Eyes Wide Open Exhibit at the National City Christian Church- January 20, 2005
Thursday, January 20, 2005
Inaguration
Today, one Texas family celebrated with pomp and circumstance in Washington. As George W. Bush took the oath of office, the news reports were all abuzz with presidential history, thoughts of a presidential legacy, and the fashion plans of the First Lady and the Bush twins for an evening of inaugural balls and festivities to celebrate. Fireworks will light the sky and party goers will dance until dawn.
Back in Texas, two families prepared to bury their sons who died last week in the chaos that is Iraq. The only fireworks at these events will be a 21 gun salute and the fashion will be somber black.
Sincere condolences to the families of Lance Corporal Juan Rodrigo Rodriguez, age 23 and Lance Corporal Matthew W. Holloway, age 21.
Tuesday, January 04, 2005
I Look Upon War With Horror
"There is many a boy here today who looks on war as all glory, but, boys, it is all hell. You can bear this warning voice to generations yet to come. I look upon war with horror."
William T. Sherman, 1880
What does the average American see of war? We are insulated from it for the most part. General William T Sherman during the Civil War understood that unless people saw the devastation and cruelty of war, they would continue to fight. In the final days of the Civil War, he cut a devastating path through Georgia which removed the illusion that the south fought for a "Glorious Cause".
Most of what we see of war in the US involves destruction of property. We see the rubble after a building falls and the burning shells of cars that have been destroyed by the IED. What of the people? When an explosion fells a building, what happens to the people inside? We read everyday it seems that there have been xx killed and xx wounded today in Iraq.
One intrepid blogger went out and found pictures not found in the press. They were taken by press photographers...and with some work can be found on the net. Yahoo collects them by category. There are often duplicates and it is time consuming to look through all of them. However, they will not be published in the newspapers or carried on the network news. Why? Because often they depict the blood and gore that is the stuff of war.
This blogger has been called everything from a hero to a war criminal - depending on the perspective. He posts the pictures and allows people to draw their own conclusions. The Washington Post ran an article on his blog which drew a contrast between what the official press publishes and what is published by individuals who feel something is important.
His pictures are stark. They are full of violence. They are not for the weak of heart...and they are not for children. They are a freeze-frame of a moment of crisis. His posting only involves the basic information provided by the photographer. The original blog was replaced by a website which is still in the process of being built: www.crisispictures.org
William T. Sherman was right: War is all hell. To those at home, there may be glory. To those viewing what we see only in pictures, there is only surviving that hell.
Monday, December 27, 2004
Ann Coulter
"Since the attack of 9/11, we've won two wars, liberated millions of people from monstrous regimes, presided over one election in Afghanistan and are about to see elections in Iraq and among the Palestinian people. Focusing like a laser beam on the big picture, liberals are upset that, during this period, the secretary of defense used an autopen. " Ann Coulter
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=108&ncid=742&e=10&u=/ucac/20041224/
cm_ucac/happygivingtreefestivaltoallandtoallagoodnight
And so goes Ms. Coulter's rant on Yahoo today. I am not sure where else this publishes except on her website. In the first paragraph, I guess I find a couple of well, lets just say, differences of opinion.
The first being our victory in two wars. I am pretty sure that several thousand American families would wonder at that statement as they care for their wounded or bury their dead. If the war is over...why the heck are our people still being bombed while having lunch?
The Iraqi civilians of Falluja may wonder at the benefits of the regime change from Saddam to George. Under Saddam, they had water and electricity...and a roof over their head. Under George, they have no water, holes in the walls, no electricity and dead bodies in the courtyards. I am not sure that represents a big improvement in their eyes. And that could be a problem.
The US had little to do with Palestinian elections...we were not speaking to the Palestinians because we didn't like Arafat... with some reason. Now we are pretty big...but give credit where credit is due. The Palestinians decided elections are a good thing. Iraqis, on the other hand, face many problems regarding their elections. The largest one, I am sure, is that they may be wearing bullseyes on their backs as they vote. Shoot, US voters can think of many reasons to stay away from the polls and we are in little danger of being shot, blown up or beheaded by crazy people.
The real theme of this Ms. Coulter's rant however seems to be "how dare the peons of this country dare to criticize the Great Mr. Rumsfeld about his lack of simple good manners by signing condolence letters himself rather than by autopen" giving them the same personal touch as a piece of that ever popular "junk mail" all Americans love to get. The peons I am talking about include the retired Colonel who first posed the issue and then wrote his own op-ed piece which included comments from families of deceased soldiers from this war which Ms. Coulter claims is won.
http://www.sftt.org/cgi-bin/csNews/csNews.cgi?database=Unlisted%2edb&command=viewone&id=25
Now Mr. Rumsfeld hot-footed it over to Iraq to serve up Christmas turkey...and schmooze with the soldiers stationed far from home and family for Christmas. Certainly, he needed a couple of photo-ops to buck up his image as a caring individual who really doesn't think of our kids as chess pieces on an ever more bloody game board. I saw the picture where he awarded the Purple Heart to a soldier lying on a hospital bed. Wonder if he was riding around in one of those non-armored humvees that have FINALLY made it to the attention of the American people thanks to a Reservist and a journalist - way to go guys!
And Ms. Coulter, a word for you: maybe you would understand how the mother of a soldier might feel receiving a form letter on the death of her child if you were out buying Elmo dolls for your children's Giving Tree rather than "Ann Coulter action figures" for yourself.
The grief and pain felt on the death of a beloved child feels the same no matter if one is conservative or liberal...and soldiers from Red and Blue states are dying and being injured as you make flippant remarks.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=108&ncid=742&e=10&u=/ucac/20041224/
cm_ucac/happygivingtreefestivaltoallandtoallagoodnight
And so goes Ms. Coulter's rant on Yahoo today. I am not sure where else this publishes except on her website. In the first paragraph, I guess I find a couple of well, lets just say, differences of opinion.
The first being our victory in two wars. I am pretty sure that several thousand American families would wonder at that statement as they care for their wounded or bury their dead. If the war is over...why the heck are our people still being bombed while having lunch?
The Iraqi civilians of Falluja may wonder at the benefits of the regime change from Saddam to George. Under Saddam, they had water and electricity...and a roof over their head. Under George, they have no water, holes in the walls, no electricity and dead bodies in the courtyards. I am not sure that represents a big improvement in their eyes. And that could be a problem.
The US had little to do with Palestinian elections...we were not speaking to the Palestinians because we didn't like Arafat... with some reason. Now we are pretty big...but give credit where credit is due. The Palestinians decided elections are a good thing. Iraqis, on the other hand, face many problems regarding their elections. The largest one, I am sure, is that they may be wearing bullseyes on their backs as they vote. Shoot, US voters can think of many reasons to stay away from the polls and we are in little danger of being shot, blown up or beheaded by crazy people.
The real theme of this Ms. Coulter's rant however seems to be "how dare the peons of this country dare to criticize the Great Mr. Rumsfeld about his lack of simple good manners by signing condolence letters himself rather than by autopen" giving them the same personal touch as a piece of that ever popular "junk mail" all Americans love to get. The peons I am talking about include the retired Colonel who first posed the issue and then wrote his own op-ed piece which included comments from families of deceased soldiers from this war which Ms. Coulter claims is won.
http://www.sftt.org/cgi-bin/csNews/csNews.cgi?database=Unlisted%2edb&command=viewone&id=25
Now Mr. Rumsfeld hot-footed it over to Iraq to serve up Christmas turkey...and schmooze with the soldiers stationed far from home and family for Christmas. Certainly, he needed a couple of photo-ops to buck up his image as a caring individual who really doesn't think of our kids as chess pieces on an ever more bloody game board. I saw the picture where he awarded the Purple Heart to a soldier lying on a hospital bed. Wonder if he was riding around in one of those non-armored humvees that have FINALLY made it to the attention of the American people thanks to a Reservist and a journalist - way to go guys!
And Ms. Coulter, a word for you: maybe you would understand how the mother of a soldier might feel receiving a form letter on the death of her child if you were out buying Elmo dolls for your children's Giving Tree rather than "Ann Coulter action figures" for yourself.
The grief and pain felt on the death of a beloved child feels the same no matter if one is conservative or liberal...and soldiers from Red and Blue states are dying and being injured as you make flippant remarks.
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