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Edited on Sun Jun-25-06 11:44 PM by Prisoner_Number_Six
Yet another of my somewhat rambling rants that could no doubt use a few days in rewrite... -SAH
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Fireworks in America- The delicate sound of Shock and Awe
The explosions thudded. The colored lights flashed and sparkled, brightening the late evening darkness. The song "Hooray For The Red, White, and Blue" wafted across the open country. The crowd cheered. Huzzah!!! The American Nation is asserting itself as the land of Independence for yet another year!
Independence my ass.
When they make a phone call it's tapped, monitored, and taped. When they send an email it's copied and analyzed. When they have an online chat it's transcribed. If they have a recently manufactured cell phone on them it can be turned on remotely, without them even noticing it. There is a GPS transponder inside it- any person carrying such a phone can be tracked to within a couple yards! And there's a (so far unproven) rumor that if they have bought a television set at any time within the past few years an internal camera can be activated and they can be WATCHED IN THEIR OWN HOMES.
The fireworks became louder.
I was walking the dog late this Sunday evening when the explosions started up behind me- they were close, perhaps half a mile or so away. Loud, too. THUMP-whish! Thud-BOOM! I didn't look back at the colored rockets- instead I closed my eyes and in my mind walked the streets of Baghdad just as the first of the shock and awe bombs fell around me. Frightened, I felt the ground shake. Praying, I heard the explosions creeping closer all around me. Sadly, I heard the buildings rupture. Anguished, I heard the people screaming in terror. Terrified, I felt the beginning salvo of the unjustified destruction of my city and my nation. Relieved, I opened my eyes. Good. Back in Texas- I was safe from the carnage. For now.
Hooray for the red, white, and blue.
I looked it up. I Googled it. I discovered an amazing thing. Did you know the colors of our flag have no official meaning ascribed to them? That's good. That's VERY good. It would make me ashamed to know that the color of blood is officially represented in the symbol of my country, because we've become so adept at violently draining it from the innocent men, women, and children of helpless lands. And this nation has long since ceased to be the bastion of moral purity- the white is now smudged with cordite and ashes. And blue? It's been a while since America has represented vigilance, perseverance, OR justice.
What goes 'round comes 'round.
The ancient world maps had unknown territories and unsailed seas at their borders- they were marked with Hic sunt dracones. Here be dragons. There were places in the world that were considered too unknown and too frightening to contemplate. I fear those old emotions are being revisited on us right now. If I were to be in charge of designing the latest world map I would stamp such a warning across the nation of America. Beware. Here be monsters.
Who controls the present controls the past.
My father was a hero. He was wounded by a Bouncing Betty in an Italian minefield in World War II. The man who was with him- the man who stepped on the bomb- never left that field. One man wounded and one man dead in what I consider the last war that actually needed to be fought. It was the war against Fascism. It was a war against a monster that was striding across the world, maiming and killing to assert itself as a Master Race. It was a cold, calculating, unfeeling devil from the pit of Hell, and we united as a planet for the first time to stop it in its tracks.
We didn't kill the monster- we just put it back to sleep for a while. Ironically, it slept for almost exactly fifty years before awaking again. That same beast- rampant Fascism- now strides the world again. Only this time it comes from OUR shores. OUR nation. OUR beast. OUR shame.
The blood my father and his friend shed has become meaningless. That war was never won- there was just a short pause while the players regrouped and reorganized. They came back and pissed on the graves of every man and woman who shed their blood in their attempt to kill Fascism.
How do we apologize?
How do we apologize to our honored dead for that? How do we overcome that? How do we correct that? We stand and link arms. We gather together in force and raise our collective voice. THIS FAR AND NO FURTHER. We tell the cowardly politicians to find their balls or pack their bags. We yell. We scream. We DO NOT LET THEM WIN.
We are still AMERICANS.
We are, you know. We've done this before- we have to look back no farther than the seventies. A generation rose up and crushed a corrupt presidency. We can do it again, and they KNOW IT. They're trying their best to prevent it- we all know their methods. There's no need to list them here. But, you see, that's the point. We DO know them. And we have something on our side we did not have before- the world is a much smaller place than it was thirty years ago. There are men and women WORLDWIDE who will read this rant. That in itself is a power far beyond their means to ever control.
It's up to us.
It is, you know. It's in our hands. We have not just a nation, but a WORLD to save. It will be hard- many here think the Beast has all the cards. Many here perceive that the Beast has all the weapons. Many here are afraid that if they speak out they will hear that knock on THEIR door. Perhaps. But perhaps not- remember, their soldiers are running out of bullets. They're running out of manpower. They're running out of flaks willing to stay in their jobs- they are being deserted by their base and by their manpower at a prodigious rate!
Just say NO.
I will NOT give in to their bullshit. I will NOT hide under my bed. I will NOT cower. I WILL reclaim the meaning of my father's blood- I WILL help my nation, America, to regain the real meaning of the Red, White, and Blue. Remember- shock and awe never even came CLOSE to working. They do not want you to remember that. Three years after "Mission Accomplished" we're still over there shooting babies in the back of their heads. And until we rise up and say NO, it will NEVER END.
Stand, or hide. It's YOUR choice.
Comes the dawn.
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