And the chain e-mail begins thusly.....
I HOPE I DO NOT HEAR OF ANYONE BREAKING THIS ONE OR SEE DELETED
This is a ribbon for soldiers fighting in Iraq. Pass it on to everyone and pray.
Sleep Last Night?
Bed A Little Bumpy?
Toss and turn any...
Wish the heat was higher...
Maybe the a/c wasn't on...
Had to go to the john..
Need a drink of water...
Yes.. It is like that!
Count your blessings, pray for them,
Talk to your Creator
...and the next time when the other car cuts you off and you hit the brakes, or you have to park a little further from Walmart than you want to be, or you're served slightly warm food at the restaurant, or you're sitting and cursing the traffic in front of you, or the shower runs out of hot water...
Think of them...
Protecting your freedom!
DO NOT DELETE-PLS PASS ON-
Message from Iraq:The proud warriors of Baker Company wanted to do something to pay tribute To our fallen comrades So since we are part of the only Marine Infantry Battalion left in Iraq the one way that we could think of doing that is By taking a picture of Baker Company saying the way we feel. It would be awesome if you could find a way to share this with our fellow countrymen. I was wondering if there was any way to get this into your papers to let the world know that "WE HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN" and are proud to serve our country." Semper Fi
1st Sgt Dave Jobe
The attached photo was forwarded from one of the last U.S. Marine companies in Iraq. They would like to have it passed to as many people as possible, to let the folks back home know that they remember why they're there and that they remember those who've been lost.
Send this to 13 people in the next 15 minutes. Go.
<---------end of chain letter--------->
So after reading all that, the guilt seeped in. I mean, that was the intent, right? Well, it worked, but probably not in the way it was meant to.
I don't feel guilty that I haven't draped the stars and stripes across everthing I own or sang patriotic songs at the local church or blindly followed the edicts of the people who started this war or those who continue to perpetuate it.
And, after all I've read on the subject, I certainly don't believe Iraq had anything to do with 9-11 - despite the repeated efforts, year after year, of those who insist on confusing the issue - even after the recent conviction of Lewis "scooter" Libby and the very public revelations regarding the dirty politics of this administration - who, in deliberately revealing the classified identity of a public servent, showed they couldn't give a shit about who they sacrifice to get what they want. But that's politics as usual and I digress.
I do feel guilty that, in the four years since the Iraq war began, I haven't personally sacrificed anything for the people who really put their ass on the line - despite our president's early insistence that I go shopping and carry on as usual and simply trust them to take care of all the war business. That didn't work out so well.
I feel guilty that our leaders goals don't seem worthy of our soldier's souls, and, by my apathy and inaction, I am complicit in their suffering and their deaths.
I feel guilty that I haven't used my freedom to protest on behalf of my beliefs for fear of confrontation with the vocal minority who would like to punish me for those beliefs.
I feel guilty that all I've done is send a few e-mails to my congressmen; blog about it and bitch about it to people who already agree with me. A bare-minimum effort. And I know quite a few people who haven't even done that.
I know many of you don't agree with my take on all this, and that's your right. I'll respect your beliefs if you'll respect mine. But I'm no longer willing to be silent when somebody insinuates that I'm unpatriotic - especially if it's because I didn't forward a f@#$%ing chain letter.
But I do want Baker Company and all the vets to know that I am thinking about them, and that I do appreciate their sacrifice. I'm going to try to do more to remember that they're still out there, some of them waiting for us to step up and use the freedoms we have to help make the world a better place. Letting the war in Iraq continue indefinitely in the name of "The War On Terror", I believe, doesn't serve that purpose.
This country, and all the high ideals it was supposed to stand for, like liberty, free speech, representative democracy, the rule of law, freedom of religion, freedom to peacably assemble, freedom to keep and bear arms, freedom from unreasonable searches, seizures and forfeitures, freedom to petition our government for a redress of grievances, does have its enemies to be sure.
But I'd argue that not all of those enemies are 'dirty brown people' who live in abject poverty and continually suffer our interference in their political and economic affairs. I'd argue that some of those enemies are currently controlling the multi-billion dollar defense and security contracts, both public and increasingly private, who have a vested interest in promoting fear and insecurity for reasons that, I think, are less than patriotic.
To some, war is a great business opportunity. Cynical, but just as true now as it was in World War I. In Michigan, where we continue to suffer the economically eroding effects of NAFTA, CAFTA, and all those other trade priveleges that send millions of jobs out of the country and put billions of more dollars in the pockets of a few already wealthy business interests, we should know that profit doesn't respect patriotism. Profit only respects more profit.
Our enemies, as a free and open society, are those who want to tell us which God to worship, which books to read and which to avoid, which churches to attend, who deserves to be loved, who gets health benefits, and what your children learn about the world in which they live. And when freedom of expression crosses the line of decency into gross exploitation, we should argue about the best way to remain a healthy society and find consensus on how we should move ahead.
I believe rigid fundamentalism, whatever its origin, whatever its intent, is the enemy of all free people and leads to fascism. Once a group of people are convinced of their rightness and superiority over another people, particularly in the name of religion or nationalism, human rights go out the window and nothing but bloodshed and human suffering follow. Recent history will back me up on that.
So god help us if there's another serious stike on U.S. soil before we act in good faith to give some balance to the current thrust of violence, intolerance and insanity, because the enemies to those values we hold so dear may finally get their own way and put a lock-down of all our rights and priveleges. And this time around there will be even less public will to fight their very organized and concerted plans for the future of this country and the world insofar as it concerns their very narrow interests.
Ok, enough of my preaching. Do what your conscience demands.
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