The comments say it all

According to ABC, they are going to swim across the ocean and fight us here. Gee George: I guess fighting them over there didn't really have much to do with 'fighting them over here' after all.

Do I feel safe? Don't ask. I've never felt less safe in my entire life - or more sad.

I would post this on ABC's Blotter comment section... but honestly - what would be the point? After reading the comments, I suddenly wanted to go outside in the woods and say goodbye to the trees, the critters - and apologize for the unfathomable behavior of my species. It is obvious we are too stupid to survive.

But had I posted a comment, this is what I would have said:

OK. Fine. Why don't we just give up democracy completely, or any remaining pretense of it, and become a giant, war-making factory with the sole intent of bombing the hell out of the rest of the world.

Oddly, after WWII our apparently crazy 'Greatest Generation' grandfathers thought otherwise, and under the Marshall Plan rebuilt Europe -- and Japan.

And guess what..? Europe and Japan actually liked us afterwards. In fact, they loved us. Until we started pushing everyone around, that is.

But for awhile, we really were greeted as liberators. And Japan even kinda, sorta forgave us for dropping a couple of nuclear bombs on their heads. I'm not sure I could have done that, but they managed it. All because we behaved in a generous, intelligent way after the war.

If we had helped these people in the Middle East initially and continually, rather than simply using them to get to the oil, we wouldn't be destroying ourselves and the world right now.

Al Qaeda took issue with our abandonment of Afghanistan after we secretly helped them fight the Russians, and then left them without any support in the aftermath (yes, Ron Paul was right about 'blowback.' The truth hurts, doesn't it?) They also didn't like our bases in Saudi Arabia. But of course, we had to pound our military chest and demand that 'our will be done,' even in someone else's country.

Of course they hate us. Everyone hates the neighborhood bully; and that is what we have become.

We could have used our might and money to make the world a better place. We could have dismantled our war machines - all of us - and now be effectively addressing climate change, rather than threatening to blow each other off the planet. Our children might have had a future here on planet earth. But I guess there wasn't enough money in that, right George? Right Dick?

Had we actually cared at all about the well-being of Iraq after we initially invaded, we would have gotten their electricity on ASAP instead of locking down the oil fields. We would have restored their infrastructure, provided them a safe environment, given out food -- basically been the liberators we were pretending to be.

So sure, guys -- bombs away, until there's nothing left of the planet, greedy corporations and their bomb-making factories. Because that is the ultimate end-game here, when everyone has nukes and global hatreds grow stronger by the day.

Maybe the next round of creatures that arise from the primordial muck will prove a little smarter than we were. Perhaps a little less greedy. One can only hope.


Maire out.