We just aren't angry enough

[proud2BlibKansan]

I watched a couple CNN shows this weekend that really got to me. The first one was Larry King. It was about Fisher House, which is a house for families of injured soldiers where they can stay while their soldier is in the hospital. Larry interviewed several soldiers, their families and the man whose family started Fisher House. One soldier had lost an arm and also seriously injured a leg. He and his family sat there all smiles (they were on Larry King!) and talked about how wonderful it was to be together while the soldier recuperated. They were all smiley happy. One injured soldier laid in a hospital bed and smiled because his girlfriend had come and they had gotten married in the hospital.

Then Larry asked the Fisher man a question about the war and he said he just didn't want to get into the politics of the war. He just wants to take care of the wounded and their families.

The other show was about a combat hospital in Iraq. It was horrific. Pretty graphic. It is a trauma center where wounded soldiers come right after they are injured. A lot of them die. They also treat Iraqi civilians. There was one especially sad case of a little girl who had been shot in the head and another who was the only survivor in her family after an insurgent attack.

The doctors and nurses in that show also didn't want to get into the politics of the war. They kept saying they were just doing their jobs.

And it struck me that all these people were so calm. The soldier on Larry King had lost his fucking arm and he sat there smiling for Larry while his wife and daughter beamed. The Fisher guy gladly works at making these families comfortable but didn't seem the least bit concerned about WHY these soldiers were dealing with such horrific injuries. The soldier who got married didn't seem the least bit concerned that his wedding was not in a church, but in a hospital.

The doctors and nurses at the combat hospital were more emotional but they still kept insisting they were just doing their jobs.

After I watched these shows, I went down to our regular Sunday protest and was struck by the contrast. There were people standing in the freezing rain who had more passion and seemed much more concerned about this damn war than any of the people I had seen on CNN.

Where is the anger? Where is the outrage? Why do we admire a soldier who loses his fucking arm in an illegal war and beams proudly for Larry King's camera? Why does this Fisher guy go to such great lengths and considerable expense to help take care of injured soldiers and their families yet he doesn't question why the VA isn't providing these services for the soldiers? And he doesn't seem to care WHY they need the help in the first place?

I don't mean to sound unsympathetic. I think what these people are doing to help soldiers is pretty awesome. I just don't understand why they aren't seething with anger over this illegal, unjust war. Until a lot more people get angry, we will still be sending soldiers over to Iraq to get injured and killed.

[walldude]

1. I saw a thread earlier today where Kucinich was quoted

saying "If Bush attacks Iran all bets are off and impeachment is on the table." I couldn't believe it. He wants to wait for Bush to start another war? I guess this means that Clinton would have been hung if he had gotten two blowjobs. :eyes:

[proud2BlibKansan]

2. We seem to be one step ahead on the outrage scale

It's nuts.

[walldude]

3. Hey that was my 5000th post!

:party: :headbang: :woohoo: :applause: :applause: :applause:

[proud2BlibKansan]

4. WOW!

And it was to me!

I feel so special. :)

[Skittles]

10. this sickens me too, walldude

stop the bastard NOW g.d. it - what the F*** are they waiting for!!!!

[lligrd]

16. Exactly! His Arrogance Should Be More Than Enough

to put Impeachment back on the table. And why don't they realize that he is going to attck Iran? There are no if ands or buts about it and they are so arrogant that they pratically have spelled it out for us. Wake up Congress and do something for a friggen change!!!

[PDJane]

5. I'm a Canadian ........

And I seriously can't figure out why there isn't a crowd on the lawn of the white house with guns, grenades and pitchforks.

Take some of my outrage. I have enough to go around.

[truth2power]

6. I've asked myself the same questions..

I don't have cable, so can't see CNN etc., But I saw a show the other day, can't remember on what channel, with soldiers who had lost legs, arms, being rehabilitated. They seemed so cheerful. And if I were the mother of one of these people, I swear, I would be screaming my hatred for Puke Bush all over the place.

I am so angry at the neocon scum and our mostly do-nothing Congress. Even now. Why is everybody so immobilized? No one seems to care. What. Will. It. Take?

[lordsummerisle]

8. I don't get it either...

everyone seems to be fat, happy et al...
Maybe Al Sharpton is right, we need the draft to get people motivated...

[babylonsister]

12. Charlie Rangel proposed the draft. nt

[lordsummerisle]

18. My bad, it was Charlie Rangel n/t

[catnhatnh]

7. I think it is because....

...after you face your own mortality the politics just don't count....for the casualty,his arm was ripped off and he is still alive....not a bad outcome when you consider the alternative. For the medical folks, there is a certain dark elan that just says fuck the externals-what we do,we do well (I was there once)...anger comes in leisure time,anger comes on reflection,anger comes after you've had time to look into the "whys"...All these people are very much in the now, as are the active troops, who do a tour and come back and smile and do the boogaloo.It's later that the darkness slips in...it takes time and reflection and pondering to fully develop into brooding,and PTSD, and growing knowledge, and incandescent hatred....just my take...

[babylonsister]

13. Insightful, and sad; thanks, catnhatnh. nt

[sandnsea]

9. I don't think that's fair

The people in Iraq are military, they can't speak out against the war. The only way to get that footage to the people is if they are neutral.

As to Fisher House, they are there to help every vet, regardless of whether they're a vet from Afghanistan which most Americans support - or a vet from Iraq. It is a non-political entity which is why they get so much support and are able to do so much good.

I understand your frustration about the lack of anger, but I think in this instance, you've got the wrong targets.

[magellan]

11. Most of the country doesn't read DU

...or regularly plug into anything else that gives them the facts. They're working from impressions that the liberal media, no matter how they try, can't disguise any longer. That's why they're behind the bell curve on anger while we (and anyone who seeks the truth) are ahead of it.

It's a race now to see if BushCo can pull the wool over their eyes again with Iran or if they're sufficiently clued in to go ape shit with fury when it happens.

[puebloknot]

14. A recent cover of Harper's (I think it was)...

...had a young man with no legs, and one prosthetic arm held out, and he had the most "All American Boy" smile on his face.

I wondered if he is just in shock, or if maybe he did it for Jesus and is glad to be among the chosen!

Sorry to sound cynical, but I just had the crazed thought that *our* version of 19 virgins waiting just for you could turn out to be our young men wanting to prove themselves and be part of something by giving up their limbs, too.

There's more truth than one might think in that idea.

If I were a pill-popping gal, I might go for it right now. Going about my normal life seems surreal when I know that we're living on the brink of disasters of various kinds, and there is no outrage, not even any awareness!

[babylonsister]

15. That pic was on the DU homepage and I do remember it. When that soldier

has to fight for every last tidbit he might get from the VA, when he hears/sees how this war will inevitably end, he won't be a happy chap.

[madeline_con]

17. "And he doesn't seem to care WHY

they need the help in the first place?"

He probably cares deeply, but does not want to get involved in the politics. Fisher House probably helps sodiers and their familes, regardless of political affiliation. It would be better to make all feel welcome.