The Houston Chronicle publishes a virulent anti-patriotism, anti-Bush screed by Dante Zappala, who they identify only as “a part time teacher in Los Angeles:” Ask the sideline patriots why my brother had to die. (Hat tip: Bobby R.)

I am left now with a single word seared into my consciousness: accountability. The chance to hold our administration’s feet to that flame has passed. But what of our citizenry? We are the ones who truly failed. We shut down our ability to think critically, to listen, to converse and to act. We are to blame.

Even with every prewar assumption having been proved false, today more than 130,000 U.S. soldiers are trying to stay alive in a foreign desert with no clear mission at hand.

At home, the sidelines are overcrowded with patriots. These Americans cower from the fight they instigated in Iraq. In a time of war and record budget deficits, many are loath to even pay their taxes. In the end, however, it is not their family members who are at risk, and they do not sit up at night pleading with fate to spare them.

Change is vital. We must remind ourselves that the war with Iraq was not a mistake but rather a flagrant abuse of power by our leaders — and a case of shameful negligence by the rest of us for letting it happen. The consequence is more than a quagmire. The consequence is the death of our national treasure — our soldiers.

A Google Search on Mr. Zappala’s name, however, reveals that although he may indeed be a part time teacher, he is also a full time peace activist from a full time peace activist family; in addition to the Houston Chronicle, Salon, and the Star Tribune, his articles appear regularly at sites such as “Occupation Watch,” Counterpunch, and the openly communist People’s Weekly World newspaper. He’s been callously exploiting the death of his brother to argue his anti-war agenda for months now, in many articles. Google has more than 3,000 hits for this guy.

It’s incredibly disingenuous for mainstream media to identify him simply as a part time teacher, without mentioning his long history of moonbat activities.