Shut Up And Listen 79

Americans, Both Good And Bad
So much stuff to talk about, so little time. Okay, more like so much laziness on my part. Amazing that this is the crossing point for the column. We start the second half of year two with this column. A year and a half. Lots of columns. Still lots to bitch about. Cool.
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First up, is the readdressing of those four Canadians killed and the eight severely wounded last April when US Air Force Major Harry Schmidt dropped a 225-kilogram bomb on Canadian troops that were performing night training exercises in Kandahar, Afghanistan. I’ve talked to various Americans about this and for the most part, I’ve found them to be genuinely sympathetic and sorry that this happened. A showing of reverence for life and sadness that a member of their military killed and injured members of an ally’s military.
	But then there are the other fuckers.
	These people, who for either personal reasons against me (I have some enemies on message boards) or just because they’re heartless bastards, express such sentiments as “Who cares about Canadians?” and “Damn, they were supposed to kill them all” and other comments along those lines. I am appalled and disgusted at this. These are people who just over a year ago were attacked by terrorists and lost many of their own citizens, and here they are glorifying and cracking jokes when they killed allies (and you know what I mean when I say “they”).
	The Illinois Governor has been telling citizens to donate money in the defence of Major Schmidt as he is having four counts of manslaughter and eight counts of assault laid against him. Now this isn’t some guy who’s had charges recommended by a grand jury that was impressed by a smooth talking DA; these charges were recommended after two military inquiries (one by the US military and one by the Canadian military). I’m pretty sure that if the US military is saying this guy should be charged, he’s most likely guilty. 
	Why’s that? Mainly because of the times. We are living in, despite how much people like me hate this phrase, a post-9/11 world. This is a world where the US military has got to appear to be the best, the most competent and perfect, almost. If they start making tons of mistakes, they will lose all global support and even the support of their country (even though they’ve made numerous mistakes). They especially don’t want to be charging one of their own with crimes committed against their allies overseas. Do you know how dumb that makes them look? I’m sure they’ve looked for every possible way to exonerate the Major, but they still recommended charges. What does that say to you?
	But that does not stop some Americans from displaying a total lack of interest and responsibility. I don’t think I need to tell you how this would have played out if the situation was reversed, do I? Well, I’ll give you a quick run-down: Canada is still apologizing profusely, the pilot has had charges laid against him and most likely found guilty and Americans across the country demand more reparations for the loss of four good, patriotic American soldiers.
	That’s one thing I wish some Americans would think of more often: what would we expect if the situation was reversed and what we did to them, they did to us?
	But sadly that does not happen nearly enough and because of it there’s a possibility a man who seems very guilty of deliberately disobeying orders and killing four innocent people may go free because “it was a simple mistake” as some have decided to put it.
	Nice to know that when Americans kill innocents it’s a “mistake” but when innocent Americans are killed it’s a “tragedy.”
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Three cents on the dollar.
	That’s what people were getting pissed over this week. Three cents on the fucking dollar. Word leaked out that there was a possible consideration of an increase on the GST (government sales tax) from 7% to 10% as a method of increasing revenue for healthcare.
	I have never heard so much whining and bitching over three fucking cents.
	I see this problem all the time, you know. I hear people bitching about taxes as if they’re a bad thing. Taxes are not a bad thing. The way in which politicians have twisted them and misspent them and generally fucked over the public with the public hard-earned tax dollars is a bad thing.
	Taxes pay for stuff like HEALTHCARE, EDUCATION, LIBRARIES, POLICE FORCES, FIREFIGHTERS, ROADS, FOREIGN AID, THE ENVIRONMENT (an expensive venture these days, you know) and all sorts of other good stuff.
	The Globe And Mail did a survey on their website about this. What should the government do to increase revenue for healthcare? At first the number one answer was “user fees.” I checked back later that day and the new leader was “GST increase” with “user fees” in third. That made me feel good.
	Let me ask you something, okay? Would you rather pay a little each year so that you can get medical care at any time without any extra cost or go the “self-sufficient” route and pay thousands of dollars when you really can’t afford it and really need that surgery?
	I still can’t believe anyone with any sense would support a healthcare system that screws them over just so they can save a few bucks NOW, but have to spend a lot of bucks LATER.
	No forethought in this world, I guess.
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Hussein said he’d allow weapon inspectors in like the US asked. The US said, “It’s a trick.” Why the fuck did the US even bother asking?
	I’ve been talking to people. I enjoy that sometimes. Talking to people. People are scared. They don’t like what they see going on. They want away from it. I’ve heard very patriotic Americans, Americans who love their country a lot, say they want out. They can’t take it anymore. They don’t want to live in a nation where the leaders are okay with killing thousands of innocents needlessly. They don’t want that shit on their heads. They see the writing on the wall.
	Folks, America is a dying culture. And the history books will not be kind to it.
	I’ve said this to Americans and many agree. They know what’s going down. It’s sad though. America had some good shit. Too bad it ignored most of it.
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In fifteen to twenty years, I can see Israel being America’s next big enemy. I really can. Look at the history: America gives weapons to Iraq to fight Iran; Iraq becomes America’s enemy. America gives weapons to Afghanistan to fight the Russians and Afghanistan becomes America’s enemy. It’s called karma.
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On September 9, former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was scheduled to address the students at Concordia University in Montreal but was cancelled because the protest by the group Solidarity For Palestinian Human Rights turned violent. This has also caused Concordia’s administration to introduce a “cooling down” period where all public meetings, speeches and information regarding the Middle East conflict are banned on campus.
	I don’t blame just the administration for this. They were expected to give some sort of response and they did. An incredibly poorly thought-out one. I also blame the protestors. Not because of what they were protesting or the fact that they were protesting. I support their right to do that. It’s a very direct and effective way to make your voice heard (much more effective than internet columns, I can tell you). I blame those who turned violent. They are directly responsible for this.
	The most heartening thing that I heard from all this was the condemnation of the violence by protest organisers. They bashed the fuck out of those people. Not only for the deplorable use of violence, but for totally fucking over their cause. Let’s be honest, I am not as quite sympathetic for the Palestinians now as I was before because of this. The best way to make your cause look like shit is to start acting like savages.
	(Oh and for anyone who was wondering which side I support in that whole conflict: I support the side of peace and life. You know, the side any intelligent, caring person would support.)
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Every once in a while, I think about what I’d do if I was Prime Minister or something like that. Why is it that ever scenario I think up ends with me being shot be an assassin? No, seriously. I make all these sweeping changes (more healthcare, education, foreign aid and environmental concerns and less military) and then I get shot.
	Although, in a related manner, I will yet again state that I believe that we should move towards less military and more social programs focused on preserving life and making it better instead of destroying it in a literal and living conditions sense. I’ve had a couple of arguments/discussions with my friend Drew over violence versus non-violence. He thinks you should be prepared, which I respect and understand. I think you should be prepared to never use violence. I’ve never been in any fights. He’s been in several (from what he tells me). I think that if you are prepared to use violence you will at some point. You have a certain outlook that makes it inevitable to happen. 
	You can see that on a global scale too. The countries that are peace-loving, don’t have strong militaries and generally try not to get involved with wars, don’t. The countries with huge militaries that are prepared to use force are put into situations where they “have to.” 
	You don’t see terrorists bombing Switzerland, do you?
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Remember those three guys who some Georgian lady thought were making hateful comments about 9/11 and terrorism in America? Well, they refuse to take lie detector tests to “prove” their innocence. Why is it that the people who are all about individual freedoms always want to infringe on them and then when those who freedoms they wish to infringe on say “No”, they take it as a sign of guilt? What happened to innocent until proven guilty?
	Personally though, I don’t know if they made such statements or not. Although I don’t see making fun of the victims of 9/11 as a crime. Incredibly insensitive, deplorable and just outright fucked up, sure, but no crime.
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And remember, despite what you may hear, Bush is not Hitler. Hitler was charismatic and a great public speaker.