Those of you who come here for comic reviews and couldn't care less about any of my other opinions can skip this piece. It's going to more than likely piss you off anyway.
But tonight the U.S. government is officially declaring war on Iraq (they've already launched attacks on key strategic assets in Iraq in preparation), and I have never been more ashamed of my country. I am only one voice, and I'm by no means the most well-known or educated person who will speak out against these actions, but the frustration and anger over the direction that this country has gone in since 9-11 has gotten to the point where I feel I have to vent, at least a little bit.
On September 11, 2001, the United States was attacked in a brutal, cowardly and evil fashion that took the lives mostly of civilians without warning. We were all outraged, not just in the United States, but across the world. For a brief moment in time, the mistakes the United States has made, and the crimes our government had committed, were forgotten in the name of the positive things that America offered, both symbolically and realistically, and it was said in one loud voice that this sort of behavior would not be tolerated. That terrorism would only doom the cause of those who would use it. That those who seek to destroy our culture will never succeed, because at the heart of our culture lies a freedom and idealism that cannot be destroyed, because it lives in the hearts of many around the world, not just in America.
On March 19, 2003, the United States is plunging its troops into a war in Iraq against the wishes of most of the free world. The sympathy and solidarity has turned to fear, hatred and scorn. The patriotism that many have felt has turned to fanaticism of a different kind, an ironic twist of fate. And the patriotism that some, including myself, had felt has turned to shame and anger at our government.
The Iraqis did not destroy the World Trade Center. Most of the hijackers were Saudi. This runs contrary to what 70% of the people in my country believe, according to some polls. I am boggled at the stupidity of my countrymen and women, and saddened at how easily they have been led by a manipulative regime and a corporate-controlled media.
We are better than this. Or at least, we're supposed to be.
People are burning music albums because the artist dared to express that she was ashamed that George W. Bush was from Texas, so much so that she was forced to apologize in order to save her career. Idiots light up the message boards with jingoistic slogans like "America, love it or leave it!" that should have stayed buried in the 1950s. Congressmen rename fucking food items in the cafeteria to show disdain for the French, rather than getting involved in any meaningful way in the declaration of war. Ari Fleischer and John Ashcroft go on television to tell us that we should be afraid of phantom terrorists, even though there's nothing they or we can do about it. That we should shut up and support our government, because to do otherwise is to be unpatriotic.
Speaking your mind is patriotic. Being informed is patriotic. Supporting the ideals of this country, not a narrow-minded and temporary political agenda written by zealots and half-wits, is patriotic. If you want to shut up and do what you're told, might I suggest you find something in a dictatorship or a totalitarian regime? They have a huge market for unthinking drones.
Despite all of the events that have taken place during George W. Bush's tenure, I'm still proud to consider myself an American. I'm even still proud to consider myself a Texan. But I'm finding it harder and harder everyday to justify my belief in what we're capable of being, when I see what we're actually doing instead. These days, one of the few things that keeps hope alive is knowing that in just over a year, I'll be able to cast my vote against Bush and his cronies in the next Presidential election. My hope is that more of the country will be with me than was in the last election.
Those of you who come here for comic reviews and couldn't care less about any of my other opinions can skip this piece. It's going to more than likely piss you off anyway.
