It took James Woolcott to lead me to a
wrenching, eloquent piece on the realities and myths of war by Chris Hedges, who begins this
way and never lets up:
The vanquished know war. They see through the empty jingoism of those who
use the abstract words of glory, honor, and patriotism to mask the cries of the wounded, the
senseless killing, war profiteering, and chest-pounding grief. They know the lies the victors often
do not acknowledge, the lies covered up in stately war memorials and mythic war narratives, filled
with words of courage and comradeship. They know the lies that permeate the thick,
self-important memoirs by amoral statesmen who make wars but do not know
war.
Stop what you are doing. Click this link and read what Hedges has written. Then take a
deep breath and, if you must, go back to work. On your way home, though, you’ll have plenty to
think about, namely our deformed American ideals and how appalling this nation has become
under Georgie Boy’s deluded leadership. And maybe — sad to say, a very big maybe — you’ll do
something about it.
