Memorial Day

"Shame on us, with our soft paper-pushing hands and our hammocks and sprinklers. We expect the men and women of this country who do the job that we won't do to create a united front in a foreign land, when we can't muster one here at home. Shame on those of us who think we can simultaneously question the very purpose of the war and still be supporting the men and women who do the job that we won't do."

Tonight, I sit on my front porch, listening to the sprinkler's gentle patter, the flag fluttering softly on a late May breeze. I have a cigar, my dog, and a comfortable hammock. Inside, my family is safe- the girls tucked in for the night, my wife watching television.

I realize it's daytime now in Iraq, where men and women of my country numbering in the hundreds of thousands, do work that I have chosen not to do. Granted, I will be 40 next week, but if I told you that I'd have enlisted at the age of 25, I'd probably be lying. This is a simple, undeniable truth. I'd like to fancy myself a man of great physical courage and bravery, but I can't promise that this would be true.

So I listen to my sprinkler while men and women of my country listen to gunfire, people screaming in foreign tongues, and assorted other sounds that I can't imagine. And though they've never met me, they do this job for me, and for my family. It is a reality that makes me uncomfortable: I feel as if I the ship is sinking and I've been given a seat on the first lifeboat.

Republican members of House of Representatives continue to send their collective message to President George W. Bush and Senate liberals such as Sen. John McCain (R-AZ): They are overwhelmingly opposed to any deal that provides illegal immigrants a path to citizenship through a program that amounts to "amnesty" for over 12 million illegal aliens.

The heated rhetoric emanating from the GOP members of the House significantly dims the prospects that President Bush will win the immigration compromise he is seeking, according to the GOP establishment within the Beltway.

The Republican opposition spreads across the geographical and ideological boundaries that often divide House Republicans, according to interviews with about half of the roughly 40 members whom political handicappers consider most vulnerable to defeat this November. Republicans - from moderates such as Chris Shays in suburban Connecticut and Steve Chabot in Cincinnati to conservative J.D. Hayworth in Arizona - continue to say they are adamant that Congress not take any action that might be perceived as rewarding illegal behavior.

Shays, one of the few vulnerable House Republicans open to a broad compromise with the Senate, said strong protests from his constituents this month prompted him to come out for the first time against "citizenship for undocumented workers."

"It would be a huge mistake to give people a path to citizenship that came here illegally," he told the Washington Post.

Surprisingly, Shays' constituents are Northeast liberals who have voiced their concerns over uncontrolled illegal immigration and the reality of porous, unprotected borders.