WHY BOB DYLAN IS A REPUBLICAN
I love Bob Dylan, and in particular one of the songs that the Democrats played tonight at the convention. "Blowing in the Wind" is the classic anti-war song... or is it? I was conflicted about liking the song, until I took another look at the lyrics:

How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
Yes and how many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes and how many times must the cannonballs fly
Before they are forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind
The answer is blowing in the wind.

We walked down one more road in Iraq, and a lot of boys, born and raised in the mall, became men there. Was the white dove sleeping in the sand before the war-- with the sanctions in place, living in fear under Saddam's murderous tyranny? No, they still had, and still have, many seas to sail. We went into Iraq to disarm a brutal dictator, to move one step closer to the day when the cannonballs are forever banned. We don't know how far there is still to go. But we have walked one more of those roads these past three years.

How many years can a mountain exist
Before it is washed to the sea?
Yes and how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free?
Yes and how many times can a man turn his head
And pretend that he just doesn't see?...

The answer to at least one of those questions is no longer blowing in the wind: it's "thirty-five years." Thirty-five years the mountain of Saddamist totalitarianism existed before it was washed to the sea. Thirty-five years the Iraqi people lived under tyranny before they were allowed to be free. And yes, the people turned their heads and pretended they just didn't see. Two people changed that, reached out to the opressed and made a change: George W. Bush and Tony Blair.

How many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes and how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes and how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?

Can we hear the people cry? The victims of tyranny, of AIDS, the destitute and the poor of this world? Will we reach out, by sending jobs overseas to people who need them more than we do, by opening our borders to let people come and get a better life through hard work, by sending aid to ameliorate the AIDS crisis, and by sending troops to war-torn countries and evil dictatorships, to give people freedom and make dignity possible? Will we realize that too many people have died? Will we step in to prevent genocide in Sudan, or to help make peace in Israel-Palestine? (Give credit where it's due: I was a big fan of Carter's mentioning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; we shouldn't let this drop off the radar. And he was right to emphasize the suffering of the Palestinian people, too.) And when we look up, do we see the sky? What are our dreams, our ideals? What kind of world do we want, and are we willing, if necessary, to fight for? Do we value the freedom of people of all races and religions, or do we put America first? Do we look with envy on the rich and want more for ourselves, or are we grateful for what is in truth the great bounty that all Americans already enjoy?

The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind

Yes, it is. And the Bard is as relevant and as wise as ever.