Breaking the Silence of the Night

[Jcrowley]

Breaking the Silence of the Night

"A time comes when silence is betrayal." -- Martin Luther King Jr., April 4, 1967

By Ron Kovic

10/13/06 "Truth Dig" -- -- It all begins somewhere, the questioning, the doubting, the feeling that something’s not right; like that day the captain set fire to the Vietnamese woman’s hooch, or the night we shot those women and children by mistake. It’s all got to start somewhere. For them it might have been the innocent civilians killed that day at the checkpoint just north of Baghdad or the dead children lying in the road in Kirkuk, or that night in Nasiriyah when they kicked in the front door of that house, screaming and cursing at the children as they threw their father to the floor, tying his hands behind his back and putting a hood over his head, but you remain silent, you say nothing. You’ve been taught to follow orders, to obey and not question, to go along with the program and do exactly what you’re told. You learned that in boot camp.

<snip>

Have we become so complacent, so coward and intimidated by this government that we have forgotten our own revolutionary birthright of rebellion and dissent? Have we become so paralyzed by the eleventh of September that we would give up our liberty and freedom for the promise of a security that does not exist by a government that now threatens our very lives? What will it take before we finally realize the true reality of this crisis? How many more terrorist attacks, senseless wars, flag draped caskets, grieving mothers, paraplegics, amputees, stressed out sons and daughters before we finally begin to break the silence of this shameful night? Let us open up our hearts and speak in a way we have never spoken before knowing that lives now depend on it, and the very survival of our nation is now at stake. Let not our silence in this crucial moment betray us from our destiny.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15295.htm

[midnight]

1. You have touched on a feeling that has been building in my

community here in America. Not in a war zone. I feel as if America is turned into a war zone. Those who speak against this Govt. are being picked up, and brought in for questioning. I agree with you about speaking up as never before. We have voiced our concern over this war. We have been threated by the police for having a Cindy Sheehan sign up. It gets worse but we are speaking up.

[bobbieinok]

4. where are you (state) that police threaten you for Sheehan sign????

[SharonAnn]

2. Yes, it is "enabling" bad behavior.

[nam78_two]

3. Recommended-excellent piece/nt