Thursday, April 29, 2004
i agree
suddenly i feel like Jane Fonda coming home from walking the streets of Hanoi and approaching a jittery papa Henry in On Golden Pond for forgiveness.
but i'm not, really.
although i do stand corrected. many may have corrected me, on this blog, and others, including an angry Buck Downs, and you're all right about what you say.
i had already come to the same conclusions on my own, and in fact did so within that very post being quoted.
this is not a backhanded way of getting out of anything, it's direct. because if i didn't agree with any of you, i'd hold my position.
the filter was off, maybe it's rarely on.
but yes, i do realize soldiers have something to say. and i do see how you are not of course in favor of a war in support of empire which is playing itself out in a most horrific color with our tax dollars, etc.
and at the same time i'm glad you've all written. all points taken, quite seriously, to heart, mind and otherwise. and i'll say it again, you're right. i agree.
but as far as soldiers go, the real hero for me is the soldier who says no when it needs to be said, despite the cost of saying so. like Stephen Funk, who spent time in military prison for refusing to go to Iraq. his point was that he was all for being a marine to defend America, and that invading Iraq was indeed not defensive. that it was brutality of the most explosive and inexcusable nature. the NEA isn't knocking on HIS door, you can count on it.
money from the NEA sounds like a reward, to me, no matter what is said.
but this is beside the point about my saying that soldiers have nothing to say. of course that was stupid. but i'm not thinking about them as individuals, i'm thinking about them as a swarm of thugs with guns. and that's another mistake i make. because they are human beings, each of them, with their own worries and dreams, etc. it's hard to get to that point though, for me, when i watch the news (especially the very uncensored British and German news) and see American soldiers busting down doors to houses in Baghdad, with screaming, terrified women and children on the other side.
i refuse to apologize for being angry, not that anyone has said i can't be. anger is warranted and is a force that can be used as a useful tool against all this madness. was my anger being useful saying what i had said? no. i wasn't being either wise or useful. i understand that, and am glad no one hesitated to say so to me.
CAConrad
but i'm not, really.
although i do stand corrected. many may have corrected me, on this blog, and others, including an angry Buck Downs, and you're all right about what you say.
i had already come to the same conclusions on my own, and in fact did so within that very post being quoted.
this is not a backhanded way of getting out of anything, it's direct. because if i didn't agree with any of you, i'd hold my position.
the filter was off, maybe it's rarely on.
but yes, i do realize soldiers have something to say. and i do see how you are not of course in favor of a war in support of empire which is playing itself out in a most horrific color with our tax dollars, etc.
and at the same time i'm glad you've all written. all points taken, quite seriously, to heart, mind and otherwise. and i'll say it again, you're right. i agree.
but as far as soldiers go, the real hero for me is the soldier who says no when it needs to be said, despite the cost of saying so. like Stephen Funk, who spent time in military prison for refusing to go to Iraq. his point was that he was all for being a marine to defend America, and that invading Iraq was indeed not defensive. that it was brutality of the most explosive and inexcusable nature. the NEA isn't knocking on HIS door, you can count on it.
money from the NEA sounds like a reward, to me, no matter what is said.
but this is beside the point about my saying that soldiers have nothing to say. of course that was stupid. but i'm not thinking about them as individuals, i'm thinking about them as a swarm of thugs with guns. and that's another mistake i make. because they are human beings, each of them, with their own worries and dreams, etc. it's hard to get to that point though, for me, when i watch the news (especially the very uncensored British and German news) and see American soldiers busting down doors to houses in Baghdad, with screaming, terrified women and children on the other side.
i refuse to apologize for being angry, not that anyone has said i can't be. anger is warranted and is a force that can be used as a useful tool against all this madness. was my anger being useful saying what i had said? no. i wasn't being either wise or useful. i understand that, and am glad no one hesitated to say so to me.
CAConrad
