The news in last the few days is that the amount of violence in Bagdhad has decreased. One independent news source (foreign, of course) reported a steady amount elsewhere in the country. The spin machine is trying to say that the surge is working. As several have noted, one month of decreased violence in one city out of five years of war does not a trend make. Also, has anybody considered that the other side may have pulled back in order to lull us into a false sense that things are going right? Are they too stupid to not have any psychological acumen?
Has anybody also noticed that the number of American military deaths in Iraq has now surpassed the number of deaths in the WTC attacks? And the estimates are that more than a million Iraqis have died since we attacked them. When do we say that we're even? At what point do we back off the fight and say that it isn't worth carrying on? Unitl every terrorist is dead? That's an impossible number. Until all Iraqis are dead? That's ridiculous. Until Bush and Cheney are satisfied? Who volunteers to keep dying for that agenda?
I've long thought that since Bush and Cheney are so interested in the outcome of Iraq that we should just ship them over there, let them play their war games (not with the US military; they'd have to contract with private armies NOT at US taxpayer expense), put somebody else in the White House, and get on with our country. Bush for President of Iraq!
Some say I'm cynical. Am I? Nah. Just frustrated.
That bile out of the way, let me say that in this season of thankfulness there is much to be thankful for. That there are jobs and income and some level of comfort for most of us, more comfortable than we often stop to think about. There are so many good people in the world who go unrecognized in the day to day sensational media, political gaming, and daytime TV sniping at each other. The world is a rather beautiful place once we slow down, take a look, and overcome our stereotypes long enough to notice that this tree is an interesting shape with reasons for all its oddities, that this bird is a marvel of flight engineering and color selection, that this person has a story, too, and it is just as important and interesting as mine. Most of all, despite everything we hear and see every day, Love continues to be a strong force, obvious and subtle, that keeps everything moving forward in the world, keeps everything growing toward its potential, and makes it worth it to witness and be a part of this whole planet full of people and other beings, sentient and unaware, without which we may as well say that Hell is indeed here on Earth. Keep the spirit going, my friends.
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From the Shooting Sunset dictionary:
Car (n): a mechanical assemblage designed to extend the range of human inactivity.
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