commitment to a cause

Had a long talk with my little brother yesterday about the direction this country is headed. We have unbelievably different perspectives (he's a Marine, weapons scare the crap out of me), but even with those radically different starting points, we reached pretty much the same conclusion which is that the people in power these days suck.

We both see the inherent irony in the war in Iraq as an extension of the "War on Terror," which is that young Americans are dying and young Iraqis are dying and we're really just creating more terror, on both sides. So why the hell should I have to be worried sick about my little brother every day, when there is no way the Bush plan, can we really dignify it by calling it a plan, isn't making one damn person any safer. When in fact it's making everyone (the whole world, not just Americans and Iraqis) less safe.

It reminds me of Princess Leia's line from Star Wars: " The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers." Seems like the more offensives we launch against insurgents, the more insurgents there are, and the more cities become insurgent strongholds. Oh, and the Tarkin/Vader dynamic is a pretty good gloss on the Bush/Cheney dynamic. Tarkin may give the orders on the bridge, but Vader's the one with all the real power.

Anyway, the larger point here is that my brother signed up for the Marines three and a half years ago knowing what he was getting himself into. But the country he signed up to defend is rapidly disappearing, being replaced by this wacked out Fundamentalist Christian theocracy. When his contract is up, will the America he joined up to protect even exist anymore? I'm not sure it even exists right now, except as a lingering dream in the bleeding hearts of liberals who have yet to flee to Canada.

That low hum you hear is Thomas Jefferson and James Madison spinning very, very fast in their graves. Do you think we could create Zombie Jefferson and Zombie Madison to come back and save our butts here? Hold on, maybe they're back already, and working their way through Congress. . . that explains Zell Miller!

Jake and I also talked about our usual subjects like the X-Files and Simpsons and how this is the worst episode of Stargate ever.

What I'm listening to now: Marcy Playground (ancient, just found the CD again, no critiques please, I know my musical taste sucks)
What I'm reading now: five books and the new issue of the New Yorker that just came