I Lost My Son to a War I Oppose. We Were Both Doing Our Duty
Memorial Day orators will say that a G.I.'s life is priceless. Don't believe it. I know what value the U.S. government assigns to a soldier's life: I've been handed the check. It's roughly what the Yankees will pay Roger Clemens per inning once he starts pitching next month.An indictment of both the Bush administration's reckless and failed policies, and the Democrats who chose not to stand up to him.
Money maintains the Republican/Democratic duopoly of trivialized politics. It confines the debate over U.S. policy to well-hewn channels. It preserves intact the cliches of 1933-45 about isolationism, appeasement and the nation's call to "global leadership." It inhibits any serious accounting of exactly how much our misadventure in Iraq is costing. It ignores completely the question of who actually pays. It negates democracy, rendering free speech little more than a means of recording dissent.
This is not some great conspiracy. It's the way our system works.
1 comment:
Apathy is not Acceptable
That is the Memorial Day message for me. We owe it to those who so loved this country as to give their lives to be thoughtful and loud. We cannot lay flowers on their graves only to return to our comfortable living while American values fade away. We have to fix this country.
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