“We are, if the president is serious here, a nation that has narrowly constricted its marketable talents to the deployment of violence. We can’t manufacture much of anything, but we can kill you. We can’t fix our schools, or build adequate levees to protect a city like New Orleans from floodwaters. But we can kill you. We can’t reduce infant mortality to anywhere near the level of other industrialized nations with which we like to compare ourselves. But we can kill you. We can’t break the power of Wall Street bankers, or jail any of those bankers and money managers who helped orchestrate the global financial collapse. But we can kill you. We can’t protect LGBT youth from bullying in schools, or ensure equal opportunity for all in the labor market, regardless of race, gender, sexuality or any other factor. But we can kill you.”- Tim Wise
yes-
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May 4, 2011 at 6:26 am
And who will replace those that are killed? I would imagine the relief brought by loved ones seeing their family member’s murderer brought to justice is fleeting. They are still dead, and we are still in a war where we do not belong.
May 4, 2011 at 12:20 pm
Well said, Britta!
Have either of you heard of the project Dan Savage (often on This American Life) started called ‘It Gets Better?’ Such a great project. http://www.itgetsbetter.org/
May 11, 2011 at 9:29 am
And one of the greatest ironies is that the politicians talk about the wars as saving the US and the soldiers as heroes until they get home, wounded in body and mind—then the government ignores them. How twisted can they get?