We must love conflict. We must love violence. We must love war; the news is full of it it is in us and of us sit in our courtrooms, watch TV, read the Record-Bee, listen to your friends and yourself saying “what he and she did to me.” The polls say we are weary of war, yet war is thriving.
Found in the media, and in our conversations with each other: “battling breast cancer,” “the fight against global warming,” “the battle over how to teach reading,” “the fight against aids.” Here is a foundation that “Plans to use its experiences to shape its attack on childhood fat,” and from United 2 Fight Paralysis: “This is a very important juncture in our battle against paralysis. We have to win this war.”
In sports: “Serena Williams”s victory avenged her sister Venus”s defeat.” In politics, with its war chests: “Katon Dawson, the party chairman in South Carolina, expressed confidence that the party would recover from any internal damage it suffered as its candidates took shots at each other. We don”t do well until we have a common enemy.””
Headlines in this morning”s NY Times: “Fighting the Terror of Battles That Rage in Soldier”s Heads”, “5 Killed and 3 Missing in Attack on U.S. Patrol” and the one that most twisted my twisting insides: “Civilian Deaths Undermine War on Taliban”. In the article: “Deaths from U.S. and allied airstrikes are threatening support for the Afghan government and straining the NATO alliance.”
Woe is us should war be undermined But apparently deaths and destruction, whether civilian or military, “ours” or “theirs” don”t seem to be undermining war at all.
Fortunately we can stop reading, stop viewing, stop listening, try to stop feeling. Click! And, we”re on to the important stuff, like the latest on Paris Hilton, or click! The voices fall silent; the ruins and mangled bodies disappear; the screen goes dark and war isn”t any longer.
Eric Leber
Kelseyville
