Tuesday, March 18, 2008

What's "FUBAR?"




Today is the 5 year-anniversary of the invasion of Iraq by U.S. led coalition forces. This occasion is being marked by hundreds of bloggers across the net as they show their solidarity in a commitment that the United States should withdraw from Iraq. If you have some time today I'd encourage you to check the Iraq War Blogswarm blogroll linked above and read some of the other very moving and sometimes very personal stories about the war.

For those of us who were against this war since well before it began this has been a pretty frustrating five years. We marched, we wrote letters and we voted. None of that seemed to help. In fact: it seems like things have just gotten worse.

If you're like me the last five years have made you feel a bit powerless. But we don't have to feel that way. Here's a couple of modest suggestions to things we can do today to make things a little bit better all by our lonesome.

The first is to visit and consider participating in the Any Soldier program. Effectively it's a care package deal but more. Men and women serving in Afghanistan or Iraq post lists of items they're running short on - everything from socks to DVDs to alleviate the periods of boredom - and civilians stateside fulfil those wishes. Maybe we can't bring these guys home today but we can at least make their lives a little bit better.

My second suggestion is something a little more personal and something I feel strongly about, but hesitate to bring up. When matched against the gravity of the thousands of lives lost in the war in Iraq it just doesn't seem that important. Still...

Five years ago we lost a lot of stuff when President George W. Bush decided to invade Iraq. We lost lives, treasure and our sense of national identity as a nation founded on universal principles of human rights. We lost much of the goodwill America had built up at the end of the twentieth century in fighting for these principles. We lost our moral stature as a nation.

We also lost our flag. I'm not sure how this happened or how it was even possible, but the people that supported this war were able to turn our flag into a bumper sticker. They were able to re-brand the flag belonging to all of us as a symbol supporting George W. Bush and his ridiculous decision to start a war in Iraq. They took it from us.

I want it back. So today I'm getting out my own flag out of mothballs, which I haven't flown since 2002, and hanging it in front of my house. I'm also embedding the flag on my page and am encouraging anyone who feels the same way and hasn't done so already to do the same thing.

Our flag was never theirs to take and it's been in their hands much longer than they deserved. Let's take the damn thing back.

16 comments:

Don Snabulus said...

Joined you on my page.

Jess Wundrun said...

Not only am I taking back our flag, I'm stealing yours!

So well said. Thanks.

Dean Wormer said...

Thanks don and Jess!

Absolutely feel free to steal that pic. I stole it (back) from a pro-war site so it fits right in with the theme of my post. :)

Spirula said...

people that supported this war were able to turn our flag into a bumper sticker

and, at least for me, ultimately desecrate it by perverting it into a symbol of mindless patriotism rather than a symbol of Liberty.

Down here, slap a flag and an eagle on something and every cracker will be on that like flies on shit. I'm not kidding. You should see the auto dealerships.

Randal Graves said...

Don't forget the proliferation of American Insurance, American Plumbing, American Waste Removal, American Guns, American Burgers, etc etc, after 9/11. Mindless patriotism, indeed.

Dean Wormer said...

spirula-

and, at least for me, ultimately desecrate it by perverting it into a symbol of mindless patriotism rather than a symbol of Liberty.

I was actually going to do a little video on the flag and address that concern. To sum up: I kind of look at loving my country the same way I look at being married- you take the good with the bad.

I think that's a different view than those who mindlessly co-opted the flag towards the war in Iraq have. They believe the only bad is pointing out the bad. If that makes any sense.

randal-

Good reminder. Not on your list- American fries and American Airlines. Those jingoistic bastards.

M.Yu said...

Like PoetryMan says,

Don't Burn the Flag, Wash IT!

and the Constitution and the Congress and the SCOTUS and the MSM and...were gonna need plenty soap...

Freida Bee said...

Ok, this is good of you Dean, 'cause I am very flag phobic, what with all those flag pins, so it will do me good to associate the flag with something other than this war. Maybe when we elect Obama, I'll change my tune if he'll end the war. Good post. I am going to check out that supply list. It is a wonderful idea!

Dean Wormer said...

m.yu-

We'll have to make a run on Tide once this bunch gets out of office.

freida-

thanks! It is a great, non-partisan way to truly support the troops.

Swinebread said...

hmmmm I'll put some sort of flag on my site... not sure which one yet!

Claire said...

I'm here through Jess Wundrun...fabulous idea. We fly our flag on holidays, but I should do it more often. Everyone who knows me knows that I'm a liberal Democrat; it's about time that we started taking patriotism and the flag back from George Bush and his band of criminals.

Dr. Zaius said...

I agree, Dean Wormer. It's our flag, not theirs. Well done.

Westcoast Walker said...

Great post Dean!

Dean Wormer said...

swine-

You scare me.

cdp-

That's how I feel. Despite Bush this country has done a hell of a lot of good in the last 100 years. We can acknowledge the bad that's also been done under our flag and still love the damn thing.

zaius-

thanks. I like the flag you have up at your site but it also somehow reminds me of being chased by gorillas with nets.

WW-

Thanks, man!

Anonymous said...

Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now keep it up!

Anonymous said...

http://cardiffmiller.com/pubs/buyvalium/#61593 where to buy valium uk - valium 20mg pill