A letter for Maureen Dowd...

Maureen Dowd, now that Mrs. Sheehan became a vocal opponent of the war, asserts that

"the moral authority of parents who bury children killed in Iraq is absolute."

Intrigued by this discovery, I wrote for clarification-


So let me understand, if Harald Quandt had been shot down Magda Goebbels would have then assumed absolute moral authority? Oh wait, only the parents of children killed in Iraq. That's a relief.

Is assumed the right term? Absolute moral authority status must require awareness of the child's death, since only burying the child confers it. (It would be silly to think that a parent could be an absolute moral authority in the interval between the death of the child and notification of the death.) But at what point does the parent become morally absolute? The day of the funeral? A week later? A month?

Or just when she finally gets around to agreeing publicly with Maureen Dowd?

And since parents who bury children killed in Iraq have absolute moral authority, shouldn't we now refer moral questions to them? Can they tell me, for example, if it is stealing for me to take home a blank cd from work to replace one I paid for but used for work purposes, without going through the company reimbursement process for a lousy dime?

And are the parents who bury Iraqi children killed in Iraq also absolute moral authorities, or is this another lefty whites only policy? For example, the parents of jihadis who believe that Ms. Dowd should put on a burqa, stay home, and do as her husband commands?

Just wondering.