Our serial killer nation
by Helen & Harry Highwater, Unknown News
March 22, 2004
When we say it's disgraceful for America to prop up murderous dictators ...
When we write that it's criminal to use September 11 to justify conquering entire countries ...
When we suggest that America should abide by the Geneva Convention -- and its own Constitution -- we always, always get angry retorts from so-called patriots. They tell us we're traitors, we're in bed with Saddam Hussein, or we're pissing on the American flag.
What kind of person would bang out an angry, usually vulgar email to strangers, for daring to say something unkind about U.S. government? Who would be so thoroughly dismissive and indignant at anyone who'd say such things?
The answer is: Jeffrey Dahmer's parents, in deep denial.
Dahmer was a serial killer, a cannibal, a living, breathing monster -- and his parents acknowledged it after he was arrested -- but they still loved him. And that's as it should be: Parents' love should be an absolute.
But what if the parents are unwilling or unable to comprehend the crimes their loved one has committed? What if they literally can't believe it, despite the evidence? What if the parents see Junior's collection of knives, hear strange noises from the basement, notice his blood-stained clothes in the trash -- but rationalize it all away, because they love their child so much?
It's a standard plot device in cheesy movies: No matter how many special bulletins interrupt regular programming on TV, no matter how many screaming headlines, the parents of some maniacal killers can never acknowledge the truth. Whether directly or indirectly, their blind, unquestioning love allows the killer to kill again and again.
Which brings us back to those angry emails from offended "patriots." Like loving but deluded parents who might say, "No, no, my little Chuckie Manson is a good boy," these self-described patriots tell us indignantly that the U.S. is a good country. They know their country could never do the things some people say it's done.
Well, America is a good country. It's a frickin' fabulous country, built on wonderful ideals -- which are given loud lip service every Fourth of July, and ignored by America's leaders every day of the year.
So here's another special bulletin to ignore: America supported Saddam Hussein at his peak of brutality. So far, about 24 Arabs have been killed for every victim of Sept. 11. The U.S. is running at least one full-scale concentration camp, and expanding it to hold 50,000 more prisoners. Huge questions remain unanswered about Sept. 11, 2001, and the Bush administration has tried to keep these questions from even being officially asked. And on and on and on.
When Thomas Jefferson said "the price of freedom is eternal vigilance," he didn't mean eternal vigilance against people who might say unpleasant things about the U.S. government. He meant "eternal vigilance" against tyranny. And that, dear "patriots," is what patriotism is.
People who say nothing as tyranny grows are not "patriots." When the vigilant sound the alarm, "patriots" don't tell them to shut up and look the other way. "Patriots" who do, are pissing on the American flag.
For all her fine principles, American government has been hijacked by criminals. Saying so doesn't mean we don't love America, but we don't love the criminals who've stolen America's government. We make no excuses for criminals and tyrants, and we're tired of so-called "patriots" who won't acknowledge what's obvious.
Yes, we love our serial killer nation, and we always will. But we're not going to pretend everything's fine as America reverses its ideals and stands foursquare against freedom. We're not going to concoct alibis for what America's leaders have done, what they're still doing, and what they're planning to do next.
Like the loving parents of a serial killer, we know what America has done, and it troubles us deeply. We know the difference between right and wrong, and we know that America has often been wrong.
© 2004, by the authors.
What do you think?
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Jeffrey Dahmer
killed at least 16 people
George W. Bush
has killed 28,000+
... so far
When Thomas Jefferson said "the price of freedom is eternal vigilance," he didn't mean eternal vigilance against people who might say unpleasant things about the U.S. government.
He meant "eternal vigilance" against tyranny. |
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People who say nothing as tyranny grows are not "patriots."
When the vigilant sound the alarm, "patriots" don't tell them to shut up and look the other way.
"Patriots" who do, are pissing on the American flag.
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