Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar
Survivalism Never Looked So Relevant
RECEIVED Thu., July 29, 2010
Dear Editor,
“There’s a world you’re living in. No one else has your part. All God’s children in the wind, take it in and blow hard.” Neil Young, “There's a World”
Neo-con online magazine Newsmax reported on Sunday, July 25, that former CIA Director Michael Hayden said that military action against Iran now "seems inexorable" and in fact "may not be the worst of all possible outcomes." Hayden went on to opine that "homegrown terrorism [is] ‘a devil of a problem’ and the most serious threat facing American citizens.” We seem closer to the possibility of creating the environment pervading Cormac McCarthy’s The Road than at any time in recent memory. We (America/Israel) certainly will not get off as easy after attacking Iran as we did for our illegal invasion of Iraq. And how do we know how to identify homegrown terrorists? Those: 1) displaying the American flag; 2) citing the Bill of Rights and Constitution; 3) quoting the Founding Fathers; 4) being Vietnam, Gulf War, Iran, and Afghanistan veterans; 5) owning firearms; 6) farming or living any self-sufficient lifestyle; 7) refusing to inform on neighbors' activities (this is specifically listed in the PATRIOT Act), etc.
There is no doubt that thousands of American women and men enlisted into the armed services after 9/11 for all the right reasons, and many of them have stared death in the face. It takes courage and guts to do that, not cowardice. I used the word “cowardly” to describe drone missile attacks, but that does not convey how malicious and provocative these exercises are. These bombings have enforced and exacerbated the generations-long hatred and retaliation against the U.S. that was intentionally generated by Abu Ghraib. That atrocity marked for me the moment when America was lost. Survivalism has never looked so relevant.
“There’s a world you’re living in. No one else has your part. All God’s children in the wind, take it in and blow hard.” Neil Young, “There's a World”
Neo-con online magazine Newsmax reported on Sunday, July 25, that former CIA Director Michael Hayden said that military action against Iran now "seems inexorable" and in fact "may not be the worst of all possible outcomes." Hayden went on to opine that "homegrown terrorism [is] ‘a devil of a problem’ and the most serious threat facing American citizens.” We seem closer to the possibility of creating the environment pervading Cormac McCarthy’s The Road than at any time in recent memory. We (America/Israel) certainly will not get off as easy after attacking Iran as we did for our illegal invasion of Iraq. And how do we know how to identify homegrown terrorists? Those: 1) displaying the American flag; 2) citing the Bill of Rights and Constitution; 3) quoting the Founding Fathers; 4) being Vietnam, Gulf War, Iran, and Afghanistan veterans; 5) owning firearms; 6) farming or living any self-sufficient lifestyle; 7) refusing to inform on neighbors' activities (this is specifically listed in the PATRIOT Act), etc.
There is no doubt that thousands of American women and men enlisted into the armed services after 9/11 for all the right reasons, and many of them have stared death in the face. It takes courage and guts to do that, not cowardice. I used the word “cowardly” to describe drone missile attacks, but that does not convey how malicious and provocative these exercises are. These bombings have enforced and exacerbated the generations-long hatred and retaliation against the U.S. that was intentionally generated by Abu Ghraib. That atrocity marked for me the moment when America was lost. Survivalism has never looked so relevant.
Sincerely,
Kenney C. Kennedy
Kenney C. Kennedy
