Whistling in the Dark

The mob remains in Iraq. Some friends of mine feel that the U.S. military has no responsibility to protect museums, hospitals, churches, schools and the like -- the job isn’t done, they feel. Snipers are everywhere.

I don’t agree. I believe if you bring a military force into a city, destroy its police force and the state that controls things, you have a moral responsibility to assume control until such time as local authority can be established. It is the very heart of occupation. If there is good to be found in the toppling of Saddam Hussein -- and despite all of my opposition to this war, I acknowledge the good that can be found there -- it must be allowed to grow, not be crushed by the strong killing the weak and those caught in the panic and chaos of the moment destroying the cultural core of one of the oldest human civilizations on Earth. That must be part of the mission, if there is any morality to be found in the mission.

And yet, in the core of the violence of the mob, unchecked by occupying forces, are opportunities for heroism, of morality, of good to be found in Iraqis who have been oppressed for so long. This is the story of one group of Muslims who defended their neighbors even if it meant their own lives.

Even though those neighbors were Jews.

I am neither Jew nor Muslim, but I know something of Religion. I know that Judaism, Christianity and Islam all grow from a common root -- in mythology the children of Abraham. May the God of Abraham bless these children of Islam who place themselves in harm’s way for the Jews of Iraq. And may the Americans who occupy Baghdad learn from a few unarmed men who stand for order in the wake of chaos.

Jimmy Kimmel Live has started advertising on cable networks. And they show guests, saying “top stars, top sports heroes, and top music,” and scenes from the show.

All of which came from either George Clooney’s appearance on the very first episode, after the Superbowl, or were from one of the three episodes I actually watched, the first week his show was on, before I gave up on it entirely.

Which means that as of mid-April, a solid three months after the show came on, there’s been so little on it that they didn’t have to recut their promo commercial from the first week.

Well, it means the Man Show is out of production, so there is some good at least.

In my earlier “compare and contrast” post, I made reference to a conversation I had with friends, yesterday.

I had several of those conversations, and my comments were not meant to reflect on all of those conversations. Let me make it clear -- if you never went to school with me, and if you didn’t use the phrase ‘F*ck the Iraqis’ in the conversation, I wasn’t referring to you. If you do fit the profile, feel free to tell your side here.

If you don’t... feel free to comment, to disagree, or do what you like... but please don’t assume I meant you in that post, or misconstrued what you said in often well constructed, well reasoned and compassionate rebuttals.

Sometimes, it’s not worth typing.