A Woman in Labor

It happens every day. A pregnant woman feels the pains of labor. She asks her husband, or someone, to drive her to the hospital. The pains become worse. They hurry. Usually they arrive at the hospital in time and, a day or two later, bring home a new baby boy or girl.

But sometimes the routine is complicated. What if the pregnant woman lives in Baghdad? What if she has to pass through a U.S. military checkpoint on her way to the hospital? What if panicked soldiers fire into the car, killing the woman and her unborn child?

Whose country is it? Does Iraq belong to the American soldiers who stand guard in the streets? Or does it belong to the Iraqi people?

I assume soldiers receive training. I assume if someone had a gun and wanted to stop a car, he could do so without killing the passengers. Shoot out a tire. Don't shoot an expectant mother.

Every time an incident like this occurs, we should imagine if something similar happened to an American. Imagine this woman is your neighbor. Or your daughter. Or your Aunt Katherine. How would you feel if this happened to your wife or your mother?

How would you feel if a coalition of countries invaded the U.S. in order to overthrow our unjust leader and stationed troops in the streets? If they raided our houses in the middle of the night. If they set up roadblocks which made it difficult to do simple things like driving to the hospital.

How ever you would feel, that's how an Iraqi feels. We're are all human under the labels.

Giving birth is not without risks. But being shot should not be one of them.

You cannot excuse a crime

When I was a little girl and I got in trouble, I would start to explain what had happened. "I didn't mean to hit my sister. But I was reading and I had just gotten to the best part and she came up and startled me." Like that.

Every time, my father, who as a rule didn't say much, said "No excuses."

It's taken me a long time to internalize this lesson. To the point that if I'm late on a writing assignment I don't need to tell the editor about my family problems, car problems, health problems, and how I tried so hard to overcome the obstacles but simply could not do it. All I need to say is, "I'm sorry." Then move on.

So I've learned the lesson, and try to apply it. What about the American media?

When American Marines go balistic and massacre twenty-four Iraqis, the behavior is excused. "They 're under pressure."

When an Army truck sped through Kabul and crashed into several cars at an interseciton, killing several people, the speed at which the truck traveled was excused. They had to speed because of concerns about attacks. (Haven't they told us Kabul is under military control?"

I had more examples but I will have to excuse myself. I won't bother you with details about how heavy my eyelids have suddenly become and how inviting it seems to go to sleep.

But I won't make excuses. Good night.

"Idol" atry

This happened last week, so it's already old news. But it points to a larger problem.

A new winner was selected on American Idol. I never watch the show and I couldn't care less. The point is, the event was a major news item. I wish I could remember exactly when TV shows became news. Even though I don't watch the show, I was inundated with information about it. I found myself switching channels, trying to avoid learning more details.

The hot news right now isn't the recent "Idol"atry, but the birth of another celebrity baby. I know the child's name and that she was born in Namibia. I learned this while, again, trying to avoid these useless tidbits. But they are relentless.

Sports is news. Entertainment is news. Celebrities are news.

Rarely we here real news. It took three days for the networks to adequately cover the earthquake in Indonesia. Some of them glossed over the riots in Afghanistan. I had to read the initial allegations of a massacre in Iraq on the the internet because only one network covered it, and then very briefly. (Although the neglect was almost better than when I heard a Sunday political commentator allege that perhaps the Iraqi civilians deserved to be killed.)

Today Memorial Day is news. This always perplexes me too. Holidays come consistently every year. Why are they news? We anticipate them. Rituals never really change. What's new about that?

I miss Walter Cronkite.

Haditha: Why do "they" hate "us"?

Reports are now becoming public of the massacre of 24 Iraqi civilians. The incident happened last November and was perpetrated by Marines who were angry about the death of one of their comrades. They reportedly went house to house and killed whole families.

Five hundred Vietnamese were killed in My Lai when soldiers, stressed over loss of their comrades, raided a village and slaughtered indisciminately.

In 1890 US troops killed two hundred Native Americans, including women and children, who posed no threat at all.

Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Inalienable rights. For all.

Haditha did not produce as many deaths as Wounded Knee or My Lai, but it was still an act of senseless murder. While the network news programs work feverishly to convince us that American troops are helping Iraqis, the headlines keep proving otherwise.

Do they hate us for our freedoms? Or is there another reason?

Justice

Enron executives were found guilty. Amazing. There may be justice after all.

A horse is a horse is a horse, of course

I like animals. If my husband would allow it, we would have at least one or two cats in our house, and maybe a guinea pig or rabbit. Every creature is important.

But I am tired of hearing about the horse. He broke his leg. That's sad. But I don't need daily updates on his condtion.

How many Americans receive the level of health care this horse has received? Are people now less valuable than animals?

When a valuable race horse breaks his leg, it's major. But when Americans become homeless or die from lack of health care, it's daily life. Get used to it.

Let's get our priorities straight.

Of the people, by the people, for the people

Nice words. A good ideal for a democratic government.

Of the people. Not the corporations. Not the career politicians. Not the millionaires.

By the people. Not foreign powers. Not lobbyists. Not military leaders.

For the people. Not for the rich. Not for the powerful. Not for overseas interests.

They keep saying we need to spread democracy to other lands. Democracy. The people rule.
It sounds nice. Maybe we can try it some day.