There Is No Cat

Groovy '60s Sounds from the Land of Smile!

Wednesday, March 12, 2003

Acid Soup for the Soul

Bill Moyers talks to New York Times correspondent Chris Hedges about the nature of war and its corrosive effect on the soul. Hedges was a self-described war junkie for many years, never feeling quite so alive as when he was in a war zone with the adrenaline pumping. At some point, he apparently realized what had happened to him and stopped. He makes the point quite clearly that people who have been through war hate war in a way that nobody else quite can. He also says that war destroys what is good within us and in our society. I think that's the thing that bothers me the most about our headlong rush to war; we as Americans are becoming that which we claim to despise. In the name of preserving our liberties, we discard them. We had to destroy the village to save the village. In attacking others for their sins, we destroy what makes us worthy.

Hedges was with the Marines in Gulf War I, and he says they hated the rah-rah cheerleaderish media like CNN. It may provide decent ratings, but such behavior betrays a total lack of understanding of what war is like and what it does.

I suppose as a result it should be no surprise that our war-mongering Resident should have such a spotty, appalling military record that included a year spent AWOL from his Reserve unit at the height of the Vietnam War. A true leader with experience of the genuine article would be more hesitant and more aware of the consequences. But then, nobody ever accused Dubya of self-awareness. (Link found via Stavros the Wonder Chicken.)

Posted at 9:17 AM

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What do you mean there is no cat?

"You see, wire telegraph is a kind of a very, very long cat. You pull his tail in New York and his head is meowing in Los Angeles. Do you understand this? And radio operates exactly the same way: you send signals here, they receive them there. The only difference is that there is no cat."

- Albert Einstein, explaining radio


There used to be a cat

[ photo of Mischief, a black and white cat ]

Mischief, 1988 - December 20, 2003

[ photo of Sylvester, a black and white cat ]

Sylvester (the Dorito Fiend), who died at Thanksgiving, 2000.


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