Saddam Hussein has been captured alive. More than thirteen years after he and his bloody invasion laid waste to our Kuwaiti stability, the evil dictator was caught hiding out in a subterranean cavity. The mighty and rich one looked like a train wreck - filthy, emaciated, utterly contemptuous, and held in the searching hands of a US military doctor. What a turn of life for one of the most "powerful" men on earth.
My father is overjoyed - the leader of his captors is now a hostage himself. A nice twist of fate, don't you think? Yes, dad, you can now enjoy your sweet revenge. I cannot, however, feel peace over this moment in time. After listening to the self-congratulatory pats on the back and Attaboys of the so-called liberal news media, I had to turn of the television and play some jazz to clear my head. "It's a new day for America." Really? Now that he is in custody, is Saddam going to put our economy back in order, bring about corporate accountability, stop the barrage of stupid laws being passed, and revive our jobs? His capture cannot even stop the violent threat of Al Qaeda activities the world over, which is what started this whole thing. Yet, people dance in the streets as if their problems are solved. What they don't see is that this may be just the starting point for that which cages us. No matter how many Saddams are caught and "brought to justice," the matter still remains that this country can easily suffer the same fate as the nation we now purport to rescue from the throes of an evil dictatorship. While the Iraqi people cowered and died at the hands of misused power by one man, the collective arm of the ruling few may oppress us. An oligarchy by any other name is just as foul. This is why I feel sick while the rest of the world parties over finding a man whose time is over.
Any country that places more importance and funds on building up a military than an educational base is headed towards irrational jingoism, the kind that can fuel holocausts. If that country also finds its devil in one group of people to single out and hate, watch out! It starts like this and rolls down a slippery slope towards all out censorship and military rule. Call me paranoid, but if a large segment of the American population can overwhelmingly approve of its president just because his forces succeeded in fishing Saddam Hussein out of his hole, which has absolutely nothing to do with the happenings of 9/11 and the state of our economy, this country is in deep trouble. How many more wrong trees do we go bark up, take down, and cheer over before we feel good about ourselves again? Exactly what purpose does this serve? Tell me that because of this, Al Qaeda will quit terrorizing our nationals at home and abroad. Go ahead, tell me that all of these wars will fill up our treasury and that companies here at home will start caring about their employees and creating American value while our leaders are away, after having given free range for the mice to play. I dare you to explain to me how the public-school children of this country are going to thrive and be educated first-world citizens of tomorrow, when more and more of their money goes towards the "democracy" of Arab nations that they cannot even find on a map. Someone please, please show me why we use war as a method to export democratic principles to foreign lands, when we do not even wish to practice them at home.
Fascism attains power by military might, and more importantly, the blessing of the people. Inadequacy and nationalistic self-righteousness brought more than just Saddam Hussein to the throne - there were Mussolini, Idi Amin, Hitler, Pol Pot, Stalin ... the list goes on. Social will granted these beasts the authority to lay waste to human ideas, dreams, lives, and hopes. In celebrating our modernity, we forget that our kind is as capable of sanctioning this kind of behavior in our leaders, if not more so. We are a people of physical stuff; we surround ourselves with things rather than concepts and deeds. Civilization and the abstract are lost on those of us who crave validation by identity with things. (Is ladder-climbing the highest subtlety we can achieve?) When we don't get these things, there are always the ambitious who point out to us that that is not our own doing, but certainly the fault of some other party. "Our economy is in shambles because of those Jews ... Jobs are being stripped away by those foreign immigrants ... I can't find work because of offshore outsourcing ... My life sucks because of the Arabs." Don't tell me that Al Qaeda or Saddam Hussein emptied our treasury, left us in debt, and made an economy of unemployment. Our own political and corporate heads did that.
Again, did we really capture Saddam Hussein? We are going to turn him over to the Iraqis for them to do as they see fit. According to them, he is to get a trial next summer that may or may not be internationally televised. Welcome back to the Bush Catch and Release show! On today's program, our forces go through the trouble of pulling the snake out of its hole, and our government turns around and hands it back to a chance for escape and freedom. Everywhere I look in this affair, I see shades of Noriega, Marcos, and Duvalier. (For a fascinating rundown of the fates of ex-dictators, see the Where Are They Now? website.) I hope whatever small shred of victory the Iraqi and American people see in this occasion does not turn into a travesty. Unfortunately, history and bad habits do have a tendency of repeating themselves.
It's time to quit falling over our tongues in small talk and to use them in asking sharp questions about the fate of our nation. If the government infused as much time and care into the future of its own populace, Americans wouldn't need the capture of a two-bit tyrant to distract us from what is really important: reclaiming the United States of America from the infection within. Be gone, Saddam, and take your nation's woes with you; our country needs all the help it can get. I wish it were as simple as that.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3050133.stm
According to the above news article, "Thailand [prepared] to cremate more than 1,000 giant cockroaches - and then hold a traditional Buddhist funeral to appease their owners."
I rest my case that my idea for becoming the "Official Roachbuster of the City of New Orleans" holds water. Seriously, folks, the next proposal is a letter to El Presidente asking for Dept. of Defense funds to eradicate the roach from southern Louisiana.
"I maintain that roaches are a major threat to the peace and security of a vital port of the United States of America. There are roaches in Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan, there are roaches in New Orleans. Therefore, roaches are members of Al-Qaeda and should be removed from American soil by all means necessary. They have the ability to deftly infiltrate homes "protected" by pesticide, plastic sheets, and duct tape, and pose a clear and present danger to the youth of this country yearning for freedom, fast cars, booze, etc. Currently, the Roach Alert in NOLA is at the "Burning Chartreuse" Level. Please send hard cash."
I am even willing to hold a Jazz-Buddhist funeral for said beasts. And, sadly enough, El Presidente may actually send me the moolah with which to do it.
Ye Olde Christmas Tree went up last night. Well, two-thirds of it did. It turns out that our home does not have enough free surface area to house an entire tree. I'm getting older, and am moving into smaller and smaller places. Doesn't make sense. But the tree must go on. Shiny baubles must be put up. "Why?" D asked. "Why do you insist on erecting a symbol of a religion you have and want nothing to do with?"
Let's get certain things straight: A Christmas tree is not a symbol of Christianity; that's what a cross is. However, the tree is representative of Christmas, which started out standing for the time allotted to celebrate Christ's birth, but ended up becoming the season of great googlaphonic you'll-only-need-the-edge Consumer Mania. Shopping has naught to do with Christmas, so why should my putting up a tree be any different? To the point: Regardless of the market usurping Christmas, there still is the denial-ridden question of the time of Christ's birth. He wasn't born on December 25th, and probably came into this world closer to September or October. Also curious is the strong possibility that the decorated perennial is actually a symbol of a long-forgotten pagan celebration that Christians took over by overprinting it with the birth of Christ. Move Christ's birthday to stamp out the existence of a popular heathen festivity, that's the ticket.
I'm taking back the decorated tree. In my home, the Christmas tree pays homage to the lost pagan celebration and to the Judeo-Christian Christmas, but also stands for the celebration of being American. This includes being able to put up anything in your home regardless of your faith, sex, or nationality, and hanging beautiful, shiny objects from it because I appreciate and bought them.
Just yesterday, I ran into and talked with a couple from Milwaukee, WI, and the conversation eventually turned to my origins. They laughed when I told them that, despite not having lived here all of my life, I was "born to be a red- blooded American." I was, and I am. I just don't feel that I have to be white or born on this soil to exert that desire. America has so much to offer people that yearn for freedom and equality. With our ever-increasing ties to the rest of the globe and opportunities to understand our true identity, this would be a good time to emerge from columns and boxes. A time to acknowledge that American is a heterogenous creature with a little from every culture and religion that has graced this country's shores.
The Christians engulfed an ancient observance, and in turn The Big Holiday Buying Frenzy outstripped Christmas. Ironic, isn't it? From the classifications of White, Black, Christian, Pagan, etc. to Consumers - going from one box to another. This might sound a bit odd coming from me, but keep the Christ in Christmas. Please give as much as you can to someone who has less than you; buy a toy for a poor kid, help out your local homeless, and stop whinging for one day to send feelings of empathy and goodwill to all that suffer the world over. That is really the closest we can get to godliness on this earth.
Good tidings of the season, y'all!