Q for Queasy

Thomas Friedman mused in his Generation Q about the "quiet generation" -- today's college students who though they do good, do not participate in protest against injustice. I mention it because I like the concluding lines.

He surmises that email and computer commerce have curtailed the impulse to execute a live gathering. Young people today do virtual confabs. He suggested Social Security, the deficit and the environment as salient issues they might get concerned about.

He concludes by noting the statue of James Meredith, the first black admitted to Ole Miss in 1962, he'd seen on a recent tour of three Southern schools. "The Meredith bronze is posed as if he is striding toward a tall limestone archway, re-enacting his fateful step onto the then-segregated campus — defying a violent, angry mob and protected by the National Guard.

"Above the archway, carved into the stone, is the word 'Courage.' That is what real activism looks like. There is no substitute. "

Meanwhile, the House passed the "War Profiteering Prevention Act" (HR 400), "To prohibit profiteering and fraud relating to military action, relief, and reconstruction efforts, and for other purposes." It is hard to be for such a thing as war profiteering, yet fully three Congressman voted against the bill.

Small number to execute such venal bravery, but can you guess what political party they hailed from?

--Lisa