I've been feeling so sad and disappointed in Canada lately. First the murder of poor Robert Dziekanski, then Stockwell Day signing off on the execution of a Canadian citizen by a US state, then the Supreme Court rejection of the war resisters' appeal. Allan reminded me that the taser death is not "Canada": it's people. The abuse of power by men in uniform with weapons is as old as civilization, and as universal as DNA. The national outpouring of horror at the incident, and the outcry - both public and political - for something to be done, is very different than it would be in the US. Death at the hands of police or security forces is not that uncommon there. Incidents are quickly covered up and forgotten. And of course in many countries, the incident wouldn't be news at all. I'm not letting the system off the hook. But in this instance it's not the government's fault. The other two examples are. I never expected Canada to be paradise. I never harbo...
It's all too much. Sometimes I wish I believed in hell and a vengeful god. If anyone deserves to burn, it's this administration. I'd settle for life in prison, though.
ReplyDeleteYou may have heard that the Quakers are organizing a series of vigils and memorials for the day the count hits 2000.
ReplyDeleteThe ever-bizarre Michelle Malkin characterized the memorials thus:
THE GHOULS OF THE LEFT
They support the troops... by partying over their deaths.
Sick.
But it's par for the course.
How can you deal with people who think like Malkin?
Of course, what sort of clear thinking do you really expect from a Japanese-American famous for writing a book defending the internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII?
It's a beautiful statement. Cindy Sheehan is such a brave person, risking the pain and defamation she does by speaking out. I also want to salute her for remembering the mothers of Iraq... so often forgotten when even those among us remember only the fallen 2000. The mothers and fathers of Iraq feel just as keenly those things one of those mothers Cindy quoted feels. But many many thousands more of them have been forced to feel it. How many thousands more have died "saved" from Saddam than would have suffered and died even under his tyranny? How can that ever be set right? I don't think it can. It's not hyperbole... there are people in the United States today who are, quite literally, war criminals... but circumstances almost guarantee they will die warm and safe in their luxurious beds. It's enough to make me pray that there really is a Purgatory, where the suffering they have caused will be reviewed for them in its tiniest detail for year after year until they finally understand and sincerely repent, and only then will they be worthy of forgiveness. But that's probably just a fairytale, and justice is a scarce commodity in this universe.
ReplyDeleteSay it.
ReplyDeleteI used to love that now-popular quote from Theodore Parker (a theologian who greatly influenced Martin Luther King Jr.): "The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice".
Then I decided I liked it so much because I wished it were true.