In October 2005, American poet Sharon Olds wrote a letter to then First Lady Laura Bush (published in The Nation), declining her invitation to breakfast during the National Book Festival. Here is the conclusion of that letter.
"I tried to see my way clear to attend the festival in order to bear
witness--as an American who loves her country and its principles and its
writing--against this undeclared and devastating war [in Iraq].
"But
I could not face the idea of breaking bread with you. I knew that if I
sat down to eat with you, it would feel to me as if I were condoning
what I see to be the wild, highhanded actions of the Bush
Administration.
"What
kept coming to the fore of my mind was that I would be taking food from
the hand of the First Lady who represents the Administration that
unleashed this war and that wills its continuation, even to the extent
of permitting 'extraordinary rendition': flying people to other
countries where they will be tortured for us.
"So
many Americans who had felt pride in our country now feel anguish and
shame, for the current regime of blood, wounds and fire. I thought of
the clean linens at your table, the shining knives and the flames of the
candles, and I could not stomach it. Sincerely, SHARON OLDS."
One recent study of individuals who conscientiously act against state or corporate policy, drawing on examples of considerably more consequence and challenge than Olds' own, is Eyal Press, Beautiful Souls: Saying No, Breaking
Ranks, and Heeding the Voice of Conscience in Dark Times (2012).
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