Today the Star leads with a story about local reaction to last night’s speech by President Bush. Through this blog, through magazine articles, talks with a few friends in the military and a casual conversation with a soldier on leave as we both looked at big ass blondes dancing at America’s Pub I’ve come to learn that their (the soldiers) biggest pet peeve is not differing views regarding the merit of the conflicts in Afghanistan or Iraq but rather that life at home simply goes on as if we were not a nation at war.
Think about it, were it not for this interruption into horrible summer prime-time programming, American television watchers (i.e. voters) would much rather speculate about the impending divorce of Nick and Jessica or troll the internet for naked pictures of Angelina Jolie than learn more about establishing democracy in formerly theocratic/dictatorial regimes. Remember that less than a few weeks ago most of America was glued to the tube waiting for the verdict in the Michael Jackson case.
Still, the insurgency, the merits of democracy, winning hearts and minds of Iraqis is too complicated for me to even pretend to understand. Around KC, the (honest) opinions exchanged on this topic are pretty much limited to two camps: “Fuck Bush” or “Fuck you hippie.” Round these parts, it’s pretty much a mistake to believe that most people don’t support the troops, the war and the President. We’re not talking about well spoken people who can provide intelligent quotes for newspaper hacks but rather I’m referring to the average citizen of KC and the outlying area who sweat for a living and spend most of every day getting taken advantage of by an economic system and government for which they would gladly give their lives and the lives of their children.
And that’s the real question: When are the rank and file Republicans who handily won the last election going to start having second thoughts? Sadly, like most things it’s just a question of numbers. Isn’t it always a bit depressing that life and death always boil down to numbers? Cholesterol counts, t-cell counts, crime reporting statistics, traffic accident figures and now the ongoing body count in the “War on Terror”; to live as an American is very much like living under the watchful eye of an insurance premium adjuster.
Right now, the list stands at nearly 2000 soldiers dead while participating in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. It will no doubt take several thousand more deaths before the objectives become blurred by the carnage that simply isn’t letting up. And more than likely, more than a few of those soldiers will be from Kansas City.
Related:
Hostile Fire May Have Downed U.S. Copter
Iraq Car Bombs Kill Shiite Lawmaker, 2 GIs
Think about it, were it not for this interruption into horrible summer prime-time programming, American television watchers (i.e. voters) would much rather speculate about the impending divorce of Nick and Jessica or troll the internet for naked pictures of Angelina Jolie than learn more about establishing democracy in formerly theocratic/dictatorial regimes. Remember that less than a few weeks ago most of America was glued to the tube waiting for the verdict in the Michael Jackson case.
Still, the insurgency, the merits of democracy, winning hearts and minds of Iraqis is too complicated for me to even pretend to understand. Around KC, the (honest) opinions exchanged on this topic are pretty much limited to two camps: “Fuck Bush” or “Fuck you hippie.” Round these parts, it’s pretty much a mistake to believe that most people don’t support the troops, the war and the President. We’re not talking about well spoken people who can provide intelligent quotes for newspaper hacks but rather I’m referring to the average citizen of KC and the outlying area who sweat for a living and spend most of every day getting taken advantage of by an economic system and government for which they would gladly give their lives and the lives of their children.
And that’s the real question: When are the rank and file Republicans who handily won the last election going to start having second thoughts? Sadly, like most things it’s just a question of numbers. Isn’t it always a bit depressing that life and death always boil down to numbers? Cholesterol counts, t-cell counts, crime reporting statistics, traffic accident figures and now the ongoing body count in the “War on Terror”; to live as an American is very much like living under the watchful eye of an insurance premium adjuster.
Right now, the list stands at nearly 2000 soldiers dead while participating in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. It will no doubt take several thousand more deaths before the objectives become blurred by the carnage that simply isn’t letting up. And more than likely, more than a few of those soldiers will be from Kansas City.
Related:
Hostile Fire May Have Downed U.S. Copter
Iraq Car Bombs Kill Shiite Lawmaker, 2 GIs
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