( – promoted by buhdydharma )
In The Things They Carried, a compelling condemnation of war every American should read, Vietnam veteran Tim O’Brien describes the physical and psychological burdens young American soldiers had to carry for 365 days and nights, through the rice paddies and hamlets of a foreign land 10,000 miles from home, haunted by the knowledge that sudden and violent death might be just one heartbeat away. . .
They carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die. Grief, terror, love, longing-these were intangibles, but the intangibles had their own mass and specific gravity, they had tangible weight. They carried shameful memories. They carried the common secret of cowardice . . . Men killed, and died, because they were embarrassed not to.
Because refusing to kill other human beings would have been so embarrassing, 50,000 young Americans went off to boot camp and came back in body bags from the Ia Drang Valley, the Central Highlands, the streets of Hue, or a sandbagged bunker at Khe Sanh. The killing went on and on, because losing that shameful war was a consequence politicians in Washington wanted to avoid as long as possible. Sitting in their plush offices, they concluded that 50,000 slaughtered Americans and 2,000,000 slaughtered Vietnamese was a bargain basement price to pay for Peace With Honor.
America’s shameful occupation of Iraq is being prolonged by politicians in Washington with the same craven disregard for the sanctity of human life. Instead of Impeaching the criminals responsible for five years of war crimes, they deny the harsh realities staring them in the face, and tell America “uplifting” war stories about that “heroic battle against terrorism” they sent the sons and daughters of other people off to fight in a country where 40 percent of the world’s oil just happens to be, instead of in Afghanistan and Pakistan where all the terrorists are.
Tim O’Brien doesn’t tell uplifting war stories. There is nothing uplifting about human beings killing each other so politicians can parade around as patriots and war profiteers can get rich . . .
If at the end of a war story you feel uplifted, or if you feel that some small bit of rectitude has been salvaged from the larger waste, then you have been made the victim of a very old and terrible lie.
The glory of war is an old and terrible lie, but it’s not the only old and terrible lie. Conservatism is an old and terrible lie. Patriotism is an old and terrible lie. The border lines drawn on maps are an old and terrible lie. Those old and terrible lies divide humanity into US against THEM. Those old and terrible lies incite fear of other human beings who look different, or say goodnight to their children in a different language, or look up at the stars at night in a different land. For more than five-thousand years, fear has been cynically exploited by “leaders”, twisted into hate, and used to wage wars of conquest.
Today, US against THEM, that old and terrible lie, is killing innocent human beings from Iraq to Indonesia, from Chechniya to Gaza, from Darfur to Kashmir, as “leaders” with ambition in their eyes and corporate blood money in their pockets destroy the lives of gentle souls who just want peace . . .
Conservatives. Patriotism. Borders. US against THEM. It’s always been the same old story. It’s always been the same old and terrible lies.
It’s hard. But it’s harder to ignore it.
As seven years of treason by a criminal president and vice-president go unpunished, as the Constitution burns, the polar ice caps melt, and the air we breathe reeks of fascism, many of us can’t help but feel like we’re carrying the weight of the whole world on our shoulders. As pfiore8 expressed so well in The Fight for America; Make It Personal, we have to make Americans understand that getting lied to, spied on, robbed blind, bled white, shoved aside, kicked in the ass, and stabbed in the back day and night by their own government presents a few indications that it might be time to get PERSONALLY PISSED OFF at those Beltway ASSHOLES who are lying to them, spying on them, robbing them blind, bleeding them white, shoving them aside, kicking them in the ass, and stabbing them in the back day and night.
Getting tired of that yet, America? I hope so.
Another 9/11 might be just one heartbeat away.
A catastrophic war with Iran might be just one heartbeat away.
A stock market meltdown might be just one heartbeat away.
A global economic crash might be just one heartbeat away.
On a somewhat brighter note, the restoration of American democracy might be less than a year away. It’s up to us. If everyone on this blog, and everyone on every progressive blog, each convinces just five Americans to quit ignoring politics and actively support progressive candidates, we can make it happen. Democracy isn’t easy, it never has been and never will be. But we all have to be the leaders we’ve been waiting for, we all have to be the truth tellers only a few people in Washington have the courage to be.
In The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien writes that when Norman Bowker came home from Vietnam, he knew no one in his hometown could handle hearing the truth about the war or anything else.
The town had no memory, therefore no guilt . . . It did not know shit about shit, and did not care to know.
Too many conservatives don’t know shit about shit, and do not care to know. They exist in an US against THEM world. Too many Americans don’t know shit about shit, and do not care to know. They exist in self-imposed isolation from politics, too cynical or self-absorbed to realize the damage being inflicted on all of us because 50 million Americans are just like them, too cynical or self-absorbed to take their responsibilities as citizens seriously.
Meanwhile, their “leaders” are torturing and warmongering and whoring themselves for K-Street cash, and telling anyone who dares to mention the Constitution to shut the fuck up.
Welcome to the land of the free and the home of the brave. Please excuse Lady Liberty, she just can’t bear to watch any more. She dropped her torch long ago and will be curled up in a fetal position any day now.
How can we try to explain?
Like Tim O’Brien, we have to understand the fundamental importance of unifying people through stories:
Stories are for joining the past to the future. Stories are for those late hours in the night when you can’t remember how you got from where you were to where you are.
Here in America’s late hours of the night, as we wonder if dawn will ever come again, we’re joining the past to the future in our essays, poetry, videos, and comment threads. It’s how we’re remembering how America got from where it was to where it is now, it’s how we’re trying to unite everyone who comes here to Docudharma, it’s how we’re trying to do our share to help restore democracy, so America’s future will be in harmony with America’s past.
Blog the future with us.
Share your story with us.
Be an American who cares, so other Americans will care.
Be the leader you’ve been waiting for, so when your heart beats for the last time you’ll know you did everything you could to give peace a chance.
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breaking… but NOT broken.
{ { { Rusty } } }
but it can still be scarred deeply.
I have read that Tim O’Brien book, it was incredible, I seem to remember reading something else by him. He is one of those ultra good writers who gets lost in the shuffle because he doesn’t write about clever cops tracking serial killers or middle aged women “finding themselves” a la Oprah. ( I can dis the whole middle aged woman finding herself genre because I am one, I am insulted it always ends with romance.)
Enjoyed your thoughts…. as always. You do barely controlled anger very damn well.
thank you from the bottom of my heart for this essay.
http://www.umkc.edu/bkmk/catal…
Last Lambs: Poems of Vietnam
by Bill Bauer
more at link
Imagine…
in traffic yesterday, stopped at a light. the guy in the lane next to me had John Lennon’s “Imagine” blaring. Must have realized it, because all of a sudden the volume was turned down. So, I rolled down my window and started singing the song.
Now, my singing is a very bad, screechy, broken-note imitation of Janis, but i sing with gusto, so you can ‘imagine’ (heh) the outcome. The guy ignored me and didn’t turn his sound back up!
what a chicken. we coulda made a statement, right there in traffic!
The title of Robyns essay The Calling of Names
https://www.docudharma.com/show…
was driving me crazy because it reminded me of something that I couldn’t place. Reading Rusty now…it finally hit me:
http://www.solearabiantree.net…
First I read that five more US troops were killed in Iraq on Monday, then read this diary: My Pet Goat II, Pres. Sticks to Story as Military Crumbles Around Him.
Next, I read Rusty’s diary. Thanks for the inspiration and the reminder that things won’t change unless we work to change them. I think today would be a good day to call Congress members, including the candidates and remind them that “change” isn’t just a word.
Sometimes I don’t know how much more it can take, but its a sturdy organ, and can take a lot of heartache and keep on beating. I won’t give up until I’m dead.
One of our representatives who is trying to change things now, Rep. Wexler just posted Bush’s State of DisUnion
Rusty–sorry to break in on you essay with this, just thought everyone interested in change would like to know that Rep. Wexler’s still fighting for change.
but I just wish someone would explain to me how to do this:
Because I’ve been trying for years and it’s not working. Not with friends who are lifelong Democrats or with family members who fall in the crackpot conservative camp. And the truly bizarre thing is that they all complain endlessly about various issues, but not one single one will actually do anything about it, other than maybe show up to vote.
The Democrats are so cynical that they don’t think anything they do will make a difference. Just yesterday, some guy was talking about his brother, a longtime supporter of liberal politicians and causes, who told him not to bother voting because all the machines are rigged!!
And the conservatives are scared sh*tless they’re going to be going to the Wal-Mart in a burka or have to name their kids Mohammad if we don’t elect someone who’s “strong on defense.”
Between the two of them, I’m ready to join Lady Liberty in the fetal position. But if anyone has any suggestions, PLEASE feel free to post them. Other than taking a few hostages at gunpoint, I don’t know how to get anyone’s attention anymore.
My heart is my drummer. As long as it keeps up the beat, I will too. And being tired never stopped me either, so it won’t now. But I can’t remember every being this tired and sad before.
During Vietnam it seemed that bringing them home would relieve the sadness and halt the destruction. It wasn’t true but that knowledge came later. Now I know destruction is everywhere, gaining on us. There are lives to save and a Constitution to repair, and so much amoral power determined to kill people and gut principles.
All I can think of to do is to keep marching to my sad, tired drummer.
and it is broken wide …….
but hey midnight is promised to no one……
so lets push the envelope…..
before they lick it and seal us in……
past seven years, but it is still beating!
Can you imagine Americans being awakened by the shock and awe of foreign bombs being dropped over our country and then, “deathly” occupation?
I think there are probably Americans who are aware, more than we know. I’ve tried over the years to engage in conversation on anything and everything to do with the war, domestic issues, etc., mostly, to no avail — instead, many people just turn and look sheepishly away. It really means that they don’t want to deal with, be bothered or concerned about it — often, it’s because they can’t deal with it — it’s not in their personal nature to deal with much of anything, outside of themselves. Look at a simpler example, suppose you tell someone you know that a mutual friend is gravely ill and, that person responds, “oh, I’m sorry to hear that” and then walks away. There are many such people. This is part of the problem. And other dismissals, such as, “let me know if there is anything I can do” — we’ve all heard that, I’m sure. But it really is a dismissal meaning “I don’t want to talk about it.”
~~~~~~~
In between trying to wake up Americans, we need to keep Impeachment first and foremost in our efforts — Kucinich is introducing Article of Impeachment for Bush today — he needs and deserves our support; Wexler grows stronger each day in his calls for Impeachment and there are many, many others. These are the people who are helping US, we need to help them.
And, as you say, the war drums are beating for Iran, as we speak, and heaven knows how much other is already planned, and yet to be implemented.
Think of how “constructively” the money that has been used for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq could have been spent! Only those with alterior motives would want war!
Well, since I’m already depressed, what’s a little more depression, and on that, I’ll say you’ve done an excellent job in an attempt to portray humanity, anywhere, and it’s horrors of war. Well done, Rusty!
You’re right — optimism is an easier sell than “you’re an idiot, what is wrong with you?”
Also, as the economy sinks slowly in the west, people might start waking up and looking for something they can feel hopeful about.
And if that doesn’t work, then it’s time to lock and load.
I was shaking my head up and down for each comment. We have lots of smart, caring people here. Thank goodness we found each other.
The Things They Carried many years ago. It made quite an impact on me.
Your statement:
hits home with me. My mother, who has basically believed everything Fox and Rush have told her the past 15 years, flat out told me that she didn’t want to know what was going on, and this was after complaining about the way things are! I think she loved the idea Rush sold her that she didn’t have to do anything but listen to him. She is starting to come around a bit but, geez, they’ve sure ingrained a lot of crap into her.
Thanks for the great essay and for reminding me of that book.