Some days are just too much to handle. For me, this is one of them.
- I scan the news online and find a story written after the bombing of Nagasaki that was censored by the US military and is just now being released to the public – the story of the mysterious Disease X.
- I read a touching account and a warning written by Ron Kovic, Vietnam veteran and subject of the movie Born on the 4th of July about the parallels between the Iraq and Vietnam wars and the effects on the veterans.
- I watch CNN’s Wolf Blitzer’s Late Edition where the poll question is whether the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay should be closed, despite the fact that Halliburton has just been awarded a $30 million contract to rebuild it. Wolf forgot to mention that.
- I find an AP story that details how the FBI promoted personnel based solely on their leadership skills, ignoring their lack of knowledge about terrorism after 9/11.
- I watch an interview with Curt Weldon (R-PA) who is promoting his new book in which he purports to prove that Osama bin Laden is in Iran – based on the intel provided by an Iranian who has already been discredited by the intelligence community. And I continually remain concerned about all of this saber rattling directed towards Iran. Then I read that Porter Goss says that he has an “excellent” idea about where OBL is and it’s not in Iran, Mr Weldon.
- I see Condaleezza Rice touted as the mistress of Middle East peace between the Israelis and Palestinians and have absolutely no trust or confidence in her efforts.
- I see the US military conducting air strikes in Afghanistan, killing 15-20 militants when I thought that war was supposed to be over and I worry about the Canadian peacekeepers over there.
- I read about yet another suicide bombing in Iraq that has killed 23 people and wounded 36.
- I find that Rush Limbaugh is selling Club Gitmo t-shirts.
- I visit antiwar.com daily and read the stories about each American soldier who has died.
- I read daily about the abuses of power foisted on the American people by the Republican party and I see no way to hold them accountable with the GOP in control of every branch of government.
I can count my blessings. I can recognize that I’m exhausted. I can realize that after weeks of rain and flooding, the sun is shining and I can once again go outside for a while. I can go back to sleep. I can have a good breakfast. I can change the channel. I can take a day off from reading the news. I can turn off the TV. I can read a book. I can watch a movie.
What I can’t handle is that I have those choices, while so many millions of others must live through all of what’s going on and that they have no escape.
That is my sorrow.
