Three years ago today. Three years. The heart of this country was filled with such fear it almost burst. I cannot imagine the horror for those who were right there where it happened. It makes my blood cold to hear detailed accounts. I remember how long it took for everything to set in. We were so shocked, dying for information. Once the shock subsided a little, we wanted to know everything about what happened. Then we wanted to know why it happened.
Though those who had lost family members were left flailing in the misery of the aftermath, the torture of waiting while all the pieces were picked up, we were, as a nation, willing to do anything to get life back to the way it was. All the fear made us realize, perhaps, how much we had to lose. We wanted to drive our SUVs to work, to still be able to afford them. We wanted our tv and readily available, cheap food. We wanted our credit cards and our cell phones and our gym membership. This is the American lifestyle. It seems we will do anything to keep that.
And it's a bit easier to do that, isn't it, because Americans don't fight wars on our own soil. No, we go over to our enemies' land. If half of Texas were destroyed, that would certainly spark World War III.
Rather than be humbled and choose to take a long, deep look at the situation following the events of three years ago, we developed a taste for blood. In the days following, I heard several co-workers assert, "Bomb 'em!" Then all the American flags popped up. The battle cry had begun.
As the carnage wore on, pacifists were seeing some things in play below the surface. They took to the streets. They were dismissed as the scum of America. The "patriots" shook their fingers at them and said the peace protestors were undermining the great sacrifices being made.
The Bush regime and those of extreme political conservatism who continue to support it are the current destroyers of America. I am talking about those who continue to support war and a cowardly and dishonest "president" because that is what they've always done and the rhetoric sounds good and that is what you do when you're an American. I'm talking about those Americans who believe that Iraq had something to do with September 11, and hell, even if it didn't, they had the capacity to hurt us - so it's ok that we're tearing their country apart. Those who look at the number of children without healthcare in this country alone (over 10%), the richest country in the world, and say, Well, it's the parents' fault and their responsibility. Those who watch as Bush and most of Congress protect the filthy rich HMOs - even as the number of people insured by their employer falls sharply every year. Those who are busy supporting and implementing school vouchers so that they can send their kids to a "nice" (white) school. Even though they must know that nothing in this country is going to change until all kids are treated and educated equally. Those who protest when multi-unit housing goes up in their perfect little neighborhoods... neighborhoods that are so spread out that they've taken up 80% of the wild- and farmland in the area. Those who stand on the side of corporations and highly imbalanced tax cuts as the American people are enslaved, the minimum wage remains too low to survive on, and hard workers may be denied significant overtime pay. Those who say we must pray for and honor our troops, yet say and do nothing when the Bush administration prohibits photos of the coffins of our war dead. Those who somehow still believe that the answer to all this fighting is more fighting, that we can and should win the war on terror. Those who believe that the government had no idea September 11 was going to happen and had no way of stopping it. Those who refuse to see that they had plans to overthrow both the Taliban and Hussein before that horrible day. Those who are duped into participating in the smear campaigns on the enemies of Bush - campaigns orchestrated by Karl Rove. Those who write off critical thinkers who've read books by George Orwell and who know a bit about the people's history and who warn that we're headed for a really different way of life. Those who say we should stand by our president and who believe that those "Middle Easterners" who mean us harm are freedom haters.
The real freedom hater is George Walker Bush.
The reality of what is going on is right here under our noses. Why are people clinging to this Disney paradigm depicting a good president from a good family who leads a strong and proud nation to war?
Because then I guess they'd have to change.
Shame on you, you who follow the bouncing ball of the Bush-Rove-Cheney agenda. Wake up.
