The sort of thing that happens every day in Iraq... I heard today that Stanford held a memorial in which they read the names of the Virginia Tech students who died. I can't help but feel frustrated that while they were so quick to identify with the victims of that insanity, where are the memorials to the mostly college-age people who are sacrificing themselves in the war? If it makes sense to identify with unwilling victims of senseless violence, doesn't it make even more sense to identify with those who willingly put themselves in harm's way, even if you believe that the cause in Iraq is just as senseless as the crime in Virginia?
About a year ago, I watched a high school senior speak with tears pouring down her face about the story she had helped a Gold Star family produce about their son who was killed in Iraq. She said that what made it so powerful was that he and the others whose stories we were telling were only a year or two older than she was. David Brin has written and spoken much about "otherness." One of the most discouraging things about living with Wes' sacrifice in Iraq -- and all the others -- is that they seem to be treated by most people as "other," rather than the strong identification that students have with those killed in Virginia. Or their fascination Anna friggin' Nicole Smith, etc. Right now, I feel shouting at every college student who is thinking, "That could have been me," to consider that the same is true for the 3,300+ who made the ultimate sacrifice in Iraq. Today I had the pleasure of telling another Vietnam vet, "Welcome home." Nick maybe these kids are not as sensitive toward the many more lives being lost is because it doesn't stike close to home unless they lose someone close perhaps if they felt that it could happen to them as it did to my generation. what do they care if bush still thinks he can win, they have other things on their minds besides politics and war. 9/11 could have been prevented but we still haven't learned from that fiasco. we are spending billions on homeland security when there is no way terrorists can pull off something like that again, the passengers would tear them apart. when a bomb goes off in the pit of the plane, then something will be done to screen cargo. so many heroes do not receive recognition, but if you have enough hits on you tube you are a mini celebrity. at the very least professor libresc should have a monument, but since he is a jew it probably won't happen. it seems that people are concerned on assigning blame. i blame society; something is seriously wrong with our culture. we need to take a hard look at where we are going. bureaucracies often fail to anticipate tragic situations until after they happen. hindsight can never equal foresight. it will be almost impossible to watch every adolescent who has mental problems and may even provoke them to act. jlm __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
