Dowd: An Ode to Clarity

I was one of the snobs who hated the design of the World War II memorial. As a native Washingtonian, I felt sad to see L'Enfant's empty, perfect stretch of mall, elegantly anchored by the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, broken up.

(snip)

But when I went Friday and saw all the adorable World War II veterans rolling in wheelchairs, walking slowly with canes or on their own, sitting on the benches that encircle the fountains, taking pictures with children and grandchildren, meeting up with their old buddies, the memorial was suddenly a lovely place to be.

It may not be perfect as a piece of architecture, but it's perfect as a showcase for the ordinary guys who achieved the extraordinary.

(snip)

I asked Mr. Walsh how he felt about the Iraq war.

"You gotta back the kids," he said. "And you gotta back the president. But I hate to see it looking like Vietnam night after night on TV, not getting nowhere, taking a town and then having to take it back again. They called us `baby killers' when we got home. This is a politicians' war, not a people's war. You can't win a guerrilla war against religious fanatics. Personally, I don't think we should have went in without U.N. backing. We had nobody — a few Spanish."

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http://nytimes.com/2004/05/30/opinion/30DOWD.html?hp

I will NEVER support than unelelected, incompetent MORON.