My Country Makes Me Sad

Tonight's big news story is the abuse of Iraqi prisoners. Seven US soldiers have received punishment after abusing Iraqi prisoners by stripping them and putting them in degrading poses. The White House reminds the Iraqi people, who are recently "freed," that this is only the result of a "few bad actors" and not a reflection of the majority of the whole.

What a crock of shit. Can you imagine if the roles were reversed? What if videos were released of Iraqi's abusing American soldiers and when asked, the Iraqi's reminded us that this was only the action of a few "bad actors, not a reflection of the whole?" It's laughable, if such a thing is possible.

This is so problematic. Firstly, why do Americans hold contempt for Iraqi's? Exactly what have they done to us? It's no secret what we've done to them. We Shock and Awed them. If they had a couple of American soldiers and stripped them down and embarassed them would anyone question why? So I've put my foot in my mouth because people would ask why. Mr' Bush would ask why would the Iraqi's do this after we just liberated them from a dictator that we put in power. I'm so sick of hearing Mr. Bush say, "He gassed his own people." Does anyone out there in the blog world know where Saddam got the gas? Anyone? Did the US do anything to stop him and did we condemn the gassing, or did we instead denounce the use of gas? I'll save you the suspense. We gave it to him, we didn't condemn and we denounced the use of gas.

It just makes me sad. This is the country I belong to. The country I love so dearly. I don't want to be associated with this. I think Eduardo Galeano brings light to a fascinating juxtaposition. What if...

Iraq had invaded the United States on the pretext that the US had weapons of mass destruction? Or if the Venezuelan embassy in Washington had pushed and applauded a coup against George W. Bush, like the one the US embassy in Caracas supported against Hugo Chavez? Or if the government of Cuba had organized numerous assassination attempts against the US presidents, in response to the numerous times the US tried to kill Fidel Castro?
And what would happen if the countries of the South refused to accept a single condition imposed by the International Monetary fund and the World Bank unless they began imposing the same conditions on the United Stated as well, the major debtor of the planet? Or if the tariffs and subsidies the rich countries imposed at home but prohibit elsewhere were introduced in the South?

I think John Stewart put it best on tonight's show. He said something to the effect of, "the administration keeps a positive view, always knowing the coffins are coming back half full."

But I can't end there. It's not time to casually mention these things. I'm tired of it. I AM OUTRAGED BY MY COUNTRY! A presidential election is coming up and we haven't even figured how to properly and fairly vote. What is more fundamental to a democracy than voting? People don't like hearing about these things because it's depressing. They just want to vote for Bush and hope that it works itself out. Arundhati Roy writes, "Terrorism is the symptom, not the disease." We can't keep ignoring this.

On the one year anniversary of Mr. Bush's famous "Mission Accomplished" speech, we get these photos of the job we're accomplishing and it makes me very sad.

I've given it some thought and to be honest with you, I'm wrong. Our administration could not be sending a more accurate description of how America feels. Please Mr. Bush, remind the Iraqi's that this war is just the result of a "few bad actors" not a reflection of the whole.