Reading the news these days is painful. For various reasons. Sometimes the sheer stupidity of it makes your brain hurt. Sometimes the utter sorrow bends your heart into unnatural shapes. Sometimes, it gives your imagination wings to overfly vistas of memory! And sometimes, it makes you want to crawl under your bed and not read any more at all. A bit from each category today:

Brain hurting stupid: Invites to the White House parties come in EMAIL from some liaison at the Pentagon? Really? Are you morons or is this your slim chance of not going to jail for gate-crashing?

Vistas: The last man to lead an American bayonet charge has died. He was, as you will hear said in certain quarters “One heroic son of a bitch.” Rest in peace, Lewis Millett, you earned it….and a Medal of Honor, too.
And on Veterans’ Day this year, the oldest female Marine died after a long life of service AS a Marine and to veterans. Miriam Cohen lived over a century and it was, for the good she did for us, too little time.

Sorrow: Nine years of war. Over 6200 dead men and women from diverse armed forces round the world. And now release of a memo that says we, the US forces, could have HAD Osama bin Laden in 2001. Since that was what all this war and death and destruction and debt was for….yes, anger first and then bottomless grief. Fuck you, Tommy Franks. And you, too, Rumsfeld. (Video Below)

And for Fear: There seems no end to the process of enemy making. Iraq is not at peace. Iran is restless and provocative. Afghanistan is about to become a meat grinder. Pakistan totters day to day. And now, Somalia—a ghost of blood and misery in our past, is again hosting those who hate and want our troops dead. The name “al-Shadad” is going to be like “bin Laden” is now….

Oh, Athena….you will tire of watching battle. Freyja, your arms will weary with lifting dead heroes.

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