USA, Nazi Germany - Not Equivalent

A post on another thread led me to want to (be a windbag) talk a little more than would be appropriate in a comment so I started this new thread-

DP-
I do wonder though - when I am working - if all of us sods just going through the daily grind aren't out of step with what history may consider a priority: namely trying to stop the American empire from killing more people in the name of whatever.
Citizens of Germany kept on keeping on with daily life despite the horrors going on in their back yard during the Holocaust. It's not as hard to fathom such a blind turning when I notice how unwilling I am to stop my regular life and dedicate myself to fighting injustice.

I don't think that we are morally equivalent to German Nazis. It is an entirely different situation. We, (the USA) do things wrong, we blunder around in the dark and step on people. Sometimes the people in power here do things they ought not do. Sometimes the rich use their influence to get richer on the backs (and the blood) of the poor. While this is despicable behavior, I have to point out it is signifigantly different from systematically "purifying" a nation of undesirable people. We should also remember that even good Germans who might have stood up against what was happening were kept quiet at the end of a gun.

That said, yes, we are responsible for the crimes commited in our name. What is done is not a result of our leaders being evil men. They are decent men (for the most part) who sometimes (usually) excercise terrible judgement.

We should stand up and shout down those who believe bombing other people makes us safer. Did it make Muslims around the world safer when men bombed us in their name? I remember how angry I was when New York was attacked, I wanted retribution. (still waiting for Osama's head on a stake) Likewise, should we expect it to make us safer when people are bombed in our name? Are they not men like us? Will they not cry for vengeance as well? We are not the only people with bombs and bad judgement you know, and it doesnt matter if it's in a backpack or a million-dollar missile, it does the same thing.

It is easy to forget that there are people like us under those bombs. In Albuquerque, I would see the different fighter planes fly overhead, practicing their attack runs, and sometimes I would break down, because I could empathise with someone like me being on the wrong end of that terrible weapon because he lived in the wrong part of the world and had to go to work that day, or someone on his street was an enemy of the USA.

I had to chuckle when I read "dedicate myself to fighting injustice." Not that it isnt a noble idea, I just couldn't picture myself in tights and a cape. It's interesting that all people everywhere hate unfairness and injustice until they are on the winning side of the equation. At that point it becomes "the way it has to be" and "a necessary evil," or worst of all, "not something I think about."

So the question is- What can we do?

Do we vote for one set of oligarchs over another? Even if the last elections went the other way, Americans would still be dying in Iraq and Iraqis would still suffer under the religious extremism that our invasion brought to the surface there. Do we go to places where US policy has made a mess in our name and try to fix it? How? Is taking advantage of a mother's grief and camping out in front of W's vacation home going to help? Do we go to church and stand up and shout when the preacher supports war?

It's hard to find a way to make any difference at all, so in our impotence, we "just don't think about it," and go about our lives, no gun-pointing necessary.

Gem Sweater

In case you missed it posted below- do yourself a favor and watch this.

Git Off M'land! (gunshot)

Land owner Larry Mattlage looks out from his ranch across the street from Cindy Sheehan's camp near Crawford, Texas, Sunday, Aug. 14, 2005. ...Mattlage says that the protestors should go home and he will continue to fire his gun until they do... (AP Photo/LM Otero)

The president of the United States should not live in Texas. The Washington Post ran this picture of the president's neighbor, who fired his shotgun to try to drive away some people camping near his property.

I have had so many neighbors just like this dimwit. It just burns his ass that a bunch of no-good protesters are hanging around 40 miles from his house. (ranches are big in Texas) Maybe he's afraid they'll rustle his cattle. Some of the more paranoid bloggers accuse him of being a government agent. I doubt it, he's too much like everybody I know from Texas.

The protesters are there in support of Cindy Sheehan, a woman who's son died in the war. She is hanging around waiting for the president to tell her what the "noble cause" is that her son died for. Get in line babe, we're all waiting for that one. Personally, I'd settle for an ignoble cause- oil, imperialism, whatever, just spell it out, because there's a lot of us who aren't following the administration's logic on Iraq.

The people hanging around "supporting" her are using her grief-induced anger for political gain, and really ought to be ashamed of themselves, but aren't. They've drawn counter-protesters who wave flags and say the protesters are traitors, they also really should be ashamed of themselves, but aren't. Of course the whole crowd makes the local hillfolk mad enough to shoot.

What I really want to know is: this Sheehan woman, the people there with her, the people accross the street waving flags, Gomer over there with the shotgun, most of all, the president of the United States-- Doesn't anybody work in August?

Teenage Boys Still Dopey, Teenage Girls Still Mean

From Popbitch:

A love-struck teenager made a webcam video
to impress a girl. Someone put it on the net.

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/aicha.html

GellieMan, the teenager who made the video, has got a very long week at school coming. The video is entertaining, the way girls gone wild is entertaining. Taking advantage of the naive is always a gas.

GellieMan, it looks like your girl posted your video. Next time, try to fall in love with a nice girl who won't taunt you in front of the entire world.

Meanwhile, here in jaded-grownup-land, we are going to watch your video and laugh at you. Don't be too embarassed, we've all been there, and now that you're famous, you might even get some tail! Older women will totally dig your vulnerability, and they are easier to get into bed anyway.

Finally, GellieMan, you need to do one thing in your quest for female companionship. Redecorate your bedroom. You will remain a virgin as long as you have Minnie Mouse in your life.