War

This nation appears, on the eve of it's 218th birthday, to be in transition regarding how we as a society regard going to war. War is becoming denuded of its former clothes of righteousness and morality, and being replaced with a spartan utilitarianism.

The present administration is in the midst of preparations to invade a country called Haiti. We shall install a new government more to our liking. And yet while government spokespersons and the media make half-hearted attempts to portray it as "liberating the Haitian masses", everybody knows the real reason for this invasion is to stop the flood of Haitian refugees making for our shores.

This is one of the most insipid justifications for expenditure of courage, patriotism and blood in recent history. We have gone downhill, in the morality department, from fighting communism (Vietnam), to fighting drugs (Panama), to fighting despot invasions (Iraq), to...fighting penniless immigrants? Even fishing rights seems more worth getting worked up about.

But perhaps the very blandness is a sign of the times. What the immigrants present is a non-threatening threat. As good landlords we cannot permit it. We the people who pass laws against sitting on public sidewalks take a stand against illegal immigration. And maybe it'll look good on tv. Jane Noland would approve.

fhb, 7/2/94