SILENT TREATMENT

SILENT TREATMENT: It was less than a year ago that you couldn’t pick up a progressive journal without someone asking the questions “where’s the outrage”.

Yet it’s hard to find one these days that hasn’t got it’s head so far up butt of the new administration’s continued genocide in Afghanistan that you see the editor’s face when Obama speaks.

We had to rely on the grapevine to hear about the plans of one of the only constant anti-partisan anti-war protest voices, Cindy Sheehan, to reestablish her “Camp Casey”- which attracted thousands to Crawford, Texas a few presidential summer vacations back galvanizing the anti –war movement- at Martha’s Vineyard where the current-est occupant was busy today playing golf with the “Swiss Bank” USB’s top executive in the US.

Yet the MSM seems oblivious, preferring to slather our screens with happy shiny people hawking Obama ice-cream, beer and t-shirts or replaying the rantings of the handful of wackos at various “I (heart) my Medicate/Keep government out of heath care” rallies, busily earning membership in our “too stupid to live” club.

And is it any wonder that you haven’t heard anything about it with a quote like this from ABC News anchor Charlie Gibson regarding potential ABC coverage of Sheehan’s protest.

“And you look at somebody like (Sheehan) and you think here's somebody who's just trying to find some meaning in her son's death. And you have to be sympathetic to her. Anybody who has given a son to this country has made an enormous sacrifice, and you have to be sympathetic. But enough already.”

Enough already? How about enough of Gibson’s rah rah coverage of the continued occupation of Afghanistan and his building-up of expectations of escalation al la Vietnam/Iraq that are developing with the aid of the corporate networks?

Or as Cindy writes in response:

“Enough already?” Hmmm…I don’t know Charlie Gibson and I don’t pay any attention to his career, but I seem to agree with him on this one: “Enough already.”

Enough with the killing, torturing, wounding and profiting off of the backs of our troops and off of the lives of the people of Iraq-Af-Pak: as our brothers and sisters in Latin America say: “Basta!”

Somehow, I don’t think that this is what Charlie Gibson meant, though. I am sure that he just wants me to go away like most of the rest of the anti-war movement has done under the Obama presidency.

One of the things I hear quite often from people from all over the political spectrum is: “Why don’t you just go away, you’ve had your 15 minutes of fame.”

Yes, that’s exactly what I thought as soon as I heard that my son was killed in the US’s illegal and immoral war in Iraq: “this is a perfect opportunity to get my 15 minutes of fame.” Actually, after I slowly recovered from the shock and horror, the pain always remains, I thought that I had to do everything I can to end this nightmare so other mothers/families wouldn’t have to go through what I was going through and what I am going through.

I certainly am not the anchor of a major network news show, but last time I checked, people are still dying at a heartrending clip in Iraq-Af-Pak.

If my goal was “15 minutes of fame,” I could have gone quietly away a long time ago. I started because I wanted the wars to end, and I will figure I can go away when the wars end…but when is that going to be? In my lifetime, probably not.

I am cutting my writing-staycation short to head to Martha’s Vineyard because I think the new titular head of the empire needs to know that his policies are devastating people as much as the same policies did when Bush was president.

I would rather be able to go away and spend the rest of my life worshipping my grandchildren, writing, reading, resting, and doing humanitarian work where I am needed.

I wish the wars would go away, but they aren’t going away if we the people don’t get more militantly insistent.

Ya Basta, indeed.