“There’s an old saying in Tennessee—I know it’s in Texas, probably in Tennessee—that says, fool me once, shame on—shame on you. Fool me—you can’t get fooled again.”
– George W. Bush
If there was ever a good time for Americans to look themselves over and ask themselves, “What have we become?’, that time is now.
I’ve had enough with these fools, war-mongers, widow makers, Earth destroyers, hoarders and oppressors. Where in this world is the person of peace, the patriot who loves their country enough to not take it down the path of lost lives, squandered wealth, wasted time, falling empires and a dying planet?
So who in this country will wear the patriots ribbon and those shining medals of honor and freedom? Who marches through the streets in the homecoming parade, who kisses the lover to the cheering sounds of a grateful public? Who is the hero, the pride of the people? Who loved their country, which of us had any good sense at all? Do we celebrate, promote and reward the war criminals and Earth destroyers or do we free and reward the political prisoners, truth tellers and Earth protectors?
Let us celebrate the victory of right judgement and honest understanding. Let us celebrate the discernment of those who had wisdom, compassion, empathy enough to say no to war. They said and still say no to this dirty war with its winds blowing from the dust-bowl, oil fields of Texas, blowing the red, white and blue, dishonoring every thread in the flag of this nation, the nation with the noble goals and blood soaked books, even still, books full of lies. Columbus did not discover America and there was no unusual terror in Afghanistan not until that terror arrived in the form of an American eagle, for over 40 years, claws out, searching for and finding easy targets, prey, loot and power.
Let’s celebrate the soldier who would not fight anymore. Celebrate the ones who did not go, knowing the disgrace and shame of serving in unrighteous causes, fools missions, failed from the outset, wrong from the moment of conception, that had no goal or reason that could ever be held in the mind or the heart of a considerate or caring soul. It was nothing all along but a war of lies, fought without mercy or honor against a poor, innocent and defenseless people and there is no way of righting that wrong, not by having an organized and well scripted exit strategy not by anything that the US can do. Just get the hell out and let these people alone so they can heal in their own way.
Yes we can feel pity for those who followed along, blind following blind. Those people made their choices. But I at least cannot celebrate or respect the aggressive and oppressive efforts of the mission or the team they joined. They followed evil leaders and their personal guilt and sorrow is the price anyone pays when making bargains with cannibals, criminals such as those war mongers. We pay, one and all for signing on to do the work of empire. We all must live with the choices we make, soldiers and civilians too. We all live with the weight of propaganda and outside influences playing for space on our minds. We are all surrounded by influence, but both the noble and the corrupt. We are all deceived from time to time and all the more often for those who do not study the ways and history of the world, the history of those who sell souls for personal profit. We can make our choices, we can educate ourselves, we can heal together, we can learn to be kind. We all carry the weight of a heavy burden. We can lift-up or we can tear-down.
Let us celebrate the integrity and courage of the whistle-blower, the truth teller, the peace pilgrims who, even today sacrifice alone in hide-outs and jails, serving time for telling us what we most need to know about those events from the news, shedding truth and light so we can make right choices as we move forward. They deserve our thanks and appreciation for informing us honestly and clearly on today’s events for they, so importantly, will also, if we allow it to be told, will inform the writers of the books containing tomorrows history. With their truth-telling they save us and generations that follow from believing lies. They keep us from the folly of uneducated citizens and leaders. They have the power to keep our children and children’s children from false history in their generations and hopefully too, from being fooled again. We can hope.
Let’s celebrate the tree-sitter, the pipeline blocker, the anti-racist marcher, the real-news provider, the outsiders in schools and board-rooms who make the case for sane and sustainable lifestyles, who speak out and suffer persecution for the trees, for the waters, for the animals and flowers, for the humans and for the Earth. Let’s turn our attention, our promotions, our rewards, our trust and confidence towards those who work for the good of humanity and for the love of creation, for the love of our Earth, for the love of humanity.
Then, having done that, we can continue our celebrations and our healing. Now we can celebrate in earnest, celebrate for something right, celebrate those who have shifted the focus, attention, rewards trust and confidence onto that which is worthy of honor and respect. We can celebrate ourselves for a change and maybe throw off that feeling of shame, despair and guilt. Will we ever have enough of our mistakes and the sorrows that follow them? Let’s save the ideals that remain, if there are any ideals that remain and the knowledge of things we once held dear, truth, justice, honor and respect. Let us move now while we still can remember the meaning of integrity, courage, wisdom because indeed, the very meaning of these words has been perverted to include the worst of human traits and intentions.
Who in the course of events decides who we will hear, who we will honor and respect, who we will trust or follow if not you and me? In this time, who are the patriots, who loved their country, who showed wisdom and right thinking, who took the path of right action? Will we respond to the reality that surrounds us, will we choose to love and respect our homes enough to keep them healthy, will we love our nation enough to insist that it be a right and just nation?
Nations do rise and fall according to their ability to choose wisdom over folly, truth over lies, right action over corruption, wise leaders over fools and in this rule the USA is no exception.