CC&I Peace Community Letters

I Can’t Take Any More, That’s Enough!

Reading the paper and watching the daily news can be deadly when it comes to feeling light hearted and disengaged. Just a couple of days ago yet another friend confessed she’d had enough. “The war is too depressing, the news is dreadful and I can’t stand to hear his voice one more time,” she said, referring to our president. “That’s it.. Enough! I’m tuning out!!” she added with great conviction.

And so it is with so many Americans. We all CARE God knows about fair play, justice, and the old American ways, but are we willing to act?? Care and $1.50 will get you a cup of coffee! Complacency has given us what we deserve. If we are not willing to move off the couch we can’t expect our elected leaders to tow the line, or for that matter get new leadership which could reverse the tide of corruption, lying, and the total disregard for our form of government as stated in the Constitution of the United States.

Think about this since it doesn’t effect the vast majority of us, how would you like to have a daughter, son, husband, wife, father, or mother killed or maimed because of this senseless, trumped up, and lied to war... How would you like to be an Iraqi who has had their sovereign country invaded, occupied and destroyed for basically doing nothing but minding their own business? How would you like to be an Iraqi and have your ancient culture destroyed by looters, while winked at by the US government? How would you like to be an Iraqi and have your history lost when your priceless books are destroyed by fire. How would you like to be the parents of young Iraqis, or our own soldiers, who for generations to come will suffer terrible illnesses and birth deformities because of our use of depleted uranium to coat our ammunition which is being shot all over Iraq, and has a shelf life of millions of years. How would you like to not feel safe, remember 911. The people of Iraqi and our soldiers feel that way daily. How would you like to have your family and friends blown up just because you tried to live your life in a normal way by going to school, work, church, a mosque, or the market.

Picture what it would be like to go into Cronig’s to buy some coffee and while you’re mulling over what brand to buy a bomb goes off and kills half the shoppers in the store. Or how about getting your car finally parked in the ferry and you are just settled into the newspaper and a cup of coffee upstairs when a suicide bomber blows up the ship. As bad as all of that is, picture the fact that Iraqi is in a relentless daily state of horrific chaos that doesn’t go away. They and our soldiers are dealing with this terrifying situation constantly.

I was out of the country during 911 and watched with horror on CNN in Nicaragua what was happening to our country. I will never forget what a very wise Guatemalan doctor said to me at the time. “Welcome to the real world! You in the States have never known what it is like to feel unsafe. The rest of the world lives with this constantly.”

It is true many of us have lived safe privileged lives. And now since we have had a brief encounter with the fear and uncertainty of our safety and that of our families it is doubly important to pay attention to where that takes us. Are we going to hide out and let some one else handle our problems or are we going to finally rise up and take a stand. The big question that always gets asked as we lead up to another election is this.. Has George Bush made us safer? No, is the answer. And we are all to blame for allowing our country to get into the mess that it is in. But it may not be too late. I was heartened by the many thumbs up and that’a boys that the three of us got demonstrating against the war recently at 5 corners. And only one guy gave us the finger! Is that progress or what? The Vineyard is a tiny place and in the whole scheme of things what happens at 5 corners has no consequence to anyone, except perhaps to make those out there feel better. But what does matter is when the vast sea of grandfathers and grandmothers from the 60’s once again hit the big streets and bombard congress with letters, emails, and phone calls to demand our country back. Remember the huge demonstrations against Vietnam.. WE need to wake up, get up, and lead, not follow. We need to let our voices be heard for the safety of our children and grandchildren.

With that said, I invite you to an Impeachment march in Washington DC on Saturday March 17. ImpeachBush@VoteToImpeach.org

It is finally time to say THAT IS ENOUGH!

Marnie Stanton

Vineyard Haven