Joseph Sarandos
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Of George W. Bush on Memorial Day 2007
Today he’ll call them “Heroes for their sacrifices made”;
Those thousands who were victims of the plans that he had laid
To satisfy the wishes of “his friends” in Israel,
But also to “get even with Hussein,” as we know well.
Our President, who cowered from the war in Vietnam,
And has not “led” our troops, but “pushed them from behind” instead,
Will “weep some alligator tears” and “choke with sympathies,”
As he delivers practiced speeches to their families.
Each war needs “heroes” just as much as they need “battle cries,”
Or else there’d be no “volunteers” to follow each who dies.
But in “his” war, this President has “manufactured” both,
To “justify” the actions that he’s made against his oath.
Iraq had played no part in “9/11” as it’s named.
Iraq did not “pose threats to us” as it was being blamed.
Iraq was not “our enemy,” but that of Israel;
Among its very oldest, as true history does tell.
So, there was no “real” battle cry to justify his war.
So, there were no “real” heroes, but just victims (there’ll be more),
Among the many thousands of our troops who “gave their all,”
Nor in the tens of thousands more who’d suffered injuries
Both physical and mental, causing grief to families.
His “rites and ceremonies” will “give comfort,” nothing more,
To those who have survived to grieve their loved ones in his war.
But his will be “in disconnection” with the grief they feel,
Since all of his own relatives are safe at home for real.
I also send condolences and deepest sympathies
To each and every one among you grieving families.
But mine are true and heartfelt, as a wartime veteran
Who had placed life and limbs at risk for sakes of fellow men.
By Joseph Sarandos
May 28, 2007
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5/28/2007, 12:26 pm
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NamVet2
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Re: Of George W. Bush on Memorial Day 2007
Chief,
I think you've spoken the true feelings of most (if not all) of us vets from other wars.
We'll know after I place a link to and quote your poem in our ring, and I'll keep you apprised of the consensus.
You already have my personal agreement with this terse and concise, but easily understood and easily digested bit of literature, along with my applause for writing it and for posting it under your true name.
<hand salute>,
Greg
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5/28/2007, 1:01 pm
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Joseph Sarandos
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Re: Of George W. Bush on Memorial Day 2007
Greg,
This is by another real American, real patriot and real wartime veteran, over his real name and real email address, who “gets it” and “tells it like it is” vis-à-vis the Memorial Days and America’s War-dead SINCE the end of WWII (nearly coincidental with the establishment of “New Israel”).
In my own mind, I prefer HIS essay over MINE as posted above. Please read his carefully.
Joseph
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http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_108083.asp
OPINION
May 28, 2007
America Dishonors Her War Dead On Memorial Day
posted May 28, 2007
This is Memorial Day, 2007, the last day of a three-day weekend that America sets aside every year to honor its war dead and its war veterans.
We here in America carry this out with speeches and ceremonies and the playing of Taps at our cemeteries. We hold festive entertainments with patriotic music and songs.
This general celebration, which includes a lot of flag waving and displays of Old Glory in front of our homes and along our streets, is the centerpiece and purpose of this three-day weekend.
Beyond that it’s all about fun gatherings of families and friends, eating and drinking and being merry, watching sporting events, traveling or just hanging loose and enjoying the freedom of a holiday.
As a combat veteran of the Vietnam War and as a person who hates needless war, warmongering and phony displays of patriotism, I despise Memorial Day because America does not truly honor her war dead, but dishonors them.
The only way to truly honor our war dead and those that have fought in our wars would be to tell the truth about why they died and why they fought and why there must come a day – in honor of them – when we must put a stop to needless war and the killing and maiming, the ruining of lives and the heartbreak and suffering that comes from it.
The last time an American soldier died or fought for our freedom was World War II. That is the plain fact and the plain truth. To say that any soldier since World War II fought or gave up his life in order that we might enjoy our freedom is a horrible mistake in reasoning.
It is a horrible mistake because it is not just a mistake but a mistake that perpetuates and promotes our insatiable appetite for needless war and needless death and suffering under the guise that it was all for the cause of freedom.
No, it wasn’t. Every soldier that has died or fought under the American flag since World War II has done it because of the immoral and wrong-headed policies of our presidents and government leaders, backed by the ignorant and phony patriotism of the masses…those same masses that still believe even to this day that each one of our war dead gave up their lives for our freedom.
No, they didn’t. They gave up their lives because they were soldiers doing their duty. Soldiers don’t give up their lives or fight for our freedom. They give up their lives because of their duty as soldiers to follow orders…orders that come down from the commander-in-chief and government leaders, backed by the ignorant and phony patriotic masses, and which don’t have a thing in the world to do with freedom.
It is understandable why the people believe that our war dead died for our freedom. They want to believe it. They want to believe that our soldiers didn’t die in vain but for the great and noble cause of freedom. They need to believe it because it would be too shocking and hateful to their senses to consider the possibility that they all fought and died for nothing.
One can only imagine how much harder it would be for the masses to believe that they themselves must share a part of the blame for our soldiers dying for nothing.
And yet, that is the fact and the plain truth. We dishonor our war dead and call for more of the same every Memorial Day when we sing praises to the lie while the truth lies moldering in the graves of our national cemeteries marked by the many lines of flag fluttering headstones that hear nothing, not even the sound of Taps.
It would do true honor to our war dead if we marked these Memorial Day celebrations with truthful observations and vows that we will go forth and put a stop to these needless deaths caused by these needless wars and that we will now take up the fight for peace and try to make it up to them as much as we can.
Right now, this Memorial Day, 2007, while we are engaged in an illegal and unjust war of our own making in Iraq under the same old guise of freedom that we’ve been using to make war for more than a half-century, would be a good day to stand up for our war dead who cannot stand up for themselves and say to the president, the government leaders and the mindless masses –we, here and now, declare war on needless war from this time forward.
Never again will we stand idly by while our young are sent off to kill and die for nothing more than for the lying vanity, misguided policies and phony patriotism of our presidents and government leaders backed by the ignorant, rolling thunder of our flag waving masses.
Naman Crowe
namancrowe@yahoo.com
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5/28/2007, 4:41 pm
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Joseph Sarandos
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Re: Of George W. Bush on Memorial Day 2007
Digressing to my Memorial Day entries, there were certain definitions and examples of “Heroes/Heroism” that were not addressed then, but that should be addressed now.
Foremost in its absence was the example of one particular mother -- whose son had been sacrificed on the altar of George W. Bush’s hubris, vengefulness and conflicting loyalties, becoming one of the thousands of victims to be labeled and lauded as “heroes” by the cowardly Vietnam War Draft-evader who had been “dubiously elected” to the top of the political pile of the multitude of despots who now rule this once-noble and once-moral Constitutional Republic of ours.
That mother is Cindy Sheehan. That mother was and is a true heroine, who had voluntarily placed, not only her life, limbs and health, but also her name, her reputation, her family relations, her marriage, and all of her financial assets, in harm’s way, as she attempted to “beard the cowardly lion in his den” and make him answer to The People -- in his own, non-scripted and non-rehearsed words -- for his actions as the Commander In Chief of the U.S. Military.
Although I had written my own version of her saga and its implications, as undeniable proof of her definitive heroism, I finally decided to scrap it in favor of proffering into evidence the following testimony of a far more eloquent writer.
Joseph
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On Cindy Sheehan
By JOYCE MARCEL
Thursday, May 31
DUMMERSTON
So Gold Star peace mom Cindy Sheehan is quitting the American antiwar movement. That's bad news. Sheehan lost her son, Casey, on April 4, 2004, in Sadr City, Baghdad. In August of 2005 she set up a makeshift camp outside of George W. Bush's summer compound, asking for a reason for her son's death. His arrogance in ignoring her and her anti-war stance quickly caught the media's attention. A peace movement coalesced around her.
Now, disgusted with Republicans, Democrats, left-wingers, right-wingers and especially middle-wingers -- in fact, with almost all of America -- Sheehan has announced that she is leaving the public stage.
"Camp Casey has served its purpose. It's for sale," she wrote in her impassioned and disgusted farewell letter to America. "I have invested everything I have into trying to bring peace with justice to a country that wants neither ... Casey did indeed die for nothing."
America is fast descending into "a fascist corporate wasteland," she said. The Democrats are as blind and spineless as the Republicans. The sacrifices she made while attempting to stop the war have been for nothing.
"I spent every available cent I got from the money a 'grateful' country gave me when they killed my son and every penny that I have received in speaking or book fees since then," she wrote. "I have sacrificed a 29-year marriage and have traveled for extended periods of time away from Casey's brother and sisters and my health has suffered and my hospital bills from last summer (when I almost died) are in collection ... I have been called every despicable name that small minds can think of and have had my life threatened many times."
While I never met Sheehan, we corresponded every now and then -- usually when I wrote something that she particularly liked. I was always flattered. She is one of my heroes.
Let me qualify that word.
As a kid, I was inspired by the great heroes, by people like Joan of Arc. Then, as a teenager, I decided I didn't want to be burned at the stake. The tension in that dichotomy has stayed with me every since.
There are real leaders and false leaders, true heroes and media-created heroes. Abbie Hoffman and Gloria Steinem, for example, were media creations who diluted and eventually destroyed the "movements" they were supposed to be leading.
What about Sheehan? After all, millions of people around the world took to the streets to protest the invasion of Iraq. So why her?
Because her bravery in plunking her lone self down on Bush's doorstep was extraordinary. Bush may now have a 28 percent approval rating, but back then most Americans supported him and few newspapers dared question his actions.
When Sheehan went to Crawford, she gave a lazy and timid press an alternative to regurgitating Bush's propaganda. She gave millions of Americans the knowledge that they were not alone. She stood up for what was right.
Yes, Sheehan was the real deal. Her tragic loss gave her dignity and respect. Her fury was real and earned. Her demand for an answer revealed Bush as the coward he is.
Sadly, approval ratings don't matter much to Bush. He and his neoconservatives live in a different world. They play a different game.
"What would be the consequences of failure in Iraq?" Bush said in a recent press conference. "See, people have got to understand that if that government were to fall, the people would tend to divide into kind of sectarian enclaves, much more so than today, that would invite Iranian influence and would invite al-Qaida influence, much more so than in Iraq today. That would then create enormous turmoil, or could end up creating enormous turmoil in the Middle East, which would have a direct effect on the security of the United States."
This is the president of La La Land speaking. Iraq couldn't be more divided into sectarian enclaves than it is today, or hadn't he noticed?
Iran's influence is already large and growing larger. Bush has made Iraq a recruiting advertisement for al-Qaida.
"Creating enormous turmoil in the Middle East ..."? What does he think is going on now? And yes, having the entire Middle East hate us does directly influence the future of the United States. Maybe we should do something about that? Like getting out of Iraq and supporting the Palestinian people as well as the Israelis?
"I recognize there are a handful there or some who just say, get out, it's just not worth it, let's just leave," Bush said. "I strongly disagree with that attitude. Most Americans do, as well." A handful? Most Americans? What are you talking about, Mr. 28 Percent?
As mad as she is toward Republicans, Sheehan is also rightly furious at the Democrats for caving in to Bush on the war-financing bill.
Come the next election, however, I think Sheehan will see a change. The Pelosi Democrats -- those fat cats still licking the gravy off their paws, people like Hillary Clinton, John Kerry and others -- could be voted out of office. The people are angry. They want this war to end.
All great heroes suffer. Many spend time in jail. In America, a lot of them also get shot. America is a big country; it's hard to upend the status quo here.
Right now, Sheehan is exhausted and dismayed. "Good-bye America," she wrote. "You are not the country that I love ... I can't make you be that country unless you want it. It's up to you now."
Like Rosa Parks before her, Americans will some day praise Sheehan for her courage in standing up for right against the most fiendish kinds of wrong. In the meantime, the rest of us must continue to fight. If we stop, Bush has won. And we can't let that happen.
A collection of Joyce Marcel's columns, "A Thousand Words or Less," is available through joycemarcel.com. And write her at joycemarcel@yahoo.com.
Source: http://www.reformer.com/ci_6025828?source=most_viewed
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6/2/2007, 11:44 am
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insider3
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Re: Of George W. Bush on Memorial Day 2007
Hello again Joseph and all,
I know I've been seemingly AWOL from here for a spell, but I haven't missed a day of reading the new posts from work WHILE I could be sure that nobody was reading over my shoulder. There's a new wave of paranoia rampant among the supervisors.
This is the first thread in awhile that I've wanted to add my 2 cents in. But I'll make it short since we're running late to a marriage celebration.
TRUER WORDS WERE NEVER WRITTEN!
Bob
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6/2/2007, 12:17 pm
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