Less Politics

I've begun to take this blog a bit away from politics as I haven't anything all that significant to add to the discussion other than "What he said!" or "What he said!" or "What she said!" but I couldn't help posting about this since it involves my hometown. AND because it is something that has crossed my mind on occasion when I read comments by those in support of the war.

How it is that we have this ability to turn off our consciousness (not to mention our conscience) about what is going on in Iraq is beyond me. I can't help but wonder what Americans would think about the miserable failure's war if our "enemy" were to bring their attacks stateside as constantly as we are pummeling the people of Iraq.

Canada Wins Battle of Toledo

TOLEDO - The Canadian government, unhappy for many years with Washington's belligerent foreign policy and fearful of its massive weapons stockpiles, decided last year to invade the U.S., seizing oil refineries and manufacturing plants, and establishing "regime change" to the delight of many of its neighbors to the south.

Canadian officials decided that Toledo, home to 300,000 people, and a regional hotbed of resistance to the puppet government installed by Ottawa, must be pacified in order to participate in free elections scheduled for January.

Last month, Canadian Air Force and artillery began shelling Toledo, particularly the South End, home to the worst of the insurgents. Soldiers shut off the city's water. Around the clock, sound trucks alternately blared French rap music and Quebec opera. Residents were warned to leave, except males between 15 and 50. These suspected insurgents were turned back, forced to await the invasion. Between 80-90 percent of Toledoans packed up and fled. Busy intersections like Front and Main, and Byrne and Glendale became deserted. Schools were left vacant. Voices of security guards echoed through empty shopping malls.

I grew up about five blocks from the intersection of Front and Main. On the northeast corner is the G.C. Murphy building. "Murphy's" (since closed) was the store I bought many of my first LPs; I bought school supplies there and sipped Coke at the lunch counter. McDonald's is on the southwest corner – I spent many of my Big Barney Car Wash earnings there for lunch. Wendy's still sits on the southeast corner, and last I knew, there was still a gas station/car wash on the northwest corner.

Imagining warfare anywhere near my old haunts brings shivers to my spine... I don't understand why it's so easy for us to overlook that Iraqis have homes and neighborhoods and memories that they hold dear. We who like to spout off about Saddam Hussein's inhumane treatment don't seem to care that humaneness requires being "marked or motivated by concern with the alleviation of suffering."