In a quixotic mood, I visited the websites of my various congressional representatives, and left this message for each of them:


"Can you tell me please what action you will be taking in order to prevent potential genocide in Darfur? It is a shame and a scandal that much of the world can protest our liberation of a country from tyranny, but cannot achieve the same level of indignation over this developing atrocity in Sudan. I believe it is incumbent upon our country to again lead the world, willingly or not, into action, in order to stop an evil from occurring. Will you be sponsoring or supporting a resolution to label, before the world, this genocide as such, and to demand action to stop it?"


I once wrote Lawrence Ferlinghetti a letter having nothing to do with war, and received back a response where he called me "Dear Dempsey". Let's see if our non-poet-laureates do better.