Look, See

Hey kids, guess what? It was in the news. Did you miss it?

I just quickly looked at all of the latest posts of the younger bloggers linked from Lloyd's for a mention of or reactionto the news, but I didn't see any. None among the texts: allie, alvin, cole, daniel, danny, devin, dianne, fergus, james, jamie, jenn, jennifer, joe, joline, joseph, josh, kati, kyle, lauren, nick s., nick s.-g., ozzie, priscilla, stevie, trev, wako, yiyi; and none among the grads: aaron, alejo, amanda, bigi, cuz.aaron, fed, florence, jessica, kass, nathan, quad, robin, spark, stephanie, vikki.

Over two thirds of the House and Senate has authorized our "President," George W. Bush, to "Use Force Against Iraq (NY Times)." That means he, and he alone (though, dontcha know, he'll be gettin' expert advice, hah!) can decide whether or not the U.S. will go to war.

War? Isn't that something that happens to other people? What would war look like these days? Probably the same thing it always has. It means young people involved in dangerous, nasty, smelly, ugly, emotionally scarring scenarios of torn flesh, spilled blood, splintered bone, painful maiming, and, well, killing. You know, DEATH. As in maybe the "enemy's'" death, maybe a friend's or cousin's, maybe you're own. The End.

But that's OK. We'll all wear little flags on our lapels and stick them on our bumpers to show our appreciation. We'll say a little prayer for you and thank you for your sacrifice, Your family will get a pretty flag the sight of which will make them stand a little taller and prouder, and our President will send your family a letter of thanks, too.

In the meantime, you'll still be dead. Ouch.

Later, during a press conference or State of the Union Address the President will wrinkle his brow, and pull his lips tight and tucked in that masculine way so many of us use to show concern or sorrow, just to let you know, "I care." Try this: when your brother is trying to get the Veteran's Administration to pay for that mysterious ailment with the headaches and the achey joints and the sterility just be sure and say, "Dubya sent us!"

Oh, I'm not worried for myself, of course. I'll be safe, if only a little inconvenienced. I'm 45, too old to go to war. I'll stay at home and help pay for the war, and say good-bye and good luck to the young people I know, and then watch the body count on the news. After that I can continue to enjoy stabilized oil prices and internal combustion engines for the rest of my life. Let me say, right now, in all sincercity, thank you.

And Laura, thanks for all of your hard work. Please keep doing such a good job teaching, because those fourteen year olds are going to be needed in about four years to help keep the great malls, highways, and stadiums of the "greatest country on the face of the Earth (Bush Speaks)" safe and free for extended cable and People magazine.

But gosh, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm just overly pessimistic, being a darned spoil sport. Maybe I'm just not patriotic enough. Maybe I should take comfort in the fine words of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton on October 10, 2002 during her floor speech on S.J. Res. 45, A Resolution to Authorize the Use of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq: "I will take the President at his word that he will try hard to pass a UN resolution and will seek to avoid war, if at all possible (Senator Clinton Speeches)." Cool, the Prez will try hard. I'm glad he takes his job seriously. And thanks, Hilary, for expressing your confidence so eloquently.

Bloggers! The Free Speech Movement is not just a cafe! "There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can't take part, you can't even tacitly take part," said Mario Savio on December 2nd, 1964 (The Free Speech Movement Digital Archive). You, the weblogger between thirteen and twenty five! You're the one who is threatened. You're the one who is going to fight this war. What do you think? The Gulf War and recent Afghanistan actions were relatively brief. Lots of people died, just not so many Americans. But no one expected the military actions in Vietnam, which was a real if not legal war, to last twelve years and result in 58,156 American casualties (The History Place: The Vietnam War). It can happen again.

"War! What is it good for? It's good for business (Billy Bragg)."