Beating The Airwaves For Wrong Cause

On those times when I take my wife shopping, I spend time in our car listening to the radio. I find that my choices range from contemporary pop music, that is so bad it hurts my ears, or the radio talk shows.

I naturally choose the latter, not because I agree with what I hear, but because I find amusement in listening to the strange logic perpetuated by the likes of such ultra-conservative flag-waving characters as Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Michael Savage.

The constant daily assault on Democratic Party efforts to generate support for a candidate that might unseat George W. Bush, and the repeated beating of the Bush war drum favoring our military operations in Iraq would be amusing if the issues weren't so deadly serious.

That Savage would go so far as to suggest that all newspaper (and website?) editors that oppose Bush and (the American invasion of a Moslem country without provocation) be arrested and jailed for sedition was so ridiculous that the comment made headlines.

When Savage would implied that anyone daring to question the actions of a fanatical leadership is guilty of subversion and treason he sounded like no more than what he really is, a tool of a dictatorial government.

In a democratic republic, as America has always touted itself to be, the people are supposed to be able to speak their mind about everything, and question authority whenever they believe it is necessary.

A lot of people believe it necessary just now to question the actions of the Bush Administration. Many of us were questioning it even before we invaded Iraq. I was among the few that wrote in opposition of the open invasion of Afghanistan and the blind acceptance of the Constitutional assault brought by the Patriot Act in the weeks following the 9-11 attack.

What I find hard to believe is that people like Savage, Hannity and Limbaugh don't appear to see what a terrible mess we have made of the Iraq situation since sending troops there more than a year ago.

Columnist Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr. explained in a recent piece:

"We have a 'war' that has proven to be a complete calamity in every conceivable way. The blood and violence are ghastly. It started as a war for democracy and American values and it is ending in body bags, a radicalized population, hundreds of billions (of dollars) wasted, and an emboldened horde of terrorists (gathering) from all countries."

In addition to that, Rockwell said "the original rationales for the war are proven hoaxes. The soldiers hate it. The Iraqis hate the soldiers. U.S. trained Iraqis are AWOL. We are talking here about a war disaster of historic proportions, even for the aggressor state."

I find myself wasting way too much time writing about this irrational mess. In comparison to the real problems facing the people of this planet, the little skirmish we have going in Iraq, and the politics behind it, are inconsequential.

All of the radio and television talk hosts would do well to shift their focus on the environment, the impact the Bush Administration's policies are having on air, ground and water pollution, and the growing threat of human extinction.

A close examination of this ultra serious threat to every man, woman and child currently alive on this planet would make the Iraq war, the conflict between Jews and Moslems, the threats by China against Taiwan, the differences between North and South Koreans, and the constant threat of war between India and Pakistan pale by comparison.

To allow just one of the above named powder kegs to escalate to nuclear warfare would probably mean total annihilation of the human race within our lifetime. The stakes are that high.

Because the media has not been paying attention, no one has noticed. The few of us who see what is happening are not being heard. It is as if nobody wants to listen because they don't want to believe it.