Since this is a family story and it would involve way too many "Dog" references I am going to bail on the talking dog bit for today. It will be back to amaze and annoy tomorrow.

It is Veterans day and I have been thinking about the Veterans I have known. We have an epic myth in this nation that all soldiers are heroes. There is this dysfunctional idea that somehow the service to ones country in uniform absolves the faults inherent in all people. To me this is a dangerous thing all the way around. It is not that those who serve willingly or otherwise in the military do not deserve a measure of respect for being willing to put themselves in harms way, they do. It is just the fetishization of service as a universal way of elevating people is harmful. By setting the expectations of veteran this high we nearly universally guarantee disappointment.

Originally posted at Squarestate.net

Military service does change those who serve, sometimes in good ways, other times in not so good ways. Since today is the day we honor the service of those in uniform, I thought I would share some of the experiences of my family in the military and what they have gained and lost from it.

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Welcome to the Dog’s on going letter writing campaign for torture accountability. Most Monday’s we write to the decision makers in the nation in order to prod them in the right direction on the issue of torture. How it works is the Dog provides the letter and the links and you provide the action by either cutting and pasting the letter or writing your own.

"Originally posted at Squarestate.net"

This week we are going to do something a little different. It is going to require a higher level of commitment from everyone who sends these letters; this week we are going to write our families and friends. This is an important thing to do as we need the support of the people of this nation if we are going to move the issue forward it has to come from the people as well as the decision makers.

The Dog knows there are a lot of people whose family don’t care about this issue or are more conservative than those reading this post. It is going to start a lot of conversations that are not pleasant, the Dog is sure of this. However, the issue of rule of law and accountability for torture is a deeply unpleasant one and needs conversation if it is to be resolved.

Below is the letter the Dog is sending to the 158 people in his friends and family e-mail list. Please use it the same way for yours.

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