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On Notice 10-31-06

image courtesy of shipbrook.com and inspired by Stephen Colbert

Zombie Toddler

This weekend I had one of those little moments that make parenthood worth every minute.

I was driving to church with GG in the backseat. And while I know I'll burn in the everlasting lake of firey brimstone for doing it, we were listening to Dave Matthews. At one of his shows last year he played "Time of the Season" and did a pretty faithful and rocking version of it too. Anyway, I had the speakers only playing in the front so I could hear GG if she said anything. And what joyful noise should meet my ear, but my 3 1/2 year old daughter singing along to to the chorus!!! She had to kind of mumble through most of the words

mmm blah name?
(mm blah name?)
mmm blah daddy?
(Who's your daddy? mmm blah?)
mmm blah like me?

mmm blah
(mmm blah)
mmm blah
(mmm blah to show)
mmm blah mmm blah?
mmm blah mmm blah
mmm blah?
mmm blah know
It's the time of the season for loving

That last line came through Loud and Clear.

And my heart sang...

Thought from the past

I just don't understand this country any more. And truth be told, I am as guilty of political bipolarism as anyone. I'm disappointed that we are in Iraq, I'm disgusted by our leadership for the manipulation of events and facts in order to get us there, I absolutely support our troops for being there, I'm sad that they have to be there, I believe they must stay there. I support the War on Terrorism, I don't think we're really fighting a war on Terrorism, I'm revolted by our use of torture, I'm grateful there have been no additional acts of terror on US soil. I'm saddened by the conditions the Iraqi people are subjected to because of this war.

How does anyone make sense of everything that is going on these days? I just don't know. This passed week we has a small discussion about the use of "alternative" interrogation methods. Some of those involved are former servicemen (Marines in this case) but most of us are armchair generals.

Reference was made to Jack Nicholson's speech in "A Few Good Men":

We live in a world that has walls. And those walls have to be guarded by men with guns. Who's gonna do it? You? They have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for the fallen and you curse the Marines.

You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what they know! And they're existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives...You don't want the truth. Because deep down, in places you don't talk about at parties, you want them on that wall. You need them on that wall. They use words like honor, code, loyalty...and they use these words as the backbone to a life spent defending something.

And this statement is absolutely true. The vast majority of us are disgusted to think that someone somewhere is being tortured to get information. And yet paradoxically, we are grateful for any information that protects our children. I look at it as much like my love of steak. I LOVE a big fat steak. Just don't introduce me to the cow that offered it up and don't show me how it was obtained.

So, what does that mean for our society as a whole? My contention is that this "war" has cost us so much more than the 2000 lives of our self-sacrificing soldiers. It has cost us dearly in the view of the world. It has cost us part of our very character. I'm shocked that we are even debating the viability of torture. (Don't get me started on whether or not putting panties on someone's head or making fun of their prophet is torture. I'm talking about fingernails and genital electrodes).

I honestly don't know how I truly feel about what we're doing. But, I did hear something that reminded me how we, as a people, should look at what's going on.
NPR : A Jewish Soldier Witnesses Nuremberg