With our soldiers, men and women, off to fight for our freedom and the freedom of Iraq, I wanted to do more than attend a demonstration. (I did one last week in Chicago and we were circled by police in riot gear and moved, literally smashed like sardines and moved, to a different area to be controlled. It was very frightening, especially after the recent e2 incident where people were crushed in a crowd. ) I want to know why we are doing this, and to that end I have decided to put my efforts into my art. To paint something, anything, is to get to gain intimate knowledge of it.
I am a war zombie. I watch CNN, C-SPAN, FOX, and ABC. I am seeking answers.
I have no taste for blood. It seems to me that an intellectual resolution could have been possible. Squabbling over the fence and threatening to sue doesn’t seem to mean much when the other guy is blasting the Iraqi landscape off the map.
I am wishing peace.
P.S. If you would like to know how oil-well fires are put out, check out “Hellfighters” starring John Wayne playing Red Adair.
P.P.S. When the Afghanistan War happened I kept asking, “Where is the war coverage?” I wonder why there was so much pomp and circumstance with this war? And is this war about terrorism? What did we do in Afghanistan besides blow it up? If you haven’t accomplished your first goal (martyring Osama bin Laden) why are we starting a new fight?
P.P.P.S Do you know that in 1991 in a war lead by Bush the Elder, we abandoned the people? And the people were starving, they looted the artifacts from the cradle of civilization, so they could survive. Wealthy people all over the world now have these priceless treasures in their possession. Hopefully they are caring for them so they can be restored to Iraq after this war establishes peace for these people. If you would like to know more about the artifacts, go HERE
Remember the Iraqis are more like you, than different from you. We all want food, water, shelter, knowledge, and FREEDOM.
Another thought...
Actually, truth be told, my major concern, regarding current world events, lies beneath the Iraqi War of 2003 brought forward by Bush the Younger.
I am concerned when my government wants to usurp The Bill of Rights and take away the Freedom that America is based on. Our strength in the world is our Freedom. And although the system can spin apart and have a President that did not get the popular vote and isn't that well-schooled, still we can enjoy what it is to be a country where men, and now women, have fought to secure that Freedom.
This whole pre-emptive strike has me exasperated. Wasn't it our former president Ronald Reagan, the Republican who said ketchup was a vegetable for school lunches, who also used the term TRICKLE-DOWN Theory when he gave breaks/money to the wealthy and said the benefits would "trickle down" to the middle and lower classes?
(BTW, for all Nuevo Riche, with money comes responsibility!)
Anyway, it is with the word pre-emptive that I am the most concerned. First of all, in the world arena, there are countries that already have WMD. Look to Pakistan, India, Great Britain, the Soviets, and Korea…coming soon. Are we willing to take on EVERY country that displays irresponsibility? Has Iraq made direct threats toward us? Plus Iraq is not the only country where the people are treated like nothing. And if you want an animalistic regime taken out, what about mercenaries?
The greater question is this: If the pre-emptive idea trickles down what happens to America the country of FREEDOM?
It collapses just like the USSR did. We will become accusatory. We will execute people for what they MIGHT do. "When you were 14 you stole a video game." BANG! Gone. One of the most beautiful things about life here is that you can grow up and remake yourself. You can become better.
To live a life where everyone is a suspect and where Miranda rights don't exist is unimaginable.
We must above all go toward a healthy spirit. Peace.
Day Thirteen, Fourteen, Fifteen
Day Sixteen, Seventeen, Eighteen
Day Nineteen, Twenty, Twenty-one,
Day Twenty-two, Twenty-three, Twenty-four
(update:very late December, 2003)Where is the media?
There is a war waging and we hear more about Hollywood than we do the battle. And it is a battle where people, living, breathing human beings are maimed and killed.
Early on the administration asked the media to respect the families of the fallen and NOT show the caskets coming home. Bullshit! We the people of the United States need to see those caskets being taken off the plane. We need to connect with what is actually happening. How would it be disrespectful to see the casket (it is closed) and have a name read? If anything it would be the opposite. It would demand respect from Americans. It would force us to see that a person has fought and died to protect our country, to protect each and every one of us. It would give the soldier and the family the ultimate respect that they deserve.
It is horrendous how there is so little talk about the war. Most people shush me when I bring it up.
Where are the reporters/journalists? Out coifing their hair? Getting the latest plastic surgery? Out buying trinkets with all of the cash they are piling up? Just how shallow have we become? Losers all of us…and not in a good way.
The 60s radicals asked for a revolution against BIG BUSINESS and the rule of the wealthy. Obviously that failed. Ha! And all of you trot around in your denim. Do you know that the hippies took to wearing denim because it was the clothing of the workers? You don't even get it. You all gave up your souls. You all suck the corporate tit. Poor you. Go buy something so you can make yourself feel better, then watch Rich Girls, The Simple Life, and hang onto every word of some scatter-brained celebrity about what they are buying each other for Christmas, and wowOwow, maybe if you work a few more hours you can buy it too (okay not the REAL thing but a damn good pricey knockoff that will make you feel rich)
Lastly let me ask you one thing: At Thanksgiving when you went around the table and gave thanks (you at LEAST did that part right?) did you even bother to thank the troops? Bet you didn't.
I did all of that plus at the Christmas dinners when someone said the blessing I added, "... and Godspeed for the return of our soldiers who are making huge sacrifices for our country."
It still didn't help me connect with the full brunt of this war.
Update 3/04...over 500 dead, no WMDs, many lies, too many smirks, all very sad, and PREVENTABLE...please remember.
Other Sites
The Day America Stood Still
War...October 7, 2001
Comets At Dawn
Lady Liberty Stumbled...
Look Into My Eye...The Freedom Paintings
Hot American Girls
BookHead
Miniature Golf: It Saved America &...
SAVE U.S. Pain Tings
