(Originally posted to Iraq at EraBlog on Fri, 21 Mar 2003 07:38:19 GMT)

To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only un­pa­tri­ot­ic and servile, but is morally trea­son­able to the American public. Teddy Roosevelt, 1918

We’re at war. The anti-war protests have ratcheted up, with hundreds of thousands protesting all over the country.

Emma joined the protest outside the Federal Building in Seattle early this evening. She went back to her office after an hour because her bad feet were killing her. Not long after, I arrived in downtown and followed the protesters as they marched up to Westlake, then back down to the Federal Building, where Emma joined me again.

I have no hope that this will make any difference to Bush. But it’s important to be counted.

Senator Robert Byrd gave a fine speech yesterday, on the arrogance of power. Michael Kinsley wrote Unau­tho­rized entry - The Bush Doctrine: War without anyone’s permission, in today’s Slate. Mike Duncan dissects the speech that Bush gave on Monday night, giving Saddam 48 more hours in Lies, Damned Lies, and Ultimatums.