question

[Richard Zane Smith]

Thanks MJ,
its so easy to break things when angry...the most natural ,and of course
immature response.
Instead of blowing things up in a fury in the middle east, imagine if
america wisely, calmly
decided it would NOT be PROVOKED *by violence to DO violence*,
but instead they would punish Osama bin Ladin by generosity to
win the hearts of the Afghan people, shaming bin Laden with gifts
of seed, aide and building schools in Afghanistan...
Osama bin Laden would still be a no-body, maybe even despised by his own
people.

But the USA is a very "young" country, still a teenager, and prone to fits
of violent rage.
When we have American newspaper articles that head line  "GOT HIM" ,it looks
like we aren't
going to outgrow "tit for tat" diplomacy for quite some time.
Now if the military can list who, and what, it cost to "get him" we might
not feel so jubilant ,right now.

What happened to americas "beloved outlaws" Jesse James, Pretty Boy Floyd,
will probably happen to Osama bin Laden. He'll become a saint, or at least a
folk hero, for having the
strength in one little finger to rose a super power to shatter 1000s of
lives and billions of its tax payers dollars.
There will be ballads and books and bibliographies and  America has assured
the world he will never be forgotten.

ske:noh
Richard
Wyandotte Oklahoma


On Thu, May 5, 2011 at 4:04 PM, MJ Hardman <hardman at ufl.edu> wrote:

>  My husband reacted very much as you have, especially the last paragraph.
>
>
> The whole issue of ‘terrorism’ is anything but simple.  When the
> Internat’lBank induced terrorism started in Peru, my husband said that
> instead of sending trucks of soldiers they should have sent trucks of food.
>  In the end, when they caught the first starter they put him in jail, where
> he still sits, and now they have also put in jail the president who ordered
> killed the young people who were protesting, calling them ‘terrorists’.
>  Both in jail.
>
> My original reaction to the whole mess, if anyone is interested, can be
> found on my webpage: *For a Sane Solution On the Current Disaster 22
> September 2001 <http://grove.ufl.edu/%7Ehardman/biblio/solution.html>
>
> *Thank you, as always, Richard, for saying things so well.  MJ
>
>
> On 5/5/11 11:20 AM, "Richard Zane Smith" <rzs at WILDBLUE.NET> wrote:
>
> I think the average american conscience is pretty well seared off.
> the *"we won,so get over it"* mentality seems to be the norm here in USA
> and seems to justify a dominant attitude of continual slurs against the
> "enemy"
> from ridiculous mascots, the naming of missiles, hunting weapons, guns,
> cars, etc.
> Once a group of people are the  enemy...it seems enemy status is
> perpetuated
> by degradation. Degradation is perpetuated from adults to the lives of
> children,even by games.
> Us children grew up fighting "japs" and "germans" with our green plastic
> army men
> and had no idea how prejudice was sinking its fangs into us.
>
> HOWEVER having said all that...there might some day be some honest
> comparisons
> made by objective historians.
> One mans terrorist is another mans freedom fighter.
> We Wyandot have war dance ceremonies that the federal government banned,
> because they were once  used to prepare ourselves before fighting the
> British or the Americans.
> Colonizers can name a city *Sandusky* (a Wyandot corruption of
> Tsa'duhstih) but strictly enforce a ban of WAR DANCES.
> We were once the terrorists and yes we did spread terror on the Ohio
> frontier.
> Yes we were once the terrorists, we kidnapped white children, they grew up
> to fight against their own white race.
> we used sneaky frustrating guerilla warfare tactics against militarily
> advanced troops and weapons.
> The colonizers wars against each other were fought by forming opposing
> lines and advancing mowing each other down till the best man won.
> that was stupidity to our native way of thinking. so as "them damn
> redskins" we were the terrorists...i'm not ashamed of that.
>
> someday....there may be some Afghans who might come to understand Osama bin
> Laden as a kind of Geronimo or a kind of Sitting Bull.
> who dared to take on the powers of the world because he believed that they
> represented greed,capitalism,and the pillaging of earths resources.
>
> ske:noh
> Richard
> Wyandotte Oklahoma,
>
>
>
> On Thu, May 5, 2011 at 9:06 AM, Resa C Bizzaro <resa.bizzaro at iup.edu>
> wrote:
>
> Hey, y'all. MJ, there are quite a number of people who are upset about the
> choice of the name Geronimo. Facebook has a bunch of stuff on there, and
> there is going to be some discussion of that choice at a hearing on
> Indigenous stereotypes. I don't have the info with me, but it's this
> afternoon and will be streamed live through Facebook and, I presume, the
> internet from 2-5.
>
> Resa
>
>
>
> On Thu, 5 May 2011 07:01:33 -0700
>  Sandra <enviro.design at YAHOO.COM> wrote:
>
> ... yes...reminiscent of skull n bones
> but not a good choice
> my first thought after the humane burial
>
> Sent from my iPhone
> Sandra Gaskell
>
> On May 5, 2011, at 6:59 AM, MJ Hardman <hardman at UFL.EDU> wrote:
>
> Was anyone as appalled as I was by the use ‘geronimo’ as codeword in the
> recent scuff-up in Pakistan? MJ
>
>
>
>


-- 
rzs at wildblue.net

richardzanesmith.wordpress.com
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