I woke up too early and made the mistake of looking at Facebook. I had disabled the account for years, but reinstated it because Facebook is how the boarders at my barn communicate, and I need to be able to communicate with them. The timing couldn’t be worse. The election was right around the corner and everyone was doing that dance. I figured out pretty quickly that I could “hide” a post, so that made it more tolerable when I would go online. The thing about Facebook is that it can be easy to turn to it in times of boredom or whatever. I went for years without doing that, but picked it right back up again when I turned the thing back on. What a mistake.
Since the election is over, most of my feed is filled with people literally freaking out and losing their minds over this election. They are so upset that Trump won, and they’re so fearful of the outcome, they are ruining every moment they are in being upset. Yet some of the people in my feed were posting stuff I agree with, describing just how wretched things would have been with Clinton, too. Scrolling through my feed, I came upon one of these posts and read through it. In this post I discovered something I had not known. I knew the US murdered Gaddafi. I knew the politics surrounding this murder. I knew about Clinton laughing about it.
What I didn’t know was that the man had been sodomized and tortured before he was murdered.
Seriously. This human being. This person. He was SODOMIZED and murdered, and then Clinton laughed about it!! This person took pleasure in the torture and murder of another person. And these people, my “friends,” are all upset about this person not being the president? How could any of these people want this person to be their leader? What is wrong with people? She is just as bad as he is. They are BOTH evil! Why can’t people get this?
I can hear the arguments in support of this murder. He was a dictator! He killed people! He tortured too! My response to them? So what? It doesn’t matter. It DOESN’T matter! He could have been as evil as her, but does this justify and make what was done to him okay? It does not. It simply does not. What he did does not justify doing what was done to him. Just because someone was horrible does not give you a free pass to be horrible, too. To do so is pure hypocrisy.
After sharing the post on Facebook I tried to go back to sleep, but couldn’t. I kept thinking about this sodomization of Gaddafi and it made me horribly, horribly sad. I finally called my night owl friend Debbie. I knew she would be awake. I said to her, “I read that they did something to Gaddafi’s anus. Is this true?” She told me that it was, that he was sodomized and murdered. I cried.
Gaddafi was a human being. Clinton was a huge part of this. She laughed about it, and my friends are upset she didn’t win? She is just as bad as Trump. In fact, she is worse. If she were the President-elect, all my friends would be celebrating and back to business as usual, and more murder would go on in our names.
Trump winning isn’t something to mourn. It’s an opportunity. It’s a chance to look in the mirror and see what responsibility we bear in creating this mess, because we all bear some responsibility. Turning our backs on the actions of our so-called leaders is our responsibility. Ignoring the actions of those who murder in our name is our responsibility. Everything that this country does that we make no effort to know about, the way that the poor are stigmatized and ignored, or kicked to the curb because their tents are in our way is our responsibility. The way this planet is being raped and pillaged and destroyed for the gains of a few is our responsibility. So much and more is our responsibility.
For those who are feeling sad about the “pretty” Obama family leaving the White House, I have a list. For those who are posting pictures of the Obama family and feeling sentimental, worrying that the new President isn’t “Presidential” enough, I have a list. Here is a snapshot of what was done in your name by the pretty President while you were busy choosing what car to buy or where to send your kid to preschool:
* Put boots on the ground in Syria, despite 16 times saying “no boots on the ground.”* Despite campaign pledges, planned a $1 trillion program to add more nuclear weapons to the US arsenal in the next 30 years.* Started a new war on terror – this one on ISIS .* Dropped bombs in 7 Muslim countries; and then bragged about it.* Said, “I believe in American exceptionalism with every fiber of my being.”* Bragged about his use of drones: I’m “really good at killing people.”* Deported a modern-record 2 million immigrants.* Signed the Monsanto Protection Act into law.* Started a new war in Iraq .* Initiated, and personally oversees a ‘Secret Kill List’.* Pushed for war on Syria while siding with al-Qaeda .* Backed neo-Nazis in Ukraine.* Supported Israel’s wars and occupation of Palestine.* Deployed Special Ops to 134 countries, compared to 60 under Bush.* Did a TV commercial promoting “clean coal.”* Drastically escalated the NSA spying program .* Signed the NDAA into law, making it legal to assassinate Americans without charge or trial.* Given Bush absolute immunity for everything.* Pushed for a TPP Trade Pact.* Signed more executive memorandums than any other president in history.* Sold $30 billion of weapons to the dictatorship in Saudi Arabia.* Signed an agreement for 7 military bases in Colombia.* Opened a military base in Chile.* Touted nuclear power, even after the disaster in Japan.* Opened up deepwater oil drilling, even after the BP disaster.* Mandated the Insider Threat Program which orders federal employees to report suspicious actions of their colleagues.* Defended body scans and pat-downs at airports.* Signed the Patriot Act extension into law.* Launched 20,000 Airstrikes in his first term.* Continued Bush’s rendition program.* Said the U.S. is the “one indispensable nation” in the world.* Waged war on Libya without congressional approval.* Started a covert, drone war in Yemen.* Escalated the proxy war in Somalia.* Escalated the CIA drone war in Pakistan.* Sharply escalated the war in Afghanistan.* Repealed the Propaganda ban, making it legal to spread government propaganda via news outlets.* Assassinated 4 US citizens with drone strikes.
One thing they missed was failing to close Guantanamo.
Cry and whine and go lick your perceived wounds, or try to do something different. There is the challenge. Good luck with it.
