"A New Rome meets the New Barbarians"

"The Media can't control what we think, but they can control what we think about..."
- Anonymous Truth

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'Big Brother' was a predilection by Mr. George Orwell in his book 1984, a predilection that fell just 20 years short. What can you expect, George was writing in Britain in the 1940s. The world was recovering from the ravaging spectre that was WWII. The people feared what he wrote, and he was scared of his own ideas. He picked up a pen, an instrument seldom thought of today - long before the 'Information Age' reached its climax; yes my friends, the present. Had he the touchscreen search engines of today, I believe his predictions would have been much more accurate... but, I digress.

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Did you watch CNN today? Did you feel the traumatic pain of a frozen family trapped in the snow of the Pacific Northwest??? Did you question Mr. Kim's decision to wander into a frozen wasteland to save his family??? Did you wonder what the world would have cared had he found the help he sought??? No, his body was found - frozen, a mile from his family, soon to be lost in memory to the 5 minute ADD persona that is America... CNN called him 'superhuman'. At least it's interesting for a few more days. Then, the family has to piece together their dignity after the tragedy of nationwide coverage... long after the shelf-life of American pity...

Did you question why the Russian Spy who died in England has been covered so heavily on the news??? Why a person dies, much like thousands of others everyday, but the uniqueness of his passing marks him more reportable than the rest??? What about the Darfur kid??? Well, he didn't die from radiation poisoning from the rare isotope of Polonium-120... no, he was a sad recipient of an AK-47 round, much like the rest of his family. Civil War - inconsequential, they might think... UN Secretary General Kofi Annan estimates some 200,000 have been lost in the Darfur region to date. We have yet to break 3,000 American lives lost in Iraq. But who's counting? Besides, according to our wartime philosophy - one life is equal to a thousand. 200 Thousand in this case. It's the Sudan - it's Africa. Not an easy sell.

What about the fact that Kim Chong Il and his North Korean Regime may have tested a nuclear weapon just weeks ago? Look at CNN.com and see if they even mention it today. A few weeks ago, you could find drawings of the Taepo Dong, and personality profiles on Kim Jong Il and his trusted associates. That's why I have begun to refer to it as CNNtel. We have been in a state of detente with Kim and his communist brethren for almost 60 years, a holdover from 'containment'. They were the only ones next to Fidel and the Cubans that made it. What's next??? Who cares, Kim's not as cute as Brittany Spears when she bares it all exiting Paris Hilton's car... Point? Nukes are bad for advertising. Why be concerned? CNN has it under control...

Or, how about the Chavez administration in Venezuela? He has just won re-election, and he is probably the greatest vocalist against western ideals. He has the vote, and silences the rest -- welcome to the "Southern" version of western democracy. But, we don't listen. Why? If CNN were to place focus in our hemisphere, we might get scared. Keep the war over there, it's safer.
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Wake Up, America!!! The real battles of this world are being fought at home, and not in Tikrit, Amarra, Falluja, or Baghdad... not in Pyong Yang or Caracas, not in Havana or the Sudan... They are being fought in a general Civil War of 'commitment'... A commitment we have chosen as Americans through ballots cast years ago, choices we as a Nation have come to pay for. That war between the Democrats and the GOP on the battleground that is Capitol Hill. In this case, "Might Makes Right" - even in Realist terms, this holds most true for the world's greatest superpower.
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For the real war coverage, look no further -
What about the new Democratic House of Representatives, who so cleverly drafted such a 'quick and efficient' response to the war in Iraq? Already seeking re-election in such junior terms, our new Democratic Representatives seem 'hellbent' on crucifying this administration. WE ALL HAVE OUR OPINIONS. And yes, you were elected by the voice of America... but you weren't elected by votes at home alone; the soldiers in the trenches of Iraq showed up to the polls in record numbers by absentee ballot. They did so because they have faith in your decision making ability - they have seen the change democracy can make through action, not words, on the sands and in the streets of Baghdad. They don't need some 'old representative' telling them that their 'plan failed'... they need a way home... and they have entrusted you, the American servant, with that charge by their blood-stained ballot. If you should fail them, you fail us all.

I believe you may have done that already...

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I address you each and all, those who doubt the will of the American Warrior -


Sirs,

You have a charged scroll before you. You are condemning the decisions one man has made for the actions of you all. You are quick to point fingers in a war you do not want, the same war that got you elected when two buildings fell and a few thousand Americans lost their lives. Quit trying to improve your golf game, and drink only to the success of the souls you and you alone approved to die in Iraq by the War Powers Act. At present, we see your fiery debates on Capitol Hill in real-time: the questioning of morals, the doubt in the intent, the hope for an 'objective' withdrawal... the unanimous approval of a new SECDEF willing to admit at least partial defeat in Iraq, and the slow-stumble to Civil War...

We call for unity, even if 'Big Brother' CNN leads the charge...

To CNN, I thank you for this and this alone. You show the one truth in a hundred reports that Americans can still fight battles, and words are our greatest weapon. Our ability to express free ideals, even in contradiction of an overwhelming force -- this my readers is the America I fight for.

A post-note of sadness -

"I believe it's not America we fight for, I believe that we have already secured her chastity of truth. I believe we have struck our own eyes of hope in a vain desire to spread liberty to the unwanting, and the streaming blood has blinded our perfect vision of a society based of peace and equality to all."

B. Hawkins, an inconsequential servant :)
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