heart an’ soul into their three-bedroom ranch.
Spent her days raisin’ babies, ironin’ his pants.
Came home one day from the grocery store and found his note,
And without him there to stop her, she let herself go.
Let herself go on her first blind-date:
Had the time of her life with some friends at the lake.
Let herself go, buy a brand new car,
Drove down to the beach he always said was too far.
Sand sure felt good between her toes:
She let herself go on a singles cruise,
To Vegas once, then to Honolulu.
Let herself go to New York City:
A week at the Spa; came back knocked-out pretty.
When he said he didn’t love her no more,
She let herself go.
To Vegas once: Honolulu, New York City.
Came back knocked-out pretty.

Another great song on that CD is By The Light of a Burning Bridge. Here are those lyrics:

Oh, I’ve been stumblin’ through the darkness,
Tryin’ to feel the ground beneath my feet.
Afraid of movin’ much in any direction:
Stuck where the past and the future meet.
But I fin’lly got my first good look:
A little fire was all it took.
An’ as the flames grew brighter,
I saw everything that I’d missed.
Once you get your courage up,
You light a match an’ your eyes adjust:
It’s amazing what a man can see,
By the light of a burnin’ bridge.

An’ there were things I saw that I’m not proud of.
Things that I’d do diff’rent now from then.
But when I really make myself get honest,
It’s over and I can’t go back again.
‘Cause I fin’lly got my first good look:
A little fire was all it took.
An’ as the flames grew brighter,
I saw everything that I’d missed.
Once you get your courage up,
You light a match an’ your eyes adjust:
It’s amazing what a man can see,
By the light of a burnin’ bridge.

It sure is hard to let go and to leave the past behind,
But there ain’t no other way that you can find some peace of mind.
When I fin’lly got my first good look:
A little fire was all it took.
An’ as the flames grew brighter,
I saw everything that I’d missed.
Once you get your courage up,
You light a match an’ your eyes adjust:
It’s amazing what a man can see,
By the light of a burnin’ bridge.
It’s amazing what a man can see,
By the light of a burnin’ bridge.

And so that’s my contribution to the sharing of music for the day. Great songs, aren’t they?