The stupidity of man never ceases to amaze me!
Oh, does that sound bitter?
It's not meant to be. In fact, it's said under my breath, with a sigh and a slow shake of my head.
I just don't get! People sit around and talk about politics with no facts in their personal diatribe. They curse France, belittle Germany, blame North Korea, they think Hussein is the Anti-Christ and that Bush is a god!
I don't fault them for venting their fear and frustration, but why not be honest and say it's fear related instead of making it the gospel? They quote facts, (heaven only knows who came up with those facts!) and are staunch in the stand they take.
And, and, and(!!!) ... IF you even remotely appear to be doubting or questioning what they have to say, you Must be Anti-American!
I know it's too much to hope that we have gone far beyond the need to brutalize one another, just incase they plan on brutalizing us.
Yes, I believe in being pro-active.
No, I am not Anti-American.
Yes, I think that war is imminent..
No, I don't think it is necessary.
Yes, I think the administration needs to prove their point - their reasoning.
No, I don't think they have.
I love my country. I love the freedoms I have here.
I wept on 9-11. I lived in fear after 9-11.
I trusted that my government would make right, the wrong done by the terrorists.
They have not done that. They have re-directed the sight of the nation, to what they see as a more severe possibility. They have raised the threat levels to keep us on edge, to keep our economy in fear - all the while saying that it's Hussein that does this.
They think that if they can keep us, the nation, living in fear, that we will accept war as our only way out.
I was discussing this impending war with my stylist the other day. She appeared to be about my age, and yet her ignorant zealousness prevailed. I wanted to tell her to do her homework; to base her opinion on fact, not feeling - but she had the scissors in her hand, so I smiled and allowed her to vent. When I mentioned Hussein's offer of an international debate with Bush, she immediately said, "We don't have time for that."
What? Like we have time for body bags?
She then asked me if I'd bought duct tape and plastic yet. I would have thrown my head back and laughed aloud, but the clippers were too close to my ear.
She hasn't a clue.
Ah, the stupidity of man ...
So, now what?
I will protest war. I will paint my signs and show them proudly. I will march. I will raise my voice and my pen. (I used to get angry with the war protesters in the sixty's - but I was a child then.)
I will ask for honesty when others speak their peace.
I will recall duck and cover. And touch the fear I lived with as a child when it was time to crawl under my desk.
I will touch that fear, but I refuse to LIVE in it.
I have earned My right to question.
I will not blindly follow anyone.
Some say this pending war is about oil, or religion, or Bush Jr. needing the approval of Bush Sr., whatever the reason, I see this war as colossal failure. We, as a nation have learned nothing.
I grew up in the sixties. Some would say it was a simpler time back then, when love songs were about love. We protested the war and injustice. We held love-ins and peace rallies and sit-ins on campus. We were united in a cause to save the world; to end intolerance; to free those held captive and live together in peace.
We mourned when Camelot died, screamed when bullets rang out at Kent State, gasped when Saigon fell and buried our young too soon.
I've grown older, somewhat wiser in the decades that have passed, yet I see it all coming 'round again.
We sit on the brink of destruction, we teeter on the edge of war.
We taunt and tease and bully our allies, we bury our young too soon and have learned nothing from our past.
Now the question is, when will we ever learn?
J.A. Stroud
