Patrick Citroni

Patrick Citroni, my brother Rich’s campaign manager, died yesterday at the young age of 29 in a tragic motorcycle accident. Rich had the following to say about Patrick (full post here):

His energy, passion and sincere belief in our cause, was not just boundless, but it was also infectious to everyone surrounding him. At 29 years Patrick had discovered a sincere passion and skill for politics.

I read this post on the way to work from school today. It really hit me like a ton of bricks. I had met Patrick twice and I could tell that beyond being an energetic, bright and skillful political worker he was a genuinely nice guy and a pleasure to be around. I’ll certainly miss him.

After taking some time to collect my thoughts I read an article about a US raid on an Iraqi village in which eight members of one family, all innocent, were killed. A connection was made between Patrick’s death and the deaths of the Iraqi family for me. Rich’s campaign, and this speaks for Patrick as well, is against the war in Iraq. Iraq also happens to be the issue that I am most passionate about.

I am sure Patrick would not want us to simply go on with our normal lives, not putting forth any extra effort towards ending the war. With one less brave soul counteracting American imperialism and its extraordinarily high human costs, that means that we all have to step it up. Take what we are doing right now and add to it. For Patrick. For the innocent Iraqis.