A LITTLE MATTER

[NanceGreggs]

A Little Matter
By Nancy Greggs

As of this writing, there are over 3200 American troops dead in Iraq. For those of you who still support this war, WHEN WILL IT MATTER? Will it only matter when it is your own daughter, your own brother, your own best friend who comes home in a casket? WHY DOESN’T IT MATTER when it’s someone else’s child, instead of your own?

Over 600,000 Iraqis have lost their lives in Bush’s War of Choice. For those who think we’re doing the right thing by the people we have supposedly ‘liberated’, WHEN WILL IT MATTER? What is the number of dead, maimed, orphaned that will cause you to concede that there is no victory to be had here, nothing to be won when an entire nation is on the losing end of this president’s incompetence? WHY DOESN’T IT MATTER when it’s someone on the other side of the world whose nation is being systematically destroyed?

Our troops have been sent into combat without body armor, vehicle armor, helmet inserts, and other life-saving equipment. They are being redeployed to the battlefield with physical injuries, as well as psychological problems caused by what they have seen, what they have done, and what they are still being encouraged to do. When they arrive home with injuries sustained in battle, they are sent to ill-equipped treatment facilities and entangled in red tape that prevents them from accessing the financial resources necessary to go on with their lives. WHEN WILL IT MATTER that the very people who are fighting this war are being short-changed on every level? WHY DOESN’T IT MATTER that the people who lay claim to ‘Supporting the Troops’ are the same people who are ensuring that support is not available?

This president and his administration have repeatedly lied to the American people about WMDs in Iraq, the so-called successes we are allegedly having there, the outing of covert operatives investigating potential threats against our country, and have hidden behind the cry of national security to cover up everything from illegal wiretaps to ‘secret’ meetings involving policies on energy pricing. WHEN WILL IT MATTER that the very people you entrusted to look after the country’s best interests have been caught lying again and again? WHY DOESN’T IT MATTER that the failure to be truthful is destroying our democracy?

Due to the policies of this administration, and the support of its rubber-stamping party members, our country has ignored the illegal use of secret prisons, and has sanctioned the use of torture. WHEN WILL IT MATTER that our government has now accepted and made lawful the very things we once most abhorred about other nations that we once called uncivilized and not worthy of respect? WHY DOESN’T IT MATTER that we, the Beacon of Democracy are now no better than the enemies we once criticized?

Throughout the tenure of George W. Bush and his cohorts, we have seen our freedoms eroded by signing statements, by a lack of traditional oversight, by a failure of the checks-and-balances between branches of government meant to safeguard our democracy, our Constitution, our rights. WHEN WILL IT MATTER that such fundamental things have been trifled with, circumvented, done away with altogether? WHY DOESN’T IT MATTER that these things have already been done, and continue to be done by those who swore to protect the very things they now destroy with such abandon?

WHEN WILL IT MATTER? When will all of the things that have happened, that are happening now, and that will happen in future that are detrimental to our country, its citizens, and the citizens of the world MATTER to those who see it, hear it, know it – and still ignore its impact, its significance, and its consequences?

If it DOESN’T IT MATTER NOW, maybe it will matter when you wake up one morning and find YOUR job outsourced, YOUR relative shipped states-side in a body-bag, YOUR health care coverage gone when you’re stricken with an illness, YOUR insurance cancelled when your home is destroyed by disaster, YOUR vote not counted, YOUR voice not heard, YOUR opinion dismissed as subversive clap-trap, YOUR phone wire-tapped, YOUR mail opened, YOUR choice of library books questioned, YOUR rights and freedoms GONE.

If it doesn’t MATTER NOW, and only matters THEN, maybe you should start thinking about WHAT REALLY MATTERS – before it’s too late to matter at all.

[acmavm]

1. This thread finally asks the question that the brain dead 'war's supporters

should be made to amswer. "How many people's lives have to be eliminated or ruined before you think that there may be something wrong here. Or is it all right as long as its not you and yours who are dying?"

[babylonsister]

2. Sigh. So powerful, sending to everyone, nominated, and why don't you

have a DU journal for future reference?
I love you, Nance, you are a fine writer who speaks from her heart, and the majority on DU agree with your heart!

:loveya: :hug: :hi:

[NanceGreggs]

3. Thank you, my BabylonSister ...

My Journal is right here: http://journals.democraticunderground.com/NanceGreggs

DU gives me a place to speak - my BabylonSister gives me the encouragement to raise my voice.

:hug:

[babylonsister]

5. I'm not seeing your red DU journal thingie on the right. Are you special?

(OF COURSE YOU ARE!)

Maybe it's my 'puter that's fritzing up.

And encouragement is here in buckets, my friend! :pals:

[blossomstar]

4. Wow. Thank you.

[JeffR]

6. K&R. But it will never register to a select minority of idiots

They saw a Communist under every bush back in the 60s. They saw a terrorist under ever bush since the turn of the century. And perpetually, they see a librul under every bush,. And that's what they fear even more than communists and terrorists: fellow citizens whose views aren't scarred by xenophobia and easily-inflamed paranoia. And they fear this so much, they're willing to hate their countrymen because of it.

[NanceGreggs]

7. Yes, there IS that select minority ...

... that gets SMALLER every day.

[JeffR]

8. and the smaller they get, the more insistent and shrill their cry:

I'm melting... I'm melting...

[ninkasi]

9. Another wonderful rant

Nancy, you never fail to impress me. Your passion comes through loud and clear in your posts. I agree with you, that by the time some people are victims of the Bush administration's failures, it might be too late to salvage what is left of our democracy.

It never ceases to amaze me how myopic some people can be. When it affects them, and is shoved in their faces, they suddenly profess shock that whatever has happened, has happened to THEM. I think that whatever horrible policy is acted on, whatever shortchanging of the social safety net happens, it could have been me instead. Until we are all willing to fight for the victims of conservative policies, none of us will really be safe and secure. What happens to one, could happen to us all.

[The Doctor.]

10. I have to recommend this here,

because I can't find your stuff anywhere else.

It really should be well... everywhere, so I guess we should make to get it there.

Thank you for your lovely flame.

[emanymton]

11. "It Won't Happen Here." "It Is Not That Bad." "Why Don't You ...

go where it is better, if you do not like it as it is here?"

These are the responses to your outbursts. So many really cannot bring themselves to admit the little matters are real. It does take a 'flag draped present' from shrub and Co. to get people to open their eyes.

Keep up the rants. These things have to be said. But do not think for a moment that those who walk in sleep will thank you for being able to see clearly. They will hate you for being right.


Rock on lady. Rock on.

[blondie58]

12. another great one, Nance

Yep, everyone in America should be reading your rants. You state, purely through the truth, the crimes of this Administration. When will people wake up?

[The Wizard]

13. The usu sal

Nancy Greggs hard hitting, profound comments on the state of affairs.
Just one correction: The Bush Administration is anything but incompetent when it come to killing innocent victims. They are serial killers of the worst order. I bet all those Iraqi victims are grateful for the freedom from paying bills and living the rest of their lives.