This article was originally published on July 26th, 2006 at americanchronicle.com
What’s all this talk about cut and run? We’ve won the war with Iraq. We’ve accomplished all the objectives the president laid out when he made his case for invading Iraq in the first place.
First, we beat the snot out of their armed forces, at least the few of them that were willing to stick around to do battle with us. Of course, did anyone ever really think they’d be able to put up much of a fight, let alone defeat us? Second, we destroyed all the weapons of mass destruction they were supposed to have had. Oh, wait. We never found those. Well, anyway, any programs they may have had aimed at creating such weapons have been completely dismantled. I think Iraqi WMDs are no longer a threat. Third, we completed the regime change by killing Saddam’s sons and capturing him. He is no longer a threat, yet the Republicans think if we leave now we’ve lost? Nope. We won this war big time. The Iraqi people totally capitulated. They laid down and screamed UNCLE so loud the world could hear. They’re still screaming. They even lined up by the millions and voted, just to show us that they were indeed a democracy. All objectives met.
We won the war, let’s bring our troops home. There’s no reason for them to be there. Unless, of course, there’s something in Iraq that we want. But wait, one might say, what about Iraq’s security? We want to prevent a civil war. Too late. Civil war has already started, whether we like it or not, whether we call it that or an insurgency. And our presence just exacerbates the problem. First we attack a few Sunni strongholds, then a few Shi’ites. It’s really none of our business if they want to kill each other. An Iraqi civil war does not equate to an American defeat any more than an American civil war would equate to a German or a French defeat. What about fighting terrorists and protecting Americans from that scourge? I’ve heard many experts say the war in Iraq is creating more terrorists than it is killing. I agree with them. As my buddy Valentine always reminds me, “What would you do if there was a foreign army occupying our lands?” If we really want to prevent foreign terror attacks in the USA, we should bring our troops back home, close up our borders, find all the illegal immigrants in this country and either document them or ship them out depending on their individual circumstances. Those moves alone should change the terror alert level in this country to green. Once we start minding our own business we shouldn’t have anything to worry about terrorists. They have a tendency to bother only those who are oppressing or otherwise abusing them.
The only reason our troops are still deployed in Iraq is to protect the oil. They are there to make sure those who are already too rich become richer. That is yet another reason to convert our energy infrastructure to renewable energy systems. If all the money and resources pumped into the Iraq war had been used to convert our energy systems to renewable sources, we would be completely oil independent by now and no one would have had to die. Of course, then the oil companies would not have earned record profits last year.
Don’t be fooled into thinking that leaving now would be “cutting and running” or would equate into losing the war. We won that war hands down. Don't let anyone tell you different. If we continue with this occupation it will simply lead to more brutalization of the Iraqi people. We should leave now while we still have a modicum of decency and dignity left. Our people won that war and brought democracy to Iraq. Let them come home while they can still be proud of their accomplishments.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Who's Wasting Their Vote?
This article was original published on July 21st, 2006 at americanchronicle.com
I’ve always enjoyed Matt Groenig’s work. I remember before "The Simpsons" were on TV he did a cartoon called “Life in Hell”. What I really like about Matt’s work is how he uses his characters to express his own viewpoints. Sometimes he is subtle, sometimes not.
I remember a particular episode of “The Simpsons” where Bob Dole and Bill Clinton were kidnapped by aliens. The aliens then replaced them and campaigned for president as if they were regular humans. When Homer exposed them as aliens one of them said something to the effect of:
“So what? We won the primaries. We’re your candidates. You have to vote for one of us.”
To which a gentleman in the crowd answered:
“I could vote for a third party candidate.”
Upon hearing that, the aliens laughed and one of them said:
“What? And waste your vote?”
It was funny and poignant at the same time.
It seems that most people today actually and seriously believe if they do not vote for a Republican or a Democrat that they are wasting their vote. Nearly everyone I talk to when confronted with reality will admit that they don’t like either candidate running and they’re voting for the “lesser of two evils.” I’ve personally never felt right voting for an evil of any kind. I have only once voted for a Republican or Democratic presidential candidate and that was Reagan in 1984. Even the first time I voted, in 1980, I voted for John Anderson, an independent candidate. I’ve been “wasting” my vote ever since.
A few years back I was at my in-laws’ having dinner. A family friend joined us. I don’t know how the subject came up, but she asked me who I had voted for in the last election. I told her Browne. She looked shocked. She asked me “Who?” I don’t think she realized there were other candidates to vote for.
“Harry Browne, the Libertarian Party candidate,” I told her.
“Shame on you,” she scolded me.
Shame on me? I’m proud that I haven’t voted for any of the corrupt officials that now operate our government. Shame on me? I don’t think so. I want to keep my freedoms, thank you very much. I’m proud of our constitution and I want to see its integrity upheld. As angry and upset as I was that I had been shamed by this woman who refused to study the reality of politics and what interests her representative really stood for, I didn’t say a word. She’d simply voted for the party she’d voted for all her life. She was so set in her ways and so brainwashed by years of apathy and propaganda that nothing I could have said would have changed her mind. Some people just aren’t worth arguing with.
I saw an interesting poll on one of the major news channels, I think it was MSNBC. I don’t remember the exact date, but I’m certain it was late May or early June of 2004 because of certain circumstances I was undergoing in my life. The poll (it was web based) asked those that responded whether they felt the federal government represented them. An amazing 99% of the respondents answered no. I wonder which 1% of the population feels the government represents them. Just as amazing to me is that an almost equally high percentage of people continue to vote for the same people, the same two parties, which they feel don't represent them.
My son took a class on politics in high school. He was taught the main differences in the philosophies of the Republicans and the Democrats, which wasn’t much. Being from an informed home, he asked his teacher about the Libertarian party. His teacher explained to him that because of where the money for the class came from, he couldn’t teach him about Libertarians (even though the teacher himself professed to being one). Huh? Imagine that. Could the Republicans and Democrats be that afraid of third parties that they will not allow our children to learn about them in a class on politics? Whatever happened to freedom of speech? Whatever happened to informed decision making? It’s no wonder I’ve had to work so hard to find candidates I can be proud of voting for. No one wants to allow any other party equal access to the hearts and minds of the people. I think the more educated we become, the more informed, the more likely we are to “waste” our votes. Unfortunately, it seems we’re becoming less educated and less informed as a society. I suppose we have the classes like the one my son took and the mass media unwilling to give equal time to third parties to blame for that.
Before the 2004 presidential election, my older brother and I got into a debate of sorts. Neither one of us liked Bush and he was trying to convince me to vote for Kerry. I explained to him that I didn’t like Kerry anymore than I liked Bush and I planned on voting for an independent candidate. My bother insisted that we needed to vote against Bush, that he needed to be kicked out of office. I told him that I would not compromise my values, my integrity, by voting for corrupt, corporate bought officials. I was going to vote FOR someone worthy of holding the office of President of the United States of America, not against someone who shouldn’t have been put there in the first place. A couple months after the election my brother told me he felt I was right and neither the Republicans or the Democrats have the best interests of the people at heart.
Most people I talk to about it don’t like what’s happened to our government. It’s not hard to see that our representatives are bought and paid for by corporations and special interests. They have no will to stand up to an executive branch usurping their power. Yet we don’t seem to have the will to hold our representatives accountable. Every two years we are asked to cast a vote for the representative of our district and every two years the usual suspects are put back into office. Every six years we get a chance to tell our senators what we think about their performance and again every six years the same people, the same parties, Republicans and Democrats, continue to be re-elected to a job they fail at miserably. Why do so many people continue to vote for someone who doesn’t represent them? Many seem afraid to “waste” their vote. Only the people of Vermont seem to have the intestinal fortitude to put someone in office who will actually represent them.
I don’t believe I’ve been wasting my votes for the last 26 years. On the contrary, I’ve been spending my votes wisely. I’ve been voting for change. I’ve been voting for accountability. I’ve been voting for transparency, for honesty, for adherence to our constitution, for a less intrusive government and for my personal God given rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Those who have voted for Republicans or Democrats have voted for the status quo. They’ve voted for corruption. They told the politicians it’s OK to screw us, that they’re not going to be held accountable. Democrats and Republicans are the same. They are all rich elitists that belong to the same exclusive club. They are one party with two faces and most people waste their votes by voting for them.
Perhaps it’s time we as a people band together, rise up, and yell “Enough is enough!” Perhaps it is finally time we the people exert our will and hold our representatives accountable. If we all stop wasting our votes on Republicans and Democrats and spend our votes wisely on third parties, on all levels of government, Federal, state and local, they’ll get the message. That is, of course, if they don't manage to steal those elections.
I’ve always enjoyed Matt Groenig’s work. I remember before "The Simpsons" were on TV he did a cartoon called “Life in Hell”. What I really like about Matt’s work is how he uses his characters to express his own viewpoints. Sometimes he is subtle, sometimes not.
I remember a particular episode of “The Simpsons” where Bob Dole and Bill Clinton were kidnapped by aliens. The aliens then replaced them and campaigned for president as if they were regular humans. When Homer exposed them as aliens one of them said something to the effect of:
“So what? We won the primaries. We’re your candidates. You have to vote for one of us.”
To which a gentleman in the crowd answered:
“I could vote for a third party candidate.”
Upon hearing that, the aliens laughed and one of them said:
“What? And waste your vote?”
It was funny and poignant at the same time.
It seems that most people today actually and seriously believe if they do not vote for a Republican or a Democrat that they are wasting their vote. Nearly everyone I talk to when confronted with reality will admit that they don’t like either candidate running and they’re voting for the “lesser of two evils.” I’ve personally never felt right voting for an evil of any kind. I have only once voted for a Republican or Democratic presidential candidate and that was Reagan in 1984. Even the first time I voted, in 1980, I voted for John Anderson, an independent candidate. I’ve been “wasting” my vote ever since.
A few years back I was at my in-laws’ having dinner. A family friend joined us. I don’t know how the subject came up, but she asked me who I had voted for in the last election. I told her Browne. She looked shocked. She asked me “Who?” I don’t think she realized there were other candidates to vote for.
“Harry Browne, the Libertarian Party candidate,” I told her.
“Shame on you,” she scolded me.
Shame on me? I’m proud that I haven’t voted for any of the corrupt officials that now operate our government. Shame on me? I don’t think so. I want to keep my freedoms, thank you very much. I’m proud of our constitution and I want to see its integrity upheld. As angry and upset as I was that I had been shamed by this woman who refused to study the reality of politics and what interests her representative really stood for, I didn’t say a word. She’d simply voted for the party she’d voted for all her life. She was so set in her ways and so brainwashed by years of apathy and propaganda that nothing I could have said would have changed her mind. Some people just aren’t worth arguing with.
I saw an interesting poll on one of the major news channels, I think it was MSNBC. I don’t remember the exact date, but I’m certain it was late May or early June of 2004 because of certain circumstances I was undergoing in my life. The poll (it was web based) asked those that responded whether they felt the federal government represented them. An amazing 99% of the respondents answered no. I wonder which 1% of the population feels the government represents them. Just as amazing to me is that an almost equally high percentage of people continue to vote for the same people, the same two parties, which they feel don't represent them.
My son took a class on politics in high school. He was taught the main differences in the philosophies of the Republicans and the Democrats, which wasn’t much. Being from an informed home, he asked his teacher about the Libertarian party. His teacher explained to him that because of where the money for the class came from, he couldn’t teach him about Libertarians (even though the teacher himself professed to being one). Huh? Imagine that. Could the Republicans and Democrats be that afraid of third parties that they will not allow our children to learn about them in a class on politics? Whatever happened to freedom of speech? Whatever happened to informed decision making? It’s no wonder I’ve had to work so hard to find candidates I can be proud of voting for. No one wants to allow any other party equal access to the hearts and minds of the people. I think the more educated we become, the more informed, the more likely we are to “waste” our votes. Unfortunately, it seems we’re becoming less educated and less informed as a society. I suppose we have the classes like the one my son took and the mass media unwilling to give equal time to third parties to blame for that.
Before the 2004 presidential election, my older brother and I got into a debate of sorts. Neither one of us liked Bush and he was trying to convince me to vote for Kerry. I explained to him that I didn’t like Kerry anymore than I liked Bush and I planned on voting for an independent candidate. My bother insisted that we needed to vote against Bush, that he needed to be kicked out of office. I told him that I would not compromise my values, my integrity, by voting for corrupt, corporate bought officials. I was going to vote FOR someone worthy of holding the office of President of the United States of America, not against someone who shouldn’t have been put there in the first place. A couple months after the election my brother told me he felt I was right and neither the Republicans or the Democrats have the best interests of the people at heart.
Most people I talk to about it don’t like what’s happened to our government. It’s not hard to see that our representatives are bought and paid for by corporations and special interests. They have no will to stand up to an executive branch usurping their power. Yet we don’t seem to have the will to hold our representatives accountable. Every two years we are asked to cast a vote for the representative of our district and every two years the usual suspects are put back into office. Every six years we get a chance to tell our senators what we think about their performance and again every six years the same people, the same parties, Republicans and Democrats, continue to be re-elected to a job they fail at miserably. Why do so many people continue to vote for someone who doesn’t represent them? Many seem afraid to “waste” their vote. Only the people of Vermont seem to have the intestinal fortitude to put someone in office who will actually represent them.
I don’t believe I’ve been wasting my votes for the last 26 years. On the contrary, I’ve been spending my votes wisely. I’ve been voting for change. I’ve been voting for accountability. I’ve been voting for transparency, for honesty, for adherence to our constitution, for a less intrusive government and for my personal God given rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Those who have voted for Republicans or Democrats have voted for the status quo. They’ve voted for corruption. They told the politicians it’s OK to screw us, that they’re not going to be held accountable. Democrats and Republicans are the same. They are all rich elitists that belong to the same exclusive club. They are one party with two faces and most people waste their votes by voting for them.
Perhaps it’s time we as a people band together, rise up, and yell “Enough is enough!” Perhaps it is finally time we the people exert our will and hold our representatives accountable. If we all stop wasting our votes on Republicans and Democrats and spend our votes wisely on third parties, on all levels of government, Federal, state and local, they’ll get the message. That is, of course, if they don't manage to steal those elections.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
The State of Florida Does Not Have the Best Interests of Its Children at Heart
This article originally appeared in americanchronicle.com on July 9, 2006
I live in the fine state of Illinois. Here, in the Midwest, we like to think (or at least pretend) that we are sensible people. We like to believe we use our common sense quite well, thank you. I know that everyone all over the world likes to think that, yet it seems many times in course of human events common sense and sensibility take a back seat to other considerations. It’s for this reason that it seems such an extraordinary event when something happens that is sensible and well thought out.
Some time ago in my home state there was a highly publicized legal battle between the biological father of a little boy and his adoptive parents. Some of you may remember the case, as it garnered national attention. It was known as the Baby Richard case. For those of you familiar with the case, the following summary may bring back unpleasant memories of the images and sounds of this sorrowful case. For those of you not familiar, this summary is by no means a complete account and there is much more about it to be found on the Internet if you are interested.
Baby Richard was a child whose mother had given him up for adoption without the consent of the biological father. He was adopted four days after he was born and taken home. At the age of four his biological father decided he wanted Richard back. The father decided his parental rights had been violated and suddenly he wanted to tear his child away from the only family his son had ever known. In the ensuing court battle a ruling that Baby Richard’s father was an unfit parent (because he didn’t claim the child soon enough) was overturned by a higher court. Long story short, a wailing, distressed four year old Baby Richard was taken from his adoptive family and handed over to his biological father in front of news crews for the entire world to see. This was not one of society’s finest moments.
Several questions were left unanswered by this case, but there was one important aspect of it that most people agreed upon. The best interests of the child should be taken into account in such cases. It had become painfully obvious during the case that parental rights take precedence over the child’s best interests. In the wake of this case, the state of Illinois passed a law requiring judges to take into account the best interest of the child, or so I remember hearing.
Other states, however, have no such laws and have probably never even considered making such laws. Florida is one such state. I have a friend in Florida who has run into a legal brick wall because it is inconvenient for the courts to take the child’s best interest into account.
This friend of mine makes a fabulous mother. She has already raised two fine boys into adulthood. She was given custody of a two year old girl eight years ago by the state of Florida because the mother requested her. My friend and this child hit it off immediately. My friend fell so in love with this child that she has raised her without ever asking for a cent from the state of Florida. The child calls my friend “Mom”. She is the only mom this child has ever wanted. Florida never allowed my friend the opportunity to adopt this child. They never considered the love this child and her adoptive mom have for each other (and this child considers my friend her mom more than she considers her biological mother her mom). I suppose one always has a mother, but one does not necessarily always have a mom.
The state of Florida never even thanked my friend for the good job she did raising this child, who is right now a straight “A” student. They have instead admonished her and showered her with vitriol for fighting to retain custody of her daughter. She was even warned against going to the press citing privacy laws that could get her into trouble. This is why I will not mention her name. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m getting awfully tired of all this official secrecy in what is supposed to be a public government.
My friend has been ordered by the state of Florida and its courts to hand her daughter over to her biological mother. This is a ten year old girl who has only known life with one family, one mom, for eight years. She goes to live with a mother who has ten other children. The man her biological mother lives with has been accused of sexually molesting one of her older daughters. Yet it is into this environment the state of Florida – through its courts – sees fit to send this young girl. Never once did they ask this girl, a fully cognizant ten year old who knows her own mind, what she would prefer. Never once, do I believe, did the Florida courts take this girl’s best interests into account, for if they had they certainly wouldn’t be taking her out of a loving, caring home and putting her into a position where she’ll be lucky to get any kind of attention at all, except for maybe the kind she doesn’t want and a ten year old girl shouldn’t have to experience.
Perhaps it is too late for my friend and her daughter, but I write this to urge some action. I urge the Florida legislature to write into law something that makes the courts take a child’s best interests into account no matter what the legal position of that child’s current caretaker. A biological parent isn’t always the best choice for a child. There are cases where the person taking care of that child is a much better parent than the biological parent could ever be. I urge all states without such laws to write them. It’s time for the court system to stop playing games with people’s lives and start looking at what is best for those the system should protect.
I live in the fine state of Illinois. Here, in the Midwest, we like to think (or at least pretend) that we are sensible people. We like to believe we use our common sense quite well, thank you. I know that everyone all over the world likes to think that, yet it seems many times in course of human events common sense and sensibility take a back seat to other considerations. It’s for this reason that it seems such an extraordinary event when something happens that is sensible and well thought out.
Some time ago in my home state there was a highly publicized legal battle between the biological father of a little boy and his adoptive parents. Some of you may remember the case, as it garnered national attention. It was known as the Baby Richard case. For those of you familiar with the case, the following summary may bring back unpleasant memories of the images and sounds of this sorrowful case. For those of you not familiar, this summary is by no means a complete account and there is much more about it to be found on the Internet if you are interested.
Baby Richard was a child whose mother had given him up for adoption without the consent of the biological father. He was adopted four days after he was born and taken home. At the age of four his biological father decided he wanted Richard back. The father decided his parental rights had been violated and suddenly he wanted to tear his child away from the only family his son had ever known. In the ensuing court battle a ruling that Baby Richard’s father was an unfit parent (because he didn’t claim the child soon enough) was overturned by a higher court. Long story short, a wailing, distressed four year old Baby Richard was taken from his adoptive family and handed over to his biological father in front of news crews for the entire world to see. This was not one of society’s finest moments.
Several questions were left unanswered by this case, but there was one important aspect of it that most people agreed upon. The best interests of the child should be taken into account in such cases. It had become painfully obvious during the case that parental rights take precedence over the child’s best interests. In the wake of this case, the state of Illinois passed a law requiring judges to take into account the best interest of the child, or so I remember hearing.
Other states, however, have no such laws and have probably never even considered making such laws. Florida is one such state. I have a friend in Florida who has run into a legal brick wall because it is inconvenient for the courts to take the child’s best interest into account.
This friend of mine makes a fabulous mother. She has already raised two fine boys into adulthood. She was given custody of a two year old girl eight years ago by the state of Florida because the mother requested her. My friend and this child hit it off immediately. My friend fell so in love with this child that she has raised her without ever asking for a cent from the state of Florida. The child calls my friend “Mom”. She is the only mom this child has ever wanted. Florida never allowed my friend the opportunity to adopt this child. They never considered the love this child and her adoptive mom have for each other (and this child considers my friend her mom more than she considers her biological mother her mom). I suppose one always has a mother, but one does not necessarily always have a mom.
The state of Florida never even thanked my friend for the good job she did raising this child, who is right now a straight “A” student. They have instead admonished her and showered her with vitriol for fighting to retain custody of her daughter. She was even warned against going to the press citing privacy laws that could get her into trouble. This is why I will not mention her name. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m getting awfully tired of all this official secrecy in what is supposed to be a public government.
My friend has been ordered by the state of Florida and its courts to hand her daughter over to her biological mother. This is a ten year old girl who has only known life with one family, one mom, for eight years. She goes to live with a mother who has ten other children. The man her biological mother lives with has been accused of sexually molesting one of her older daughters. Yet it is into this environment the state of Florida – through its courts – sees fit to send this young girl. Never once did they ask this girl, a fully cognizant ten year old who knows her own mind, what she would prefer. Never once, do I believe, did the Florida courts take this girl’s best interests into account, for if they had they certainly wouldn’t be taking her out of a loving, caring home and putting her into a position where she’ll be lucky to get any kind of attention at all, except for maybe the kind she doesn’t want and a ten year old girl shouldn’t have to experience.
Perhaps it is too late for my friend and her daughter, but I write this to urge some action. I urge the Florida legislature to write into law something that makes the courts take a child’s best interests into account no matter what the legal position of that child’s current caretaker. A biological parent isn’t always the best choice for a child. There are cases where the person taking care of that child is a much better parent than the biological parent could ever be. I urge all states without such laws to write them. It’s time for the court system to stop playing games with people’s lives and start looking at what is best for those the system should protect.
More Scary Monsters
This article originally appeared on May13, 2006 at americanchronicle.com
In the 1960s and early 70s we were taught that the USSR was our enemy. We were taught that their system of government was an evil system, one that was restrictive and callous of human rights. We were taught that the newspapers, TV and radio were all state controlled and so their people had no way of knowing the ?truth? about what was happening in the rest of the world. This is ironic since the name of the state newspaper is Pravda which is Russian for truth. We were also taught that the people had to watch what they said, that if they spoke out against the government they?d be thrown into a gulag.
In the old Soviet Union one could never tell who could be trusted and who was an agent of the government sent to spy on the people, or so we were told. The Soviets were even said to have tapped phone conversations and kept phone records in their hunt for dissidents. Of course, I took all this propaganda to heart. After all, I was only a little kid. I felt bad for the Russian people. We were taught this kind of thing could never happen in the United States of America where we had our freedoms to defend and our free press to keep an eye on those in power.
We were afraid of the Soviets back then. They were the monster lurking under the bed waiting to grab our ankles and pull us into oblivion. They had the bomb. They had the missiles to deliver atomic warheads. They hated us. They hated our freedoms, our thinking, and our way of doing things. They wanted nothing more than to totally dominate us, to completely control every aspect of our lives. That is what communism was all about. That is what we had to fear. That is what we had to defend ourselves against. Fortunately we never had to. In 1989 the Berlin wall came down. This signified the fall of communism. We had supposedly won the cold war. The USSR split up into several western style democracies. They have their problems, but so far we seem to be getting along with them.
Years earlier, a demented man named Hitler had taken control of the mighty country of Germany. He used a network of spies and brutality to keep control of his people. Spies were everywhere in prewar Germany, not just in the SS. Propaganda was everywhere too. Any dissent any German may have had against Hitler was effectively stamped out by this combination. He wanted nothing less than total world domination.
Hitler had a dream of a better world, a world cleansed by war, a war that would be won through superior technology, a war that would rid the world of a religion and a people he saw as evil and inferior. He isolated himself by antagonizing all that would not bow to the might and power of his superior race. In the end, he had only two countries he could call his ?friends? and the rest of the world aligned against him. He was something to be feared. He was something to defend ourselves against. Fortunately, he was defeated and he never saw his dream become a reality.
The Soviet Union and Germany were both police states. They were both dictatorships that had usurped the people?s representatives and the people?s will. They both encouraged their people to spy on each other. They both used intelligence agencies to spy on the populace. Perhaps that is why when I was growing up one of the worst things you could be was a snitch, a rat fink.
?Tattletale tit, your tongue has been slit, and all the little birds in town will get a piece of it,? the saying used to go.
At one time, we feared and hated Germany. At one time we feared and hated the Soviet Union. As a nation, we must be careful. We must not become what we fear. We must not become what we hate. We must not become the scary monster under the bed.
In the 1960s and early 70s we were taught that the USSR was our enemy. We were taught that their system of government was an evil system, one that was restrictive and callous of human rights. We were taught that the newspapers, TV and radio were all state controlled and so their people had no way of knowing the ?truth? about what was happening in the rest of the world. This is ironic since the name of the state newspaper is Pravda which is Russian for truth. We were also taught that the people had to watch what they said, that if they spoke out against the government they?d be thrown into a gulag.
In the old Soviet Union one could never tell who could be trusted and who was an agent of the government sent to spy on the people, or so we were told. The Soviets were even said to have tapped phone conversations and kept phone records in their hunt for dissidents. Of course, I took all this propaganda to heart. After all, I was only a little kid. I felt bad for the Russian people. We were taught this kind of thing could never happen in the United States of America where we had our freedoms to defend and our free press to keep an eye on those in power.
We were afraid of the Soviets back then. They were the monster lurking under the bed waiting to grab our ankles and pull us into oblivion. They had the bomb. They had the missiles to deliver atomic warheads. They hated us. They hated our freedoms, our thinking, and our way of doing things. They wanted nothing more than to totally dominate us, to completely control every aspect of our lives. That is what communism was all about. That is what we had to fear. That is what we had to defend ourselves against. Fortunately we never had to. In 1989 the Berlin wall came down. This signified the fall of communism. We had supposedly won the cold war. The USSR split up into several western style democracies. They have their problems, but so far we seem to be getting along with them.
Years earlier, a demented man named Hitler had taken control of the mighty country of Germany. He used a network of spies and brutality to keep control of his people. Spies were everywhere in prewar Germany, not just in the SS. Propaganda was everywhere too. Any dissent any German may have had against Hitler was effectively stamped out by this combination. He wanted nothing less than total world domination.
Hitler had a dream of a better world, a world cleansed by war, a war that would be won through superior technology, a war that would rid the world of a religion and a people he saw as evil and inferior. He isolated himself by antagonizing all that would not bow to the might and power of his superior race. In the end, he had only two countries he could call his ?friends? and the rest of the world aligned against him. He was something to be feared. He was something to defend ourselves against. Fortunately, he was defeated and he never saw his dream become a reality.
The Soviet Union and Germany were both police states. They were both dictatorships that had usurped the people?s representatives and the people?s will. They both encouraged their people to spy on each other. They both used intelligence agencies to spy on the populace. Perhaps that is why when I was growing up one of the worst things you could be was a snitch, a rat fink.
?Tattletale tit, your tongue has been slit, and all the little birds in town will get a piece of it,? the saying used to go.
At one time, we feared and hated Germany. At one time we feared and hated the Soviet Union. As a nation, we must be careful. We must not become what we fear. We must not become what we hate. We must not become the scary monster under the bed.
Monday, June 4, 2007
A Bit of Levity
This article was originally published on May 13, 2006 at americanchronicle.com
I thought it might be fun to look at some things fathers have said through the years and see if they still apply today. Some of these I have used on my own children.
Have you ever heard something similar to this?
“You need how much for what? Money doesn’t grow on trees you know.”
This is still true and applicable today. I’ve been looking for that money tree for years. In fact, I’d like to find two so they could pollinate. I would pick that first harvest of fruit just for the seeds. I could then travel across the country planting just like Johnny Appleseed did. I’d be Szandor Moneyseed. Soon, money trees would be everywhere. Poverty would be a thing of the past. I’d be famous. But, that’s just a dream. Everyone knows the only money trees in existence are at the Federal Reserve and they’re certainly not going to give those seeds to the general public.
Of course, if my dad ever said that to me I’d say “No. Everyone knows it grows on bushes.” Actually, I’d keep my mouth shut. My dad could whack a guy pretty darn hard.
How about this one?
“Close the door! Are you trying to heat the entire neighborhood?”
We didn’t have central air in the house I grew up in, so we couldn’t cool the neighborhood in the summer. Still, this is an applicable thing to say to modern day children. I don’t know how many times my kids have come in from the cold and forgotten to close the door. There’s nothing like sitting in the living room all comfy cozy when all of a sudden that sharp, biting frigid air wraps itself around you, especially with the cost of natural gas or heating oil today. If only kids would learn to listen. Hey, maybe that’s the answer to global warming. Keep those doors closed, kids.
Another one similar to the last:
“Close the refrigerator door. We already have an air conditioner.”
This is still very applicable today. Kids still seem to have a problem once they open that refrigerator door. Maybe it’s because they’ve been brainwashed, as we were, from watching TV. Perhaps they think that if they watch long enough the food is going to start entertaining them. Or maybe when they open the refrigerator door the cold air freezes their brains. Perhaps that light suddenly coming on freezes them like deer in the headlights, or it acts upon their modern brains like the flickering light of a campfire acts upon the prehistoric brain. Whatever the reason, opening the refrigerator door seems to space out the kids of today just like it did when I was a kid.
Another saying fathers are famous for is:
“As long as you’re living under my roof, you’ll do things my way.”
Though still applicable today, this is one I personally try to avoid.
Unlike the country we live in, a household is not a democracy. Years ago a household was more or less like a dictatorship. This was because the man of the house was usually the sole breadwinner. Since he provided for the family, he made all the decisions. He was the decider. His word was law. Hey, sounds like a certain president I know. “As long as you’re living in my country, you’ll do things..,” oh, never mind.
Today, most households are duel income. They have to be in order to survive. If things keep going the way they are economically, it might not be long before child labor laws might have to be revoked just so some of the working poor households can have enough income to pay their rent. At that point the households might have to become democracies and the children given a voice in the family’s decisions just to make it legal for their parents to collect the “taxes” from them so the rent can be paid.
The last saying to come to mind is one that maybe moms use more than dads:
“I brought you into this world and I can take you out of it.”
That little threat may not exactly be appropriate ever, but it’s still kind of funny.
Finally, I’d like to share a few things I learned from “Sesame Street” a long time ago.
It’s fun to count as long as you do it in a foreign accent and laugh when you finish. This is especially true if done during a thunderstorm.
Cookies taste much better when crammed quickly into your mouth and crumbs are allowed to flow freely down the front of your shirt.
Big yellow birds living in big nests somewhere in the neighborhood don’t seem to know very much.
Furry aliens from outer space find it difficult to communicate with inanimate objects.
Anyone who lives in a garbage can is going to be grumpy.
Oh yeah, I may have learned how to read, add and subtract, but I doubt it. If my memory serves me, I learned all that in school.
Have a nice day.
I thought it might be fun to look at some things fathers have said through the years and see if they still apply today. Some of these I have used on my own children.
Have you ever heard something similar to this?
“You need how much for what? Money doesn’t grow on trees you know.”
This is still true and applicable today. I’ve been looking for that money tree for years. In fact, I’d like to find two so they could pollinate. I would pick that first harvest of fruit just for the seeds. I could then travel across the country planting just like Johnny Appleseed did. I’d be Szandor Moneyseed. Soon, money trees would be everywhere. Poverty would be a thing of the past. I’d be famous. But, that’s just a dream. Everyone knows the only money trees in existence are at the Federal Reserve and they’re certainly not going to give those seeds to the general public.
Of course, if my dad ever said that to me I’d say “No. Everyone knows it grows on bushes.” Actually, I’d keep my mouth shut. My dad could whack a guy pretty darn hard.
How about this one?
“Close the door! Are you trying to heat the entire neighborhood?”
We didn’t have central air in the house I grew up in, so we couldn’t cool the neighborhood in the summer. Still, this is an applicable thing to say to modern day children. I don’t know how many times my kids have come in from the cold and forgotten to close the door. There’s nothing like sitting in the living room all comfy cozy when all of a sudden that sharp, biting frigid air wraps itself around you, especially with the cost of natural gas or heating oil today. If only kids would learn to listen. Hey, maybe that’s the answer to global warming. Keep those doors closed, kids.
Another one similar to the last:
“Close the refrigerator door. We already have an air conditioner.”
This is still very applicable today. Kids still seem to have a problem once they open that refrigerator door. Maybe it’s because they’ve been brainwashed, as we were, from watching TV. Perhaps they think that if they watch long enough the food is going to start entertaining them. Or maybe when they open the refrigerator door the cold air freezes their brains. Perhaps that light suddenly coming on freezes them like deer in the headlights, or it acts upon their modern brains like the flickering light of a campfire acts upon the prehistoric brain. Whatever the reason, opening the refrigerator door seems to space out the kids of today just like it did when I was a kid.
Another saying fathers are famous for is:
“As long as you’re living under my roof, you’ll do things my way.”
Though still applicable today, this is one I personally try to avoid.
Unlike the country we live in, a household is not a democracy. Years ago a household was more or less like a dictatorship. This was because the man of the house was usually the sole breadwinner. Since he provided for the family, he made all the decisions. He was the decider. His word was law. Hey, sounds like a certain president I know. “As long as you’re living in my country, you’ll do things..,” oh, never mind.
Today, most households are duel income. They have to be in order to survive. If things keep going the way they are economically, it might not be long before child labor laws might have to be revoked just so some of the working poor households can have enough income to pay their rent. At that point the households might have to become democracies and the children given a voice in the family’s decisions just to make it legal for their parents to collect the “taxes” from them so the rent can be paid.
The last saying to come to mind is one that maybe moms use more than dads:
“I brought you into this world and I can take you out of it.”
That little threat may not exactly be appropriate ever, but it’s still kind of funny.
Finally, I’d like to share a few things I learned from “Sesame Street” a long time ago.
It’s fun to count as long as you do it in a foreign accent and laugh when you finish. This is especially true if done during a thunderstorm.
Cookies taste much better when crammed quickly into your mouth and crumbs are allowed to flow freely down the front of your shirt.
Big yellow birds living in big nests somewhere in the neighborhood don’t seem to know very much.
Furry aliens from outer space find it difficult to communicate with inanimate objects.
Anyone who lives in a garbage can is going to be grumpy.
Oh yeah, I may have learned how to read, add and subtract, but I doubt it. If my memory serves me, I learned all that in school.
Have a nice day.
Teach Your Children Not So Well, Part II
This article was originally publish on May 7th, 2006 at americanchronicle.com
My youngest son has been having problems in school lately. His teacher has been calling me at work to let me know about it. It seems he hasn?t been doing his homework. This isn?t a new problem. In fact, we?ve been dealing with it all year.
Now, I?ve never been a big fan of homework, especially at the elementary school level. When I was that age, I don?t recall ever getting any homework. We did all our learning and work during the school hours. After school, in the evenings, I?d go over to one of my friend?s or they?d come over to my house. When the weather permitted we?d run around outside. In the winter on many days we?d play in the snow. When it was nasty outside we?d stay in and watch TV, play board games, or play with our toy cars, Lincoln Logs, Tinker Toys, or some other such thing. Back then, kids were allowed to be kids. We were supposed to have fun. I sometimes wonder if the same is true today.
But, enough nostalgia. I?ve accepted the pressures of this ever quickening modern world, even those increased pressures we?ve put on our children. Every night earlier this school year I would ask my son if he?d done his homework and he?d always tell me he?d finished it at school during his study period or that he didn't have any. I was happy to hear this as I?ve always been of the opinion schoolwork should be done at school where the teacher is there to help.
One day I got a call from his teacher. It seems my son hadn?t been doing his homework. He had been telling his teacher he?d forgotten it at home. Not only that, but he?d copped an attitude in school. He?d become distant and uncaring and just wasn?t trying any longer. This would not do.
Upon further investigation we discovered all this had started since he?d been hanging around this other kid who had a rather unsavory reputation. I don?t like to judge people, especially children, but my wife had warned me about this kid. I had told her we couldn?t pick our son?s friends, but she had insisted she had a bad feeling about this kid. Now our son had a bad attitude at school, wouldn?t do his necessary homework and had taken up telling lies. It was especially disconcerting he?d been lying to us. Drastic action needed to be taken. I grounded him for a month and forbade him from seeing his friend, all with my wife?s approval.
Things improved tremendously after that. My son?s attitude changed. I kept in touch with his teacher and he was keeping up with his homework. The school actually did their work and found out he did much better in small groups and studying in school with help. For a time, everything was rosy. Then, a couple of months after the grounding, his teacher called me to tell me he once again was not doing his work. I threatened him with another grounding and he straightened up, for a while at least.
Apparently, much like certain government officials, my son is someone who needs constant monitoring or he slips into old habits. Recently, his teacher called me to once again complain that he hasn?t been doing his work. My wife suggested that I take away his Game boy, which is something he loves dearly. When he got home that evening I confronted him and told him to hand over his Game boy and that he could no longer play any video games. This upset him greatly and sent him crying to his room. His older sister stepped up to the plate for him and told me she felt I was being too harsh. She told me her brother had it tough at school and I should have given him a warning before taking away his Game boy. Well, I?m not an unreasonable man and I listen to my kids, so I considered what my daughter had said. Besides, I?m an old softy. I hate seeing my kids so upset.
Later, when things had settled down, I questioned my son about what was going on in school. He told me that everyone at school hated him. I reminded him of all the friends I knew he had at school and he acknowledged them. I knew that some of his friends have a hot and cold relationship with him, as is typical of boys his age. He insisted all the kids at school teased him. Questioning him further, I found that there was one boy in particular who had told him his whole family was retarded. I guess my son had taken this comment to heart and it had affected him profoundly. He had taken one boy?s animosity and turned it into the entire class hating him, having no friends at school, and he was going to cop an attitude and not do his work. I explained to him that kids not liking him was no reason not to do his homework, let him have his Game boy back, and warned him that if his teacher called me again I would take the Game boy away. Once again, things have been going along well now, but I can only guess for how long. Hopefully, it will last at least to the end of the school year. Stay tuned.
It was later in the evening when I was approached again. My daughter had been helping her brother with his homework. Once it was completed they both came up to me and asked me if my son could start playing with the friend I early described as unsavory. Now we got to the meat of the matter. Had I been conned? Was this just a set up to see if I would allow this kid to once again play with my son? Or, did my kids simply see an opportunity and now they were trying to grab it? I think the latter. I also explained to them that it was up to their mom, who really had the misgivings about the boy and whose judgment in such matters I defer to. They never asked her. Still, I know I can?t keep my son from seeing his friend forever and that if he really wants to he will, even if it means sneaking around to do it. Perhaps I don?t have to teach him dishonesty after all. Perhaps the world will do that for me. This is somewhat worrisome as we are ordinary middle class people, not the privileged elite. I?m afraid dishonesty will only get him into trouble, not make him a success. But, I suppose he will learn what he needs to learn.
My youngest son has been having problems in school lately. His teacher has been calling me at work to let me know about it. It seems he hasn?t been doing his homework. This isn?t a new problem. In fact, we?ve been dealing with it all year.
Now, I?ve never been a big fan of homework, especially at the elementary school level. When I was that age, I don?t recall ever getting any homework. We did all our learning and work during the school hours. After school, in the evenings, I?d go over to one of my friend?s or they?d come over to my house. When the weather permitted we?d run around outside. In the winter on many days we?d play in the snow. When it was nasty outside we?d stay in and watch TV, play board games, or play with our toy cars, Lincoln Logs, Tinker Toys, or some other such thing. Back then, kids were allowed to be kids. We were supposed to have fun. I sometimes wonder if the same is true today.
But, enough nostalgia. I?ve accepted the pressures of this ever quickening modern world, even those increased pressures we?ve put on our children. Every night earlier this school year I would ask my son if he?d done his homework and he?d always tell me he?d finished it at school during his study period or that he didn't have any. I was happy to hear this as I?ve always been of the opinion schoolwork should be done at school where the teacher is there to help.
One day I got a call from his teacher. It seems my son hadn?t been doing his homework. He had been telling his teacher he?d forgotten it at home. Not only that, but he?d copped an attitude in school. He?d become distant and uncaring and just wasn?t trying any longer. This would not do.
Upon further investigation we discovered all this had started since he?d been hanging around this other kid who had a rather unsavory reputation. I don?t like to judge people, especially children, but my wife had warned me about this kid. I had told her we couldn?t pick our son?s friends, but she had insisted she had a bad feeling about this kid. Now our son had a bad attitude at school, wouldn?t do his necessary homework and had taken up telling lies. It was especially disconcerting he?d been lying to us. Drastic action needed to be taken. I grounded him for a month and forbade him from seeing his friend, all with my wife?s approval.
Things improved tremendously after that. My son?s attitude changed. I kept in touch with his teacher and he was keeping up with his homework. The school actually did their work and found out he did much better in small groups and studying in school with help. For a time, everything was rosy. Then, a couple of months after the grounding, his teacher called me to tell me he once again was not doing his work. I threatened him with another grounding and he straightened up, for a while at least.
Apparently, much like certain government officials, my son is someone who needs constant monitoring or he slips into old habits. Recently, his teacher called me to once again complain that he hasn?t been doing his work. My wife suggested that I take away his Game boy, which is something he loves dearly. When he got home that evening I confronted him and told him to hand over his Game boy and that he could no longer play any video games. This upset him greatly and sent him crying to his room. His older sister stepped up to the plate for him and told me she felt I was being too harsh. She told me her brother had it tough at school and I should have given him a warning before taking away his Game boy. Well, I?m not an unreasonable man and I listen to my kids, so I considered what my daughter had said. Besides, I?m an old softy. I hate seeing my kids so upset.
Later, when things had settled down, I questioned my son about what was going on in school. He told me that everyone at school hated him. I reminded him of all the friends I knew he had at school and he acknowledged them. I knew that some of his friends have a hot and cold relationship with him, as is typical of boys his age. He insisted all the kids at school teased him. Questioning him further, I found that there was one boy in particular who had told him his whole family was retarded. I guess my son had taken this comment to heart and it had affected him profoundly. He had taken one boy?s animosity and turned it into the entire class hating him, having no friends at school, and he was going to cop an attitude and not do his work. I explained to him that kids not liking him was no reason not to do his homework, let him have his Game boy back, and warned him that if his teacher called me again I would take the Game boy away. Once again, things have been going along well now, but I can only guess for how long. Hopefully, it will last at least to the end of the school year. Stay tuned.
It was later in the evening when I was approached again. My daughter had been helping her brother with his homework. Once it was completed they both came up to me and asked me if my son could start playing with the friend I early described as unsavory. Now we got to the meat of the matter. Had I been conned? Was this just a set up to see if I would allow this kid to once again play with my son? Or, did my kids simply see an opportunity and now they were trying to grab it? I think the latter. I also explained to them that it was up to their mom, who really had the misgivings about the boy and whose judgment in such matters I defer to. They never asked her. Still, I know I can?t keep my son from seeing his friend forever and that if he really wants to he will, even if it means sneaking around to do it. Perhaps I don?t have to teach him dishonesty after all. Perhaps the world will do that for me. This is somewhat worrisome as we are ordinary middle class people, not the privileged elite. I?m afraid dishonesty will only get him into trouble, not make him a success. But, I suppose he will learn what he needs to learn.
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Valentine's War Stories
This article was originally published at americanchronicle.com on May 4th, 2006
It’s common knowledge among those who know me that I’m a history buff. I love history. I love studying it from as many angles and perspectives as possible. The History Channel is one of my favorite channels, right alongside the Discovery Channel and The Science Channel. But no matter how much I study history, there’s nothing like talking to someone who’s actually experienced it.
Valentine and I were talking the other day, as we often do. Valentine was in the army during WWII. Fortunately for him (though he may not have thought so at the time), he had bad feet. They swelled up mysteriously one day at the beginning of the war and sidelined him. They got so bad that at one point there was talk of amputating them. He spent several months in the hospital and in rehabilitation. By the time he was once again fit for duty his unit had been shipped overseas. The doctors never did figure out what was wrong with feet.
Valentine’s unit ended up fighting in the Battle of the Bulge. He lost many of his good friends in that battle. He was fortunate in that he never saw battle. His bad feet kept him stateside. There was a war on, however, and the army wasn’t about to discharge him. Instead, he drew guard duty in Virginia watching over German POWs for much of the war.
I asked Valentine what it was like to guard the Germans. He told me a couple of stories. He told me that they were just like anybody else. They had families and other jobs before the war. Many people forget that being a soldier is a temporary thing, that most of them are students, farmers, professionals, artisans, or some other such thing during peacetime. Many of them felt that Germany was going to win the war. One German officer in particular knew English and he would translate for everyone. Valentine would frequently talk to this gentleman. He told Valentine that Germany was working on many secret weapons and that with these weapons they would eventually win the war. Remember that back then Germany was a superpower. America was only an emerging power. The Germans had every right to be confident.
I asked Valentine if they had ever tortured German POWs.
“Oh no,” Valentine said. “They were treated quite well.”
He went on to explain that they were given a roof over their heads, beds and food the same as the American GIs. They were given things to do. They would play basketball. They would pick apples in the orchards and they seemed to enjoy the work. When working they were allowed breaks. They lived under virtually the same conditions as the American soldiers. They never attempted to escape, but then again, they had nowhere to go. These were men who may have known something about secret weapons, who may have known something about the battle plans of a large and dangerous enemy, and the thought of torture never entered the minds of our military leaders back then. Why? Because we had a high morality. It’s wrong. What’s wrong is wrong. The ends never justify the means.
Two of Valentine’s brothers were fighting in Europe. One of them went through a rather harrowing experience in France. He was dug in with his unit when their position was overrun by the Germans. German soldiers went to each foxhole, pointed their guns down at the Americans lying there, and demanded surrender or they would shoot. Many American soldiers were still alive and they jumped up and surrendered. Valentine’s brother stayed down in his foxhole and played dead when a German soldier pointed a gun at him. The German soldier left without shooting. The soldiers who had surrendered were executed with a machine gun. That night, Valentine’s brother made it back to Allied lines and reported what had happened. Valentine told me that one of the American commanders wept when he heard the story.
I’m not saying the Americans of that era were perfect. Similar stories are told of our guys taking similar actions on the German soldiers, though usually not to such a scale. Things happen in the heat of battle that one may or may not regret later. Emotions run high and life becomes cheap in the midst of a firefight. Still, once a German soldier was captured he had little to fear. He had given himself over to a humane enemy. The Americans were not known for taking revenge on their prisoners. I believe that no matter what situation we find ourselves in, no matter how horrifying or grim the conditions are, we need to strive to maintain our humanity. Once we lose that there is nothing left for us to do but devolve back into something less than human.
As we move forward into the future, we should continue to remember our past. We should look at it carefully and change the behaviors that are bad, but we should also maintain those that are good. Only in this way can we earn the respect and admiration of those we wish to influence.
It’s common knowledge among those who know me that I’m a history buff. I love history. I love studying it from as many angles and perspectives as possible. The History Channel is one of my favorite channels, right alongside the Discovery Channel and The Science Channel. But no matter how much I study history, there’s nothing like talking to someone who’s actually experienced it.
Valentine and I were talking the other day, as we often do. Valentine was in the army during WWII. Fortunately for him (though he may not have thought so at the time), he had bad feet. They swelled up mysteriously one day at the beginning of the war and sidelined him. They got so bad that at one point there was talk of amputating them. He spent several months in the hospital and in rehabilitation. By the time he was once again fit for duty his unit had been shipped overseas. The doctors never did figure out what was wrong with feet.
Valentine’s unit ended up fighting in the Battle of the Bulge. He lost many of his good friends in that battle. He was fortunate in that he never saw battle. His bad feet kept him stateside. There was a war on, however, and the army wasn’t about to discharge him. Instead, he drew guard duty in Virginia watching over German POWs for much of the war.
I asked Valentine what it was like to guard the Germans. He told me a couple of stories. He told me that they were just like anybody else. They had families and other jobs before the war. Many people forget that being a soldier is a temporary thing, that most of them are students, farmers, professionals, artisans, or some other such thing during peacetime. Many of them felt that Germany was going to win the war. One German officer in particular knew English and he would translate for everyone. Valentine would frequently talk to this gentleman. He told Valentine that Germany was working on many secret weapons and that with these weapons they would eventually win the war. Remember that back then Germany was a superpower. America was only an emerging power. The Germans had every right to be confident.
I asked Valentine if they had ever tortured German POWs.
“Oh no,” Valentine said. “They were treated quite well.”
He went on to explain that they were given a roof over their heads, beds and food the same as the American GIs. They were given things to do. They would play basketball. They would pick apples in the orchards and they seemed to enjoy the work. When working they were allowed breaks. They lived under virtually the same conditions as the American soldiers. They never attempted to escape, but then again, they had nowhere to go. These were men who may have known something about secret weapons, who may have known something about the battle plans of a large and dangerous enemy, and the thought of torture never entered the minds of our military leaders back then. Why? Because we had a high morality. It’s wrong. What’s wrong is wrong. The ends never justify the means.
Two of Valentine’s brothers were fighting in Europe. One of them went through a rather harrowing experience in France. He was dug in with his unit when their position was overrun by the Germans. German soldiers went to each foxhole, pointed their guns down at the Americans lying there, and demanded surrender or they would shoot. Many American soldiers were still alive and they jumped up and surrendered. Valentine’s brother stayed down in his foxhole and played dead when a German soldier pointed a gun at him. The German soldier left without shooting. The soldiers who had surrendered were executed with a machine gun. That night, Valentine’s brother made it back to Allied lines and reported what had happened. Valentine told me that one of the American commanders wept when he heard the story.
I’m not saying the Americans of that era were perfect. Similar stories are told of our guys taking similar actions on the German soldiers, though usually not to such a scale. Things happen in the heat of battle that one may or may not regret later. Emotions run high and life becomes cheap in the midst of a firefight. Still, once a German soldier was captured he had little to fear. He had given himself over to a humane enemy. The Americans were not known for taking revenge on their prisoners. I believe that no matter what situation we find ourselves in, no matter how horrifying or grim the conditions are, we need to strive to maintain our humanity. Once we lose that there is nothing left for us to do but devolve back into something less than human.
As we move forward into the future, we should continue to remember our past. We should look at it carefully and change the behaviors that are bad, but we should also maintain those that are good. Only in this way can we earn the respect and admiration of those we wish to influence.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)