Never has there been a more stunning example for me of the old expression "out of the mouths of babes" than that which I experienced a few days ago. And it was an experience that I would like to share with your readers because it is one that we can all learn a little something from.

My 10-year-old daughter participated in the local anti-war march with me on Sunday in downtown Napa. She, along with several others, handed out neatly folded fliers to passersby that were meant to identify ways in which like-minded individuals -- who now can count themselves among the majority of Americans, based on every credible polling source that I am aware of -- could also have their voices of opposition to the Iraq war be heard.

Not long after she had begun this effort, she turned to me and said, "What really irritates me the most, mommy, is the people who won't make eye contact with me. It's as if they don't want to know what is going on, or just don't care."

It is challenging, indeed, to explain to a 10-year-old why this might be so, when I cannot even understand it myself; though I hold a degree in political science. We, the people of these United States, love to point the finger of blame at our elected representatives for all that is wrong with "the government" today, but what of our own responsibility? Our system of government is meant to be of, for and by the people, but it is rapidly becoming that in name only.

I realize that anti-war protests -- even ones as "tame" as the one that my daughter and I attended last Sunday, where gray was the most abundantly present hair color to be found among the marchers -- may not be the most comfortable strategy of choice that the average citizen can use to attempt to have their political voice be heard. But when was the last time that you, dear readers, called the White House to object to any of the Bush administration's policies? When was the last time you wrote a letter to your U.S. representative or your senator? When was the last time you even voted in a national election? When all has been said and done, ask yourself this: When was the last time I made any kind of effort whatsoever to have my voice be heard?

In times such as this, especially when the vast majority of Americans are telling pollsters that they disagree with the direction toward which this country is moving, it is discouraging, indeed, to have so many people stick their head so firmly in the proverbial sand that a 10-year-old child can so easily recognize this wholesale abdication of such civic responsibility. To this I can only say shame on you!

(Gifford lives in Napa.)