National amnesia

I'm not the only one who's gotten forgetful lately.

A cursory look at the headlines reveals a very obvious absence: Iraq & Afghanistan. Remember those? Yep, we're at war.

But take a look at the news: Miley Cyrus is embarrassed about some pictures. A sicko has been raping his own daughter for 20 years. There's this election going on, too.

But very little about the fact that we are at war. Unless you remember we are at war: the headline about gas? That's about war. That headline about stimulus packages? That's about war too. Even that whole presidential thing; that seems to have something to do with the war we've been waging for 5 years.

I know some people who served in this war, and they seem to remark on the same thing: when they come home, the war no longer really exists except when we hear of a local family tragedy. That is, we bitch about the price of gas and the price of food, we demand our politicians to promise that they won't raise taxes but that they will give us universal health care, we buy giant cars and think about road trips....

Once upon a time, a president asked his country to sacrifice. To buy bonds to help support soldiers. To go to work in the factories, especially if you're a woman! Now our administration asks us to forget.

I once saw a bumper sticker on the back of a truck that read: "Shut up and Support our Troops!" But shutting up is not how to support the men and women fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Unfortunately, mainstream media seem to agree with that truck driver.