I listen to a wind bag spouting off about the war every morning at work. He talks too loudly and gets too animated about leveling the middle east or any other country that the press says is “bad” these days. Given the fact that a woman within earshot had her husband shipped off to the Middle East to fight in this crummy war, I can assume that this guy’s sensitivity level is not at its highest. I know that he’s in no danger of being drafted, and I’m going to make a quick and dirty assumption that he doesn’t have a loved one running off to fight. Most of us, if given the choice between a putting a loved one in harms way over a presidential hard-on for war, and keeping that person with us, most of us would retain the loved one.

That’s normal.

To the right-wing, it’s blindly following the Republic wherever it leads, sacrificing our boys under the guise of Democracy to secure corporate freedom in a lands teaming with cheap labor. It’s making more noise, even if you’re making less sense than the other guy. It’s following an ideal that you are right, and everyone who does not agree with you is wrong. It’s conquering and preserving, rather than giving and creating.

It’s being the first to ask, and the last to give.

Most days, I just ignore the rhetoric in favor of getting some work done. Today, I heard this:

“There are 275 million people in this country. 10 million people oppose the war. 10 million people don’t mean shit.”

Using data from the 2000 U.S. Census Overview of Race and Hispanic Origin, and using this logic we can deduce that:

• If you are more than one race, you don’t mean shit.
• If you are from the Pacific rim, you don’t mean shit.
• If you are Asian, you don’t mean shit.
• Native Americans? Yea, no sorry, you’re not shit, either.
• African Americans? With 12.3 percent of the population (34,658,190), you might mean shit.
• Latinos? Sorry. With only 12.5 percent of the population (35,305,818), you might mean shit, too.

Unfortunately, I’m not sure how hard the line this guy made is between who means shit, and who doesn’t. I’ll try to get a hard, right-winged line drawn for you, so that you might get on with your lives.

In my opinion, everyone means something. That’s why war is horrific. People die. They don’t die for freedom, or pride, or honor. They die because they were placed in harms way by people who will profit from it. But, if we look at the history of this country, I think we can easily deduce that the Republic’s opinion on this matter, no matter what sound bite they give the press.

None of us really mean shit.

And Them
I find it funny that the world makes French “surrender” jokes, when they are the only country standing up to the world’s largest super power. Horribly outnumbered and outgunned, they must really believe in what they are doing to stand up to the U.S. I actually find it somewhat courageous. As Americans we always root for the underdog. It’s in our movies, books, and ingrained in our minds. Have we come so far and gotten so fat as to give up rooting for the underdog?

Or is that just another silly ideal?

Posted in Anger, Work