In Memory of Bubbling Bob

[babylonsister]

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2008/11/13-4

In Memory of Bubbling Bob

by Joyce Marcel


Barack Obama has inspired a generation and a nation. It's a wonderful thing.

But please allow me to be the crotchety old lady next door screaming "Get off my lawn!" for just one moment longer.

From what we're hearing, Obama is listening to good people and making good moves. He can't close Guantanamo or get our soldiers out of Iraq fast enough for me. If he could convince George W. Bush to move out of the White House tomorrow and take that toad of a vice president with him, I'd be thrilled.

But when I saw people dancing in the street last week, celebrating the election, I just wanted to slap them.

snip//

"Dozens of corpses lay rotting by roadsides or in cars blown up by U.S. forces as they captured Baghdad," Reuters reported in 2003, as American troops invaded Iraq. "Nearby, the corpse of of an airport worker rolled around in the current of a pool... 'That's 'Bubbling Bob,' said one soldier. 'Been there a while. I ain't gonna fish him out. Let the Iraqis do it."

Bubbling Bob became a symbol of the war to me. Maybe for you it was the little dark-eyed boy with both his arms blown off. Or the caskets of the American soldiers -- we weren't supposed to see the photos, but one person was brave enough to make them public. It goes without saying that the images from the smoldering remains of the twin towers, like the ones from Abu Ghraib, are so iconic they will never fade from the world's memory.

Bush entered the White House with the blood of 152 executed prisoners on his hands. He leaves with the blood of millions dripping from them.

snip//

And what if Obama hadn't come? What if it was Hillary Clinton, or Joe Biden, or John Edwards who won the nomination? Three senators who voted for the war in Iraq, just like John McCain. Then how many more people would have to die? How many more lives around the world and at home would be shattered?

It would be lovely if we were all inspired every day. Inspired to get up and go to work at the bank, or the grocery store or the garage. Inspired to be kind to our neighbors and loving to our partners and spouses.

But life is not like that. Being an adult means accepting the responsibility to do what's right, even when there is no inspiration. Even when no one's watching. Even when you get into trouble doing it.

We now have a president-elect who is an adult. We should all rejoice. But Americans all bear some responsibility for the past eight years. And it is a bill we will be paying off for a long, long time

[niyad]

1. k & r for this most important topic