"The only reason I Live in the USA Is so I'm not a victim of US foreign policy."

I can't even remember who uttered this amazingly resonating line. Was it Dick Gregory or Abbie Hoffman? Memory blank here. But, I think of this quote often because things have changed a lot in the past years. Now, it is abundantly clear to anyone with half a brain that we in the homeland are increasingly victims of US foreign policy. We have many political prisoners here. We have unbelievable surveillance. NSA and all that. We are subjected to tons of propaganda. Drones are fast becoming ubiquitous. We order assassinations of US citizens, unabashedly.We buy and sell democracy. We allow and encourage companies to poison our citizens (think Monsanto, think fracking, think coal fired power plants).

We have had a lot of practice in other countries. How could we not expect it to come home to visit itself upon us? The other day a facebook friend, Julie DiPaulis, re-posted an anti-Muslim racist rant on her page. It was filled with hate and ignorance and drum beating for further violence. It was couched in shallow verbiage about protecting America and supporting our troops. Many of her friends 'liked' this post. I was horrified and filled with hurt. Hatred and violence are hatred and violence no matter what side you are on. It is no-where stuff. Nothing good can be born from hearts filled with hate. Think about it.

“In war, good guys always become bad guys.” 
― Howard Zinn

I can get pretty mixed up about my tendency to condemn ignorance. If, as I postulate, these attitudes come from ignorance ( It is still hard for me to believe that many people still think that "Iraq bombed the World Trade Center.") then they can be forgiven as such. But we are not talking here about illiterate peasants in the middle of nowhere. These people actually have education and some minor evidence that, for instance, the damage to the Trade Center came mostly from airplanes, not bombings. Does that make the ignorance not ignorance? If a person has a choice about whether to be ignorant or not, do we need a new word here?

If I believe that all good change begins at home, then I must put aside my righteous indignation and love the writers of this crap. I can only go so far, but I'll give it my best shot. "We are all poor suffering schmucks bumbling our way through life. Help us all to manifest true brotherhood and support all living beings in their quest for happiness and peace. Amen."