An American "When"

I should let you know that I try really hard to find anything intelligent in Tom Friedman’s columns. After I read his latest today where he condemns Muslims for not decrying the violence in Iraq and Afghanistan (their own countries, as he pointed out), I thought, well, he has a point. There’s only so much our military and civilian personnel can do, to say nothing of individuals from other countries, when you have Arab tribes which have hated each other forever trying to kill themselves.

I did something else for a few minutes, and then the reaction hit me between the eyes.

In all likelihood, we wouldn’t have the misery we are currently dealing with in those countries if WE knew what the hell we were doing in the first place!

In Iraq, our people are sitting ducks stuck in the middle of a civil war between Sunnis and Shiities complicated by al Qaeda doing anything it possibly can to kill our people also. We diverted our forces from Afghanistan to fight in Iraq to the point where we could not finish the job in the former country (we may not have been able to finish it with our force in its entirety…and no, I’m not trying to impugn our service people by saying that).

And when we intervene and wreck what passes for sanity and stability in that region of the world, what else can we expect?

We all know this, of course, but when you read Friedman crying “give peace a chance” after he enshrined himself as one of the biggest of the Iraq war media pimps, I guess you just find yourself wanting this madness to end so much that it’s easy to forget the non-credibility of the person pretending to be “the voice of reason.”

Anyway, in Friedman’s column (link - Times Select of course), he quotes a poem called “When” from a Saudi named Wajeha al-Huwaider who prays not only for an end to war, but also for reforms in that area of the world of the type he mentions below. And as I read his poem, I realized that he is making comparisons to this country. I’m sure that’s why Friedman included it; al-Huwaider has written something plaintive and thoughtful, but including the poem here seems to be an attempt to generate a bit of a “oh, golly, aren’t we so great here in the U.S.” attitude.

Well, as I read the poem, I had some reactions that I’ll share below…

When you cannot find a single garden in your city, but there is a mosque on every corner – you know you are in an Arab country.

I can’t find a link to this, but I’ll try to recount it from memory.

In the movie “Boys N The Hood,” Laurence Fishburne, as Cuba Gooding, Jr.’s father, tells one of his son’s friends to look around and notice that there are liquor stores and gun shops all over the place in his neighborhood, which I guess you could describe as kind of middle class, but slipping into blight. Fishburne says, “Do you think it’s this way in Beverly Hills? No. That’s because white people want us to kill each other.”

Incendiary rhetoric? Sure, but I think Fishburne's character has a point. Look at funding for suburban vs. city schools, among the many inequalities between living in richer vs. poorer neighborhoods (and I will admit that there are fine schools in Philadelphia, for example – I’m generalizing a bit, I know).

I’ll be honest – I benefit from that a bit, as well as the other ways that the cities have been promoted over the suburbs in this country since the 1950s. But all I’m asking is that we not kid ourselves. There are too many places in this country where, while there may not be a mosque, there is decrepit housing and crumbling infrastructure that is basically ignored by our corporate media and too many of us generally, and all of this affects quality of life. And there sure as hell won’t be a garden.

When you see people living in the past with all the trappings of modernity – do not be surprised, you are in an Arab country.

I mulled this over a bit, and all I could think of was this.

When religion has control over science – you can be sure that you are in an Arab country.

Really?

When clerics are referred to as “scholars” – don’t be astonished, you are in an Arab country.

I ask again – really?

When you see the ruler transformed into a demigod who never dies or relinquishes his power, and nobody is permitted to criticize – do not be too upset, you are in an Arab country.

You may be in this country also, if this YouTube clip is any indication (re: the incredibly scary "Dubya worship").

When you find that the large majority of people oppose freedom and find joy in slavery – do not be too distressed, you are in an Arab country.

As noted from this link (and yes – I know this is snarky)…

Fox News currently leads the cable news market in the United States, earning higher points ratings than its chief competitors CNN and MSNBC combined by average viewership.[12][13][14] While more people are actively watching Fox News Channel at any given time, CNN still remains the leader in unique viewers." [15][16]

The BBC reported that Fox News saw its profits double during the Iraq conflict. By some reports, at the height of the conflict they enjoyed as much as a 300% increase in viewership, averaging 3.3 million viewers daily.[17].

In 2004, the gain in ratings became more apparent. In September, Fox News Channel's ratings for its broadcast of the Republican National Convention beat those of all three broadcast networks. During President Bush's address, Fox News notched 7.3 million viewers nationally, while NBC, CBS, and ABC scored ratings of 5.9, 5.0, and 5.1, respectively.

Back to the poem...

When you hear the clerics saying that democracy is heresy, but seizing every opportunity provided by democracy to grab higher positions – do not be surprised, you are in an Arab country.

Substitute “Republicans” for “clerics” and “government” for “democracy,” and I give you this example…

When you discover that a woman is worth less than half of what a man is worth, or less – do not be surprised, you are in an Arab country.

Well, not less than half in this country, but still (and by the way, this has kind of gotten relegated to the dustbin of history for now and possibly for all time, unfortunately).

When land is more important than human beings – you are in an Arab country.

One word: Katrina.

When fear constantly lives in the eyes of the people – you can be certain you are in an Arab country.

Somehow I think those living in the hell depicted here know fear pretty much all the time also.

As I said before, all I ask is that we not kid ourselves.