don't you hate to see the letters "FWD" in your inbox? you know the emails i'm talking about. the ones that come from you aunt sadie about how god has a plan for all of us. the ones that are the equivalent of a "hang in there" poster with an absurdly cute kitten hanging desperately to a branch (yet no one ever thinks "what a cock-sucker that photographer had to be"). i'm talking about those emails that are forwarded by your old college buddy that doesn't have anything worth actually writing you about, feels a little bad about that fact, so decides to forward some piece of crap that he recieved from god-only-knows-where.
they spread around the world faster than the clap through an army barracks.
and every so often one comes along that tells you about the political leanings of your old acquaintance that you could have lived without knowing.
jump with me to read an amazing turd of a letter that ended up in my inbox today.
"Are we fighting a war on terror or aren't we? Was it or was it
not started by Islamic people who brought it to our shores on
September 11, 2001?
Were people from all over the world, mostly Americans, not
brutally murdered that day, in downtown Manhattan, across the
Potomac from our nation's capitol and in a field in Pennsylvania?
Did nearly three thousand men, women and children die a
horrible, burning or crushing death that day, or didn't they?
And I'm supposed to care that a copy of the Koran was
"desecrated" when an overworked American soldier kicked it
or got it wet? Well, I don't. I don't care at all.
I'll start caring when Osama bin Laden turns himself in and
repents for incinerating all those innocent people on 9/11.
I'll care about the Koran when the fanatics in the Middle East
start caring about the Holy Bible, the mere possession of
which is a crime in Saudi Arabia.
I'll care when Abu Musab al-Zarqawi tells the world he is sorry
for hacking off Nick Berg's head while Berg screamed through
his gurgling slashed throat.
I'll care when the cowardly so-called "insurgents" in Iraq come
out and fight like men instead of disrespecting their own religion
by hiding in mosques.
I'll care when the mindless zealots who blow themselves up in
search of nirvana care about the innocent children within range
of their suicide bombs.
I'll care when the American media stops pretending that their
First Amendment liberties are somehow derived from
international law instead of the United States Constitution's
Bill of Rights.
In the meantime, when I hear a story about a brave marine
roughing up an Iraqi terrorist to obtain information, know this:
I don't care.
When I see a fuzzy photo of a pile of naked Iraqi prisoners
who have been humiliated in what amounts to a college-hazing
incident, rest assured that I don't care.
When I see a wounded terrorist get shot in the head when he
is told not to move because he might be booby-trapped, you
can take it to the bank that I don't care.
When I hear that a prisoner, who was issued a Koran and a
prayer mat, and fed "special" food that is paid for by my tax
dollars, is complaining that his holy book is being
"mishandled," you can absolutely believe in your heart of
hearts that I don't care.
And oh, by the way, I've noticed that sometimes it's spelled
"Koran" and other times "Quran." Well, Jimmy Crack Corn
and ---- you guessed it - - - I don't care ! ! ! ! !
If you agree with this viewpoint, pass this on to all your
e-mail friends. Sooner or later, it'll get to the people
responsible for this ridiculous behavior! If you don't agree,
then by all means hit the delete button.
Should you choose the latter, then please don't complain
when more atrocities committed by radical Muslims happen
here in our great country.
I am not deleting this, I am sending it on, but only after I add:
--"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they
made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don't have
that problem." -- Ronald Reagan
I have another quote that I would like to add AND...I hope
you forward this such as I have.
"If we ever forget that we're One Nation Under God, then
we will be a nation gone under." also by... Ronald Reagan
well, where do i begin? first it stikes me that this is a sort of hate porn. sort of a "letters to penthouse" for folks just brimming with hate. and it's not like the attacks on 9/11, and the atrocities carried out by a handfull of fiends, don't make my blood boil. but with my blood boiling i still recognize that torture never "amounts to a college-hazing incident."
speaking of which, wouldn't rush limbaugh be proud? his meme, framing the atrocities at abu ghraib as "hazing", has made it into the collective unconsciousness of the mouth-breathing right. of course it was reinforced by the president of the united states' sad aging frat brother mentality.
but here is what i'm most convinced of after reading this very sincere bit of bigotry and venom. we must be tirelessly promoting a civil society, in our actions and our words, or else we won't have one. we must constantly be battling the human tendency towards barbarism and brutality, or else we will have a society that is barbaric and brutal. we must be trying every day to be a good people, or we won't be.
the right wing media machine (fox and talk radio) and this administration have taken another path. they have encouraged mean spirited name calling and labeling in the public fora. they have promoted violent and hienous retribution for any that oppose them. they have tried to legitimize and legalize brutality and torture. they have, in short, been working against a civil society.
this cannot stand. not in america.
it is the oversight stupid. without the reigns of government being pulled back by a loyal opposition party any single party tends toward corruption. this one is remarkable only in it's swift and relentless dive toward the bottom. but this party, this administration can be restrained from driving our society over the cliff and into the chasm of brutality and barbarism.
otherwise, the average citizen of our country will begin to believe the steaming piles of crap they find in their inboxes.