A Nation Of Cowards

By Sidney Hall, Jr.

CommonDreams.org

5-9-3

For a brief moment after 9/11, we recognized some genuine heroes in our midst, those who put their lives on the line to rescue strangers and those who put their own needs in back of the needs of others in the middle of tragedy. The celebration of this heroism may have become a little gaudy, but it was sincere.

 

Since then we seem to have become a nation of cowards celebrating illusions.

 

There is a president, who, in reaction to the devastation of 9/11, does not act with forbearance, curiosity to understand the root cause, and as a world leader. Instead he lashes out at blurry targets with more force than we were met with. This is not the act of a brave man. This is the act of a coward.

 

There is a senator who sees his country yawing dangerously off course and, for the first time in its history abusing its power openly and shamelessly. The senator says nothing, though he knows better, because he is afraid of an emotional backlash if he engages in rational discussion. He is afraid he will lose the next election. This is the act of a coward.

 

There is a citizen who is unable to think. He succumbs to fear, believes every scary story he hears, buys duct tape for his doors and windows, when a bit of thinking would tell him he is in more danger from getting into his car. This is the act of a coward.

 

There is a journalist who knows there are young children dying in hospitals in Iraq, with their bodies horribly disfigured as the result of our countryâs doings, yet he will not show pictures of these children so that people can weigh the consequences of war for themselves. He shows pictures of massively-armed Americans and reports every ãcoalitionä news release as gospel truth. This is the act of a coward.

 

There is an attorney general who is so scared by events that he is willing to subvert the very essence of what we would normally be fighting for. He wraps his subversive activities in a cloud of confusion. This is the act of a coward.

 

There is a citizen who hangs a flag out on his house as a sign proclaiming that he cannot think, that it is enough to ãsupport our troopsä whether what they are doing is right or wrong. This is the act of a coward.

 

There is the soldier who fires into an oncoming vehicle carrying a family with women and children because he thinks they are coming after him. This is the act of a coward.

 

There is another soldier who fires into a crowd of civilians when someone throws a sandal at him. Sure he is young, scared to death by the situation he has been unfairly drawn into, but he doesnât wait for a real reason to fire. This is the act of a coward.

 

Another soldier trains the barrel of his tank on a hotel full of journalists and fires. This is the act of a coward.

 

A soldier stands by while hospitals and museums are looted and anarchy descends on a great city. This is the act of a coward.

 

Many of these are scared kids put into an impossible place. We should pity them, but that does not make them the heroes.

 

There is a reporter who forbears to report how scared and unnerved these kids are, for fear he might undermine his president. This is the act of a coward.

 

A member of the United States Congress goes into his cafeteria and renames French Fires, Freedom Fries, because he he is unable to take any criticism from another country, even the country that helped pave the way for American freedom. Is this the act of a brave man? No, this is the act of a coward.

 

A scholar who advises the White House concludes that force and fear are the only way to end a cycle of terrorism that perpetuates itself because of force and fear. He does not even think about finding the reasons for the problem, or the solutions. This is the act of a coward.

 

And the president comes forth smirking and swaggering, dressing in military garb and gloating. We have seen this from the worst of world leaders before, the Stalins and Hitlers, and though our president may not rise to the same level of evil, he resembles them uncomfortably. They are the leaders that did what they did and smirked and swaggered while they did it because they were essentially cowards too.

 

We have, it seems, at last become a nation of cowards. Cowardice has woven itself right into the fabric of our lives. A nation of cowards÷except those who arenât, and there are many. And in the heart of every American there is a bravery waiting to emerge. If someone would come along who would call on that bravery, if another Martin Luther King came suddenly into our midst, you would see bravery flower everywhere overnight.

 

We are, all of us, after all, just human.

 

Sidney Hall, Jr. is a poet and publisher who lives in New Hampshire. He is the owner of <http://www.hobblebush.com/>Hobblebush Books and may be reached at sidhall@charter.net>sidhall@charter.net.

 

http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0508-14.htm

...I mean cowards and apologists for evil.

The problem with most examinations of the question of whether Bush is as bad as Hitler is that they ignore the fact that Hitler is finished and Bush is not. The worst crimes of Hitler came late in his political career. He slowly built up to the murder of the Jews and others. Bush is slowly building up to what will be a climax of hate and violence as bad as that of Hitler. Bush is Hitler in the mid-thirties. Eventually he will be Hitler in the late thirties and early fourties.

...but fear you are right.

The above posts are imbecilic.

You all have got to stop jerking each other off with your

insane fantasies of Bush= Hitler.

It's embarrassing (but at the same time unnervingly humorous) to watch you all constantly make fools of yourselves.

Carry on children.

...made the above post not Systemfailure. The Shills are restless. System kicks their ass too often so...

Life is what me make of time

I for one seek love and peace

Between such days when calm does reign

Everyday is full of hope

Rollings stones and unkept promises

Another lie another death

Little time to make it right

So much care and love wasted

Carrying on we keep our focus

Always pressing towards the goal

Never can we lose that sight

Keeping hope alive

Involving ourselves with each others lives

Simply caring

Simply loving

Minutes turn to hours and days

You and I we do our part

Another time another place

Stories and history on parade

Salvation lies when we all become one

And I agree!

peter werbe told me bout it havent got off it ever since

commondreams.org

peace out pplz

mkj

p.s. Diogenes name some names plz (for the retards)

...made the above post not Systemfailure. The Shills are restless. System kicks their ass too often so..."

You're wrong DIogenes and I'll thank you not to try and help me with your moronic paranoia.

I AM systemfailure. And I did post the message you referenced.

So please. Leave.

Give me a break, do us a favor.

Stop blowing smoke up our ass, fresca.

we can smell the spoor of mossad. P U

we b i c

2+ parts sugar

& fail to c

2++parts granlar.

shrub du mon be

& we our haste tolerate

nuther streme voice aggregate

Great article....

TOo bad the fascists had to TROLL me here too.

Cowards abound.

The scared soldiers fighting for what they think is a "Just Cause" are only fooling

themselves. They, as I, will have come back to a country that no longer supports

them in thier endevors to gain employment or anything else.

The real cowards are the americans who sit back and let whatever president

who rules for 4 years dictate thier views of the world.

I cant decide weather americans are more stupid

than they are forgetful.

Its a crying shame......

Death to domestic traitors to the constitution.

...since I firmly believe that most people basically mean well. It's kind of like the "Sucker Mom" phenomenon where you had a whole bunch of Suburban housewives viewing a scumbag like Clinton as their "Knight in Shining Armor". Now you have a bunch of armchair Hussars Cheering on the "Home Team" as they are misused to conquer resources for the benefit of the Bush Fambly and their various Capos.

I alternate between viewing the mooing bovine herd as a bunch of Cud Chewing Cattle waiting to be slaughtered and P.T. Barnums view that "there is a Sucker born every minute".

Reality is that while most mean well it is probably something of a cross between ignorance and fear. Fear that those of us sounding the alarm might be right and that they feel powerless to do anything and thus live in a self imposed ignorance so they can pretend to themselves that they "don't know". Some are genuinely ignorant and/or misinformed because they don't take the time to read any of the alternatives to the controlled press. Some cynically see the corruption as somehow to their own advantage. They are among the most deluded because in the end the ravages of the ill created by the Bush Junta and their sycophants will rebound on us all in one form or another.

However, on a more hopeful note more people are going to the Internet to get their information. The mainstream Presstitutes have lost considerable credibility over the Iraq debacle. Perhaps a few more will start waking up to the realities of our world - and realize that the sanitized propaganda blaring out of their misinformation machine is helping to destroy their dreams. Even some of the Whores of the Press have been forced, if only indirectly, to admit that they have been lied to and that they uncritically, cynically, passed on the propaganda "because they were paid to".

And for you shills it is a debacle for the millions of ordinary people you betray. Your honor and humanity are worth more than the 30 Pieces of Silver you get for your labors. Sighhhhh!

To anyone of honor and humanity Never EVER EVER give up.

We just have to keep working to patietiently inform the ignorant, wake those who can be woken from their stupor and ...

Keep the faith.