The fireworks are over...the fried dough is gone...it's time to get my blog on.
The big trial was today. The State of Maine v. Heather Willoughby-Bertrand. The day after the 4th of July, coincidence? I doubt it, I am sure the district court planned to stroke as much furor as possible in the provincial town of Wiscasset....the only thing that could have made her chances worse was if she was black or a peace activist....I guess it just didn't pay to be a white girl from a upper middle class family. Doesn't that impugn you with magical powers? Isn't being a wheat-free mindful sage burning mystic enough to save you from the ravages of an unjust judicial system.....ohh the humanity! End of sarcasm.
I never thought that American flags should be flown off of a bridge held on by zip ties. It seemed tacky. That being said, The Greenleafs petitioned the town to do so...they wanted to honor their son, and others serving in Iraq. A token gesture sure but their right nevertheless. I can't say that I fully support the war...I still can't fathom why our president sent our troops there much like a lamb to slaughter. I am the daughter of veterans. My father served 2 tours in Vietnam....he enlisted while still in high school. He was raised during a time when people were indoctrinated to patriotism, to serve your country, to fight Communism. He believed that he was going to serve a greater good, to spread democracy to people that were oppressed. He thought he was doing the right thing. He was never the same again. Who is after seeing death, despair and wondering if this will be the day that you die. Who is the same after seeing a friend die right in front of them? These are the things he actually talks about, the things that he didn't bury within his soul much like the scores of others like him. My father was lucky....he lived....not fully the same but alive at least. He had a lay-over in New York on his way home. He had to wear his uniform, not to be gung-ho...because he had to. In the bathroom a group of men jumped him, beat him called him a murderer. He suffered permanent damage to his neck from that, untold damage to his soul.
At least he was given a semblance of a reason for why he was sent to Vietnam. Iraq? Why are servicemen there? What lofty noble endeavor have they sent themselves into....the whims of our pernicious government....our idiot savant commander-in-chief. I am far from the right, yet have no desire to inflame the masses for no reason. Those flags didn't blow off. Admit it...own it....quit being a petulant child who uses tantrums as a means of being. Stop ripping down signs you don't agree with because your self absorbed ego can't accept criticism.Don't lob gallons of milk at old ladies heads...even if they "provoke" you. Don't accuse a decent, kind, and loving women of not being a supportive friend because she dared to call your bluff. Real friends call you out when you're full of shit. Real friends work at maintaining a friendship. Real friends don't expect to come before life partners and children. Real friends don't tell a man his organ failed because he didn't "bond with it" Low fucking blow sister. Low fucking blow.
The Universe does not revolve around you.....it's the solar system not the "Heather system"
That being said, I did have a point. The Greenleafs lie awake at night wondering if the son they love will come home alive. He chose to join the military to serve his country, that is the job he is entrusted with. Would that be my choice..no. I would not go to a country who does not want my presence, I would not give my life for them. Does this make me unpatriotic? To some I'm sure. I serve humanity in other ways however small it may seem. I work at being a good person. It is work. The ability to do what is best for someone other than just yourself is the purpose of one's life. It does not always come easily. It is a life long tenure track.
Will a row of flags on a bridge solve all of our societal ills? No. But perhaps learning to see the perspectives of others will. Not seeing them is why this whole debacle came to fruition.
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