By W.B. Dunne
The only thing that separates the thirteen dead soldiers at Ft. Hood from the thousands of nameless statistics of the past eight years is the touching recent ceremony all our media covered.
Now, it wasnt covered in order to honor in a fitting way those that died at Ft. Hoodbut rather to oil the cogs for the terrorist meme that has resurfaced in the wake of this mass murder.
The ceremony itself was sincere. That must be from rehearsing it thousands of times.
The only change is the presidents comments thankfully, they reminded me of how far we have come from the embarrassing dolt that previously occupied that office.
The return of the nauseating global war on logic can be best seen in the remarks of the dinosaur Pat Fucking Robertson. This vintage piece of work couldnt resist using the tragic reality of the deaths of thirteen American patriots to say that Islam is not a religion, but rather, a violent political system bent upon beheadings and pouring boiling oil down the throats of non-Muslims!
I recall being appalled by this patriarchal hypocrite from the first time I laid eyes on him. The sanctimonious devil plied his trade through the eighties, giving us the American Center for Law and Justice, the Heritage Foundation, and the mother of all blasphemies — the 700 Club. Televangelist Robertson’s empire is built upon the gullibility of aged Americans, putting religion in America on par with a product from Amway. Pat used to be the conduit between the churches and the GOP, but that was years ago, before they BECAME the GOP. Ol Pats illicit-gains dirty laundry, AKA The Christian Coalition, was in the news for being way behind in their bills, and then for ignoring them altogether. Along the way I lost track of that story, but I can guess the creditors got left holding the bag.
To the News Pauper, the emergence of this cretin from the hole he has been in since the credibility collapse of the G.W. Bush regime speaks to the wilderness that these politicos dwell in. That paragon of constitutional law, Monica Goodling, discredited Pats Regent University law school while demonstrating the infiltration of the religious right into the Justice Department. Pats profile on this issue attempts to restart that old junker on the lawn: fear of the “other.”
Nice society weve created here.
The number thirteen is a figure the shooter Major Hasan could not have planned. The number has been acknowledged in the symbolism of the creation of the United States. It reminds us of the thirteen original states and the stripes of our flag. It goes on from there, but there might be someone telling us something. Why not see an omen in the slaughter? Is it any different than claiming god tells us to commit even greater evils? The thing that makes me say this is the sight of those thirteen rifles and pairs of boots lined up in a row, and the sound of the names as they fell from the lips of their commander-in-chief.
America is about something, but it aint this. It isnt the cultivation of fear and blind hatred. It is not the exploitation of tragedy and the reflexive denial of anything that doesnt funnel profits to the warlords. It isnt the rejection of understanding and reason in favor of death and destruction. It isnt capitalizing on any action taken by those that are working in the direction of progress and turning it to the cause of chaos. It isnt finding fault and offering no solutions.
The News Pauper detects a silver lining in the fact that the main voices for these atrocities are relics from the last wave, such as Pat Robertson and Newt Gingrich. Imagine how pissed off John Boehner has to be after seeing the majority he sold his soul to inherit get washed away in front of him by the acts of a madman and an idiot. The next wave represented by Bachmann, Beck, and Palin are not taken seriously by the public in spite of the free press the tabloid media lavish upon them. The debacle that was the Bush Presidency has destroyed the populations ideas about creating our own reality. Cheneys post-tenure remarks place an exclamation point on that truth. History will only amplify the shame of their actions, in and after office.
Mostly my sympathies go out to those forgotten in this battle of ideology; the dead, the injured, and the shattered families forced to stomach the grotesque exploitation of their loss and pain.
Blessed Be the Peacemakers.
Contact the author at WBDunne@ltsaloon.org
2009 W.B. Dunne. All Rights Reserved.