There's some powerful resentment building out here in Reality World
Horse Race 2008 and Scarlett O'Hara
By Susan Meara, A Wes Clark Democrat
I'm convinced that most of the country is finally out of touch with reality. We've been overtaken by political insanity.
It seems we can't bear the boredom if we don't have something plopped in front of us to keep us entertained 24/7/365. And if it involves the thrill of competition, so much the better. So the 2006 winners had barely finished their victory laps before the excitement junkies were pounding on their seats demanding that the next batch of horses be let out of the starting gate. And they made it happen.
I understand how sick to death we are of the Bush wrecking crew that has sullied our sensibilities with what sometimes looks like bad remakes of "Dr. Strangelove" (without the humor) and the inconvenient armless and legless soldiers who keep creeping into the corners of our beautiful minds. I, too, want it all to end. But merely changing the channel and focusing on something else isn't going to make it go away. And maybe those of us with sons and daughters in the military feel this more deeply than those who don't have a dog in the fight and can therefore view the horror of world events from a more distant and detached vantage point.
But I'll tell you this, there's some powerful resentment building out here in Reality World. When soldiers come home from months of eating sand, smelling blood and gunfire, listening to explosions, watching human flesh being torn apart, and remaining hypervigilant because their lives depend on it, and they realize that the America they left behind was preoccupied with wondering who was the father of Anna Nicole's baby and what David Geffen said about Hillary--as if there was nothing SERIOUSLY important going on in the world--they get angry. They hear the astronomical figures being discussed as "necessary" funds for serious 2008 presidential contenders to raise, they compare with their own lousy compensation and benefits, they look at the fact that they themselves have been rendered nearly invisible by an American public with an insatiable appetite for things that are more "fun"--and they wonder, where do I fit in? It's as if the whole country is having a big party and military families were not invited to it. We're an inconvenient truth. Sweep us under the rug and don't let us ruin your good time, Scarlett.
Scarlett O'Hara was an entitled aristocratic Southern belle who loved to party, dance, and be spoiled with attention. But the Civil War and its aftermath proved to be a great equalizer, and hard times forced her to dirty her fingernails and struggle along with the "poor white trash." Whenever problems threatened to overwhelm her, her coping mechanism was to put them out of her mind, "I won't think about that now, I'll think about it tomorrow." And she'd go on her merry way, achieving her ends through the manipulation of others. It reminds me of folks today who won't take off their shades and face our problems squarely, but would rather brush them aside and look for a hero to worship and he will wave a magic wand and make all the bad dreams go away. Fiddle dee dee! To them I say: maybe in the movies, but unfortunately, this is real life.
If the people who just couldn't wait to revel in the hoopla of 2008 had an ounce of sensitivity, they would be deeply ashamed of themselves. There are Americans (and innocent Iraqis) still dying every day. Electing a Democratic-controlled Congress didn't change that. A Democratic-controlled Congress may not be ABLE to change that, because another inconvenient truth is that many Democrats, like their Republican counterparts, are more concerned with their personal ambition and political futures than with what is good for the country or what will solve our problems. There are many more weak, egocentric, and self-serving elected officials than courageous, forward looking problem solvers who understand what it means to serve others. And instead of accepting this as normal and inevitable, the American people should be standing up and demanding much better. But they're not.
Oh wait. I know some people are going to take exception to that because they've jumped on the "defund the war" bandwagon. Guess what, you're part of the problem if you've put all your eggs in a basket that isn't going anywhere. This Congress is not going to defund the war any more than they're going to impeach the scoundrels who started it. They'll go around in circles for awhile, then blame somebody else, tell you they're "sorry," and life will go on. They know how short your attention span is.
There are a few of us boring, scholarly, uncool wet blankets who will not be distracted. We will relentlessly pursue those who are destroying our country and we will hold them accountable. We will rain on your frivolous parades in our search for real answers. We will demand public service from those you put on pedestals and shower with your affection. We will take back our country, with or without your help.
