Sad, Sad...
This article made me weep...
These families have lost their sons in this war and the Secretary of Defense (or his office) ignores their letters and their calls? They who have sacrificed the most... cannot even be given five minutes?
Gold Star Families and Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld
There is a photo of Cindy Sheehan and an interesting article from "Stars and Stripes" at this website.
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Later and a bit unrelated:
All I can think... all I can deduce from my feelings and my memory is that this situation in Iraq is reminding me more and more of Vietnam.
The Gulf of Tonkin Then -- the WMD Now
The Domino Theory Then -- Evil Tyrants Now
The Arrogance of Appointed and Elected Officials Then -- and Now
War Profiteering Then -- and Now
No Exit Plan Then --and Now
Of course, there are many differences as well. One of the most stark (that immediately comes to my mind) is that the war in Vietnam was actually covered by reporters and TV journalists.
We saw the injured and the dying on our TV screens each evening.
We were even allowed to see the coffins.
Still no one really wanted to think about it. People did not wish to be bothered; that is, until it began to affect them personally...
Perhaps it was a neighbor's son or a cousin's son... until suddenly, it was the threat of his or her own son... returning in a coffin.
Yes, that's how most Americans one by one began to lose support for that war.
posted by CynLynn at 1:00 AM
2 Comments:
On the other hand, we have a thousand digital cameras in the war zone. We have Iraqi bloggers. We have an Internet that is more fertile to grass-roots movements than anything we had in the 70s.
In the 1970s nobody but Johnny and your closest friends would know how dissatisfied you are, and the same goes for 90% of us. Even those who wouldn't be bothered to get off their couches to attend a rally back then can speak out and be heard by hundreds, if not thousands of others. Your words are sitting right here on my monitor. That's pretty powerful stuff if you ask me.
How many people disapproved of [insert name of former president here]? Beats me. We only knew what the papers told us, and they only knew what the pollsters told them. Now we can find out for ourselves.
Yeah, the more things change the more they remain the same. Politics and greed will never change. But I believe the thinkers have a much better chance to make some sort of difference than they had back then.
You're right, Galoot. Thank you for reminding me of its power.
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