Thursday, September 12, 2013

When Sherman Marched

It seems that the American people have no more stomach for intervention in Syria's civil war than the Germans had for intervention in 1865 when General Sherman marched from Atlanta to the sea.
 
Sherman, if you'll recall, cut a 40-mile path of devastation in which he left nothing standing except the burnt-out shells of some plantations. While I'm not sure that children writhed in agony and died on cold hospital floors, I'm quite certain that women and children -- civilians all -- suffered terribly from Sherman's actions, probably mostly from the (?) less ruthless (?) tactics of starvation and disease. General Sherman put his feelings on the matter out there for the world to see in a letter to the citizens of Atlanta that included the infamous phase, "War is hell." Then he proved it by burning and sacking Atlanta.
 
Where was Germany during this conflict? Well, it was a pretty big empire. Where was British sentiment about the suffering and death in Dixie? The sun never set on the British empire in those times, but England did nothing to alleviate the dire situation in Georgia.
 
But, ah. We are America. We are, to quote our most recent Fearless Leader, "the anchor of global security."
 
The anchor of global security? Really? I think it depends on who you ask. Someone in Kansas might feel that way. Someone in Afghanistan might have a different opinion. (Just to be on the safe side, I wouldn't poll a single African nation on the whole "anchor of global security" thing, even though our president has African ancestry.)
 
We are the anchor of global security. How very ... Roman.
 
Far from being the anchor of global security that we might have been in, say, 1944, I would say America is the bully of the globe right now. Mark my words: I'm on the left, and I do sincerely abhor the images of children writhing in agony and dying on cold hospital floors. But when do we holler "uncle" in the Middle East? (I guess when those fracking wells are cranked up and spitting out natural gas and poisoning our water supply, that's when.)
 
I am bitterly insulted by the man I voted for, who feels he can challenge my commitment to suffering children. I'd like to tell him about suffering children. My students don't writhe in agony on cold hospital floors, but they subsist on diets of potato chips and Pepsi, get mowed down in drive-by shootings, and watch their siblings die from improper or inadequate medical care. America: the anchor of social indifference.
 
This man who is running our country is not the person I thought I was voting for. Fit him for a Darth Vader mask. He's gone to the dark side. And all the worse, because we soft-hearted lefties thought he would actually care about the inequities in our own nation.
 
War is hell. Our nation should stop engaging in it. We can't save every baby in some other country while cutting food aid to the ones who live here.
 
Why don't we let Norway handle this Syria thing? It's their turn.

8 comments:

Debra She Who Seeks said...

Hey, Canada offered to send in our new Arctic stealth snowmobiles to take care of that Syrian bastard but nobody was interested.

BBC said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
EarthCitizen #23 said...

My Dear Anne, It is so good to her your spirit again as I dropped in,,, (LONG TIME NO SEE!!) to see how you are doing. Still doing Great Blogs! I think of you every time I see a Buzzard!! Have Missed your wonderful spin on Life and the Cosmos we inhabit. Makes me sad I have not Blogged as faithfully as you all these years.... (want to get back to my writing).
Wow,, all I can say is I still Agree with you,, and this post is one I concur again with you.
You are One Hundred percent correct.
I will return and start my journey through some of your older posts to catch up... and You Look WONDERFUL in the Pic below.
your old friend
EarthCitizen23 (Scott)

EarthCitizen #23 said...

I watched video,,, it wasn't you,,, sorry,, will look first next time..lol

Chas said...

There was a British faction that backed intervention on behalf of the South. The feeling was that if the Northern states were knocked down a few pegs, the South would become a captive market for British industry. The prime minister agreed even though he opposed slavery. Then the South started losing, so he gave up.

Anne Johnson said...

SCOTTTTTTTT!!!!! You were there at the start! How are you, my friend?

Vest said...

Great stuff , enjoyed the read.

Anonymous said...

In this day and age, no one can make it to the American Presidency without being center right. Sad.