I lit a candle...

[whalerider55]

and said kaddish, the jewish prayer for mourners and the dead, at the grave of Thomas Pecorelli tonite. Tom was on the one of the flights that hit the WTC's, his family is from this area and his sister is a friend of mine.

There were candles, and notes, and flowers by the time I got there late afternoon.

Several people from this area of Massachusetts died. Every couple of days, I drive past the houses of some of them, or run into their remaining family.

I'm tired of killing for peace. I am tired living at the intersection of lies and greed. I am tired of the exploitation of disaster for political gain, and I am deeply saddened that shame doesn't have the power it once did to curb venality and hatred. And today even belief (I won't call it faith, because faith has the power to uplift and heal) has become a plowshare beaten into a sword that is only capable of dividing us.

Tommy's first and only child was born four months after he died.

We've heard similar stories about soldiers who have died in Afganistan and Iraq. As a parent, it is inconceivable to me to never have had the opportunity to know my child. I think of Tommy every day, and hold mine closer and tell them how much i love them, even when they are g-dawful pains in the ass. You just never know.

we can do better, we human beings. we can find those leaders who speak truth to power, and exalt them. The Wellstone's and the Conyers', the Hacketts, the Kucinichs and the Feingolds. Find them, and let them know we honor their leadership. and let those who have become a comfortable underclass in the politics of this country, a minority party that is incapable of loyal opposition and has welcomed complacency and impotence move aside.

we needn't be the slaves to self-interest that the powers that be assume we are. we have a compelling and truthful story to tell.

For our children. For the soldiers who aren't coming back, and the ones who are. For Tommy.

I don't think Tommy was all that interested in politics; I don't know what he would really have thought about being turned into a code word that became directly responsible for the killing of americans or other people. I think he just would have wanted to see his kid. I just don't know, and won't assert that. I won't Malkin-ize him.

i wasn't there. i didn't know him. but i'm a father.

So. With love and humility, we need to move forward, speak truth, and take this country to the place it could be.

Meet you at the levee. Bring a sandbag. We're gonna need it.

whalerider

[babylonsister]

1. You also just lit a candle for me;

thank you for your blessed message, whalerider55. :hug:

[knowbody0]

2. lovely words, whalerider

thankyou

[babylonsister]

3. Kick. nt