All the tired horses in the sun

Don’t forget to breath alright?

CNN reported the death toll in London has settled at 40, though they expect it to rise again as the rubble is cleared out. My heart breaks for each of those people and their families. Nothing makes this ok and nothing makes their sorrow less painful. The world leaders in their infinite wisdom released a few comments.

It is particularly barbaric that this has happened on a day when people are meeting to try to help the problems of poverty in Africa, the long-term problems of climate change and the environment. Whatever they [terrorists] do, it is our determination that they will never succeed in destroying what we hold dear in this country.”
— Tony Blair, British prime minister

Woo-hoo for the Prime minister. He’s ready to kick some butt.

“I and all the leaders of the G8 summit condemn in the strongest possible terms these insidious acts, which have cost the lives and health of many innocent people. We agree that the international community must do everything and use all available means to fight terrorism together.”
— Gerhard Schroeder, German chancellor

Ok, the Germans are on board.

“Spain, which has suffered the scourge of terrorism, both national and international for years, offers its immediate and unconditional help, as well as its full support to the UnitedKingdom to pursue the criminals that have carried out such a repulsive attack.”
— Jose Luis Zapatero, Spanish prime minister

Hey, we got ourselves a right little international army. But this all reminds me of something…..

“Wherever such inhuman crimes occur — in London, in New York or in Moscow — we must unconditionally condemn them and unite all civilized countries in the struggle againstinternational terrorism.”
— Vladimir Putin, Russian president

……Oh right, the week after 911 as America picked itself up from the attacks. Which left more than 3,200 dead.

“I am deeply saddened to hear of the appalling attacks this morning in London. I know I speak on behalf of all NATO allies when I express our sympathy for and solidarity with the British people. There can be no justification for such heinous crimes.”
— Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, NATO secretary-general

“It’s a tragedy for England, it’s a tragedy for all of Europe…. Faced with these odious acts, I want to express my deepest solidarity, my friendship and my support to all British people, particularly the inhabitants of London.”
— Dominique de Villepin, French prime minister

Look, see London is getting all this support. Even President Elmer Fudge said something that could be understood to be a compliment

“This morning I have been in contact with the Homeland Security folks. I instructed them to be in touch with local and state officials about the facts of what took place… in London and be extra vigilant…
[We] express our heartfelt condolences to the people of London.”
— George Bush, U.S. president

Alright, so he called them folkes. Next step is the dudes and dudettes in the State Department. So he sounds like a pompous asshole who was born with a silver spoon in his mou…… Wait a minute. If it quacks like a duck and walks like a duck, it’s probably is a duck. But I digress.

My point is that everyone is clammering behind London, just like most of them did for 911. Except we lost more than 3,300 to their 40. And months later, we were labled the bad guys for starting this war on terror. (Now so we are clear about a few things. I think the War on Terror gives the President a blank check to fill out and hand to Congress. I don’t think we should be in Iraq, but put that aside for now.) No one will help us catch bin Laden. Where did all the love and support and help go? Countries are defending Afganistan and Sadaam (ok, I have issues with Bush, Jr. going after Sadaam, but that too is another topic).

My point is this: London, Madrid, and etc., my condolences and sincere prayers and thoughts go to you. This sucks and there is no way to make it better. Wanna go after the assholes who did this now? We’ve already done a lot of the fighting while you were criticizing us and yelling at us. Your citizens were cruel and hateful towards us. How is it that Brits rising up against the terrorists is seen as couragous, strong and British-like and America rising up against terrorists (who by the way killed 80 times the number of Americans) is seen as arrogant assholes who can’t keep their hands to themselves? How come hunting down terrorists in Afganistan wasn’t ok for Americans, but now that Britian has been attacked, they are going to do the excat thing and its fine. In four weeks, four months, will the EU and the rest of the world turn its back on the British reaction? Aren’t there British soldiers in Iraq with us? Aren’t there Danish and Italian soldiers there too? Why is this all America’s fault?

How many other terroristic acts have their been in the past 50 years? How come America is the bad guy for finally chasing those terrorists down? We are not (nor have we ever been) the only victims of terrorism. But we are the pompous, arrogant, egotistical Americans who stood up and fought back.

I’m sorry about London, I really am. I’m sorry about Madrid, I really am. But London lost less than 2% of the people that America lost in one attack from terrorists. Don’t you dare tell me London can fight back, but America had better sit quietly and be embarressed for being America. Over three thousand two hundred people died on 911, and I’m not just talking about the WTC. That number includes PA and the Pentagon. There were over 3,200 innocent lives lost. Don’t tell me how evil my country is, or how we deserved the attack.

“I want to say one thing: This was not a terrorist attack against the mighty or the powerful, it is not aimed at presidents or prime ministers, it was aimed at ordinary working-class Londoners.”
— Ken Livingstone, London mayor

The same thing is true for us. August 7th and September 11th were both attacks on ordinary citizens. Both killed innocent people who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I swear, the next person who tries to tell me my country deserved to be attacked like that is going to get a punch in the face. How would you like it if someone came in a killed off a few hundred of your innocent citizens? I’m not saying we’re the only victims of terroristic attacks. But we’re not the only “Crusader government” that al Qaeda refers to either.

BREATHE

That was a rant. Take it how you want it. Get pissed, leave me argumentative notes. But don’t leave “You suck” notes, because they are pointless. This is how I reacted to hearing about London. Take it or leave it.

All the tired horses in the sun
How’m I supposed to get any ridin’ done?
Hmm.

All the Tired Horses ~ Bob Dylan