Too Many "Infamous" Days

in•fa•mous
ˈinfəməs/
adjective

well known for some bad quality or deed.
"an infamous war criminal"
wicked; abominable.
"the medical council disqualified him for infamous misconduct"

There have been far too many days of infamy in my lifetime. The attack on Pearl Harbor occurred five years before my birth. Yet, since my birth, there have been genocides, wars, unjust executions, terrorist attacks, mass killings, police brutality, etc. Each of these of events have been, to me, infamous:

 

 

The Songs Soldiers Sang

At 5 a.m. on the morning of the 11^th of November 1918, an armistice—a cessation of hostilities as a prelude to peace negotiations—was signed between Germany and the Allied Powers, effectively putting an end to The Great Was (World War I). The hostilities were to cease six hours later, at 11:00 a.m.—the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918.

For 35 years November 11^th was known and celebrated as Armistice Day. Then the designation was changed to Veterans Day to celebrate all veterans of all America’s many wars.

I have a theory that other folks may share: if you want facts to put in your head, read a book, attend a lecture, watch a documentary film, etc. If you want to touch your heart, read a poem or listen to a song (or, better still, sing a song). So, in honor of today, I am sharing songs of American's many wars.

The Revolutionary War

The War of 1812

The Mexican War

The Civil War: Union

The Civil War: Confederacy

Indian Wars (2nd half 19th Century)

Spanish-American War

The Great War (WWI)

World War II

Korean War

Vietnam

Gulf War

Iraq

I have spent quite a bit of time researching and writing this post. Still, it is far from complete. There are many more songs that I have not listed. There are many wars, too. After all, since 1776 the United States has been at war 91% of the time, making us the most warlike nation since ancient Rome.

Let me put this in perspective:

* Pick any year since 1776 and there is about a 91% chance that America was involved in some war during that calendar year.

* No U.S. president truly qualifies as a peacetime president.  Instead, all U.S. presidents can technically be considered “war presidents.”

* The U.S. has never gone a decade without war.

* The only time the U.S. went five years without war (1935-40) was during the isolationist period of the Great Depression.

So, to end this post, please hear this one song:

Days of Infamy

in·fa·my

ˈinfəmē/

noun

1. the state of being well known for some bad quality or deed.

   "a day that will live in infamy"

   synonyms:

   notoriety, disrepute, ill fame, disgrace, discredit, shame, dishonor,ignominy, scandal, censure, blame, disapprobation, condemnation More

   • an evil or wicked act.

     "one of history's greatest infamies"

December 7, 1941

While President Roosevelt's words, a date which will live in infamy, are well known the world over, I should like to suggest that there are quite a few days of infamy in history. Here are just a few recent ones:

September 11, 2001

April 19, 1995

July 11, 1995

April 6, 1994 

April 19, 1993

August 9, 1945

August 6, 1945

These are just a few days of infamy over the past 73 years. Throughout human history there have been many, many more. 

On this Second Sunday of Advent, let us look forward to a time when there will be no more days of infamy to add to the list.

Peace, Freedom, and Justice Redux

When a nation goes to war, the first casualty is, of course, Peace. The second is the Freedom of its citizens. And the third is Justice. Peace, Freedom, and Justice are so dear to us that I wonder why we give them up in order to make war. ~ The Rev. Nicholas L. Temple, sermon of March 10th, 2002

In the weeks and months following the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, my critical (suspicious? paranoid?) mind went into high gear. In other words, I was thunkin'. My primary question was:

What is the truth about and Who benefits (cui bono ) from the 9/11 attacks, the War on Terrorism, and The Patriot Act?

My answers, of course, led to more questions, the majority of which have not and may never be answered.

• The most frightening of these was a recognition was that the only ones who really benefited from the 9/11 attacks are the extreme right-wing proponents of a powerful, autocratic government in the United States.
• The War on Terrorism has engaged the United States in a war that probably cannot be won and will last not years, but generations.
• The Patriot Act provided the right wing with almost all of the police powers limiting personal freedom and civil liberties that they have been seeking for many years.

For a long time I believe that I was alone in asking these questions. The citizens of the United States, baited by the fear mongering of the Bush/Chaney administration, seemed to frightened to ask probing questions. It has only been in recent months that I have realized that others have been asking the same questions and reaching similar conclusions:

Many adherents of the 9/11 Truth movement suspect that United States government insiders played a part in the attacks, or at the very least knew they were coming and let them occur anyway.

Those within the movement who argue that insiders within the United States government were directly responsible for the September 11 attacks, often allege that the attacks were planned and executed in order to provide the U.S. with a pretext for going to war in the Middle East and, by extension, as a means of consolidating and extending the power of the Bush Administration. According to these allegations, this would have given the Bush administration the justification to clamp down on civil liberties and invade Afghanistan and Iraq to ensure future supplies of oil. In some cases, hawks in the White House, especially former Vice President Dick Cheney , and members of the PNAMC, a neoconservative think tank, have been accused of involvement in or awareness of the alleged plot. ~ Wikipedia, 9/11 Truth movement

We may never truly know what was behind the 9/11 attacks. Perhaps Attorney General Eric Holder 's decision to bring Khalid Sheik Mohammed and four other accused terrorists to justice in a New York federal court rather than behind closed doors of a military tribunal may give us some insights into the truth. Perhaps that's why the right-wing is so opposed to a public trial. I don't know.

I do know that history attests that Peace, Freedom and Justice have always been casualties of the War. History also teaches that once a people have surrendered to the state, it is very difficult win them back. 

Please

Being a Veteran Isn't Easy These Days

I saw a man without a leg
And when he caught my stare
He said, "I left the mate to this
Buried Over There."

I saw a man without an eye
And when he looked at me
He said, "I gave the other one
To save democracy."

I saw a man without a heart
His hands were soft and clean
He said, "I made my little pile
In Nineteen-seventeen."