Never Stop Running, Napalm Girl!

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Samarami's picture

Mark presented an excellent diagram yesterday of a recent and typical media sales tool (propaganda) to convince the hoi polloi to get behind additional violence and blood lust -- this time against the men, women and children of Syria.

Mark's essay and "Napalm Girl" come at a poignant time for me.

Now I've got to decide how to respond to a dear childhood friend who is a sincere but classic casualty of the lifelong indoctrination Mark so aptly outlined -- and who has been easily swayed by such disinformation. Small town "America": several political holidays every year (yes, even Dec 25 and "Thanksgiving" are war worshiping and political, including a new phenomenon called "Black Friday", with undying respect for "our-troops"). Where old geezers don moth-eaten and ancient military gear, march to the cemetery and shoot blanks from ancient M-1 rifles out into the woods while some kid tries to imitate a bugle with a trumpet. Tears in everyone's eyes. Speeches galore.

"...If-You-Love-Your-Freedom-Thank-A-Veteran..."

Taps.

Each political holiday Donna includes me in a mailing list for at least one video or pictorial presentation aggrandizing wars and "troops" that she truly believes have "...made secure our freedoms..."

Tell me about it.

Donna sent me an email this morning soliciting donations for a "Freedom Rock" (war memorial) to be placed in a small city park down home. My sister and I over the years have individually and as a family supported development of the park and its walkways and nice playground for kids. Well, seems once the mural is painted on this rock somebody has apparently dragged in,

    "...It is the goal of the Freedom Rock committee to construct a brick walkway, with the names of all veterans in the county engraved on each brick, as part of the landscape around the rock..."

That would include me.

I'm looking for a delicate but forceful way to tell Donna that I don't want my name on any brick, would sooner donate ten times the 30 frn's they want to the link at the bottom of "Napalm Girl", if that would help kids and their families recover from atrocities resulting from invasions by US "troops".

But only if they omit my name from any and all war memorial bricks.

The fine print on the foundation link, by the way, indicates they are connected with "UNESCO" -- a United Nations outfit. I wonder how much of the dough would end up in the hands of injured families.

I think Donna and a good number of my old compatriots from that part of the world have long since written me off as a crazy old rabble-rouser: "...one-a them damned anarchists Harry Reid was a’talkin’ about on the Senate Floor…”

But to describe me as "anti war" would be a gross understatement. To be “anti-war” one would need to first actually accept the legitimacy of human government systems (they just oughtn’t to be a-goin’ to war all the time…). I’m not a subscriber.

The Donnas of the world are what we’re up against, boys and girls. They would take the shirt right off their back and hand it to you if you were in need, no questions asked. They are simple, honest, sincere and generous folks.

Who would never in a hundred years understand the likes of any one of us.

But don’t go walkin' on their fightin' side. My country, do or die.

Sam