SOMEWHERE in the White House, I'm sure cans of Lone Star were clinked together in salute to Cho and to the Supreme Court. The Executive has been under the microscope for weeks. Every sleazy deal they have tried to make has been exposed and criticized at length. The appointed, unqualified, party hacks that have been put in place to sell whatever is left of the country to big business and the war industry were being dragged into the open. It appeared that change for the better might be on the horizon.
Then, some poor psychotic chump shot thirty-two people and took his own life. At almost the same moment, the Supreme Court took us back to the days of the back alley abortion and condemned countless women to death, injury or disease. The public outrage at that decision suddenly was on page twenty instead of page one.
What a bonanza for the White House! Bush gets to shed his crocodile tears in a fancy tie for photo ops, and read statements of condolences written by unknown writers. Meanwhile torture, gulags, disappearances, slaughter in Iraq, war plans for Iran, support for the Israeli war machine, more gains for Homeland Security against We the People goes on unabated.
The American Public, with its notoriously short attention span, will read every article about the shooting victims, the endless psychological articles written by pundits on how Cho got so sick and how we should have headed it off. There will be blame and counter blame. Excuses will be made. The victims will be mourned and articles written about them and their potential contribution to the world, which has now been lost.
This is all very sad, and very true, but while it is going on, BushCo will be cutting deals under the radar while we are distracted. Miscreants will quietly be let off the hook, legislation will be twisted or amended to forward the war, the theft, the destruction of the environment. Meanwhile, in Iraq and Afghanistan, far more than thirty-two will die. Some Americans and Canadians, and many, many more Iraqis and Afghans. If that appears in the papers, it will be back near the want ads.
This same pattern has occurred every time a disaster has taken the people's minds off what the Bush regime is doing. This time will be no different. I'm sure if Homeland Security had the power they really want, the power to arrest and disappear people who, in their estimation, might someday commit a crime (however that may be defined by HS), Cho might have been apprehended. However, we have already seen how that sort of law works. Bush can go to war with any country he deems may someday, even in the distant future, not like us badly enough to threaten us, or even try to harm us.
It behooves us, as Americans, to keep our eyes firmly on the main problem in the United States today, the Bush regime, and not be distracted by other happenings, no matter how hyped or how disturbing. We can grieve with the victim's families and hope that such a thing will never happen again, but let us not be distracted by these things into letting the excesses of the Bush regime continue.
The drive for impeachment and for redress of grievances by the American People must not falter or we shall be truly lost.
Biobyte:
Stephen M. Osborn is a freelance writer living on Camano Island in the Pacific Northwest. He is a columnist for the Populist Party website and has had a number of articles published internationally. He is an "Atomic Vet." (Operation Redwing, Bikini Atoll 1956, ) who has been very active working and writing for nuclear disarmament and world peace. He is a retired Fire Battalion Chief, lifelong sailor, writer, poet, philosopher, historian and former newspaper columnist. Much of his antiwar poetry may be found on the poetsagainstthewar.org site.
Must Read (
Well Said (
News (
Touching (
Funny (
Supported (
Interesting (
Inspiring (
Valuable (
