THE CITIZENS IN OUR COUNTRY SEEM very unsettled this summer. As a humorist, I try to find threads in a situation that can make me smile and bring some joy to such a predicament, but occasionally I get stuck. This is one of those times.
I believe our nation is wrapped in a whirlwind of confusion. First on the list is our pandemic; adding to this anxiety is the social unrest that our larger urban areas are featuring.
It is indeed a season of discontent.
This urban violence is an expanding situation that deeply troubles me, and our permissive media willfully fuels these flames with their sensational coverage and commentary. I am further confused that Congress has chosen to investigate the social media industry and not the traditional media that feature such fear mongering. Perhaps, it has something to do with knowing where one’s bread is buttered?
Today’s bucket full of issues reminds me of the late 1960's. Protest was a daily event led by our ever-increasing presence in Vietnam. As a twenty-year-old college student my simmering anti-war attitude turned into bubbling contempt with the deaths of students at Kent State University. Our National Guard let bullets fly on May 4, 1970, cutting down thirteen students on the campus green, mortally wounding four.
How very, very, sad for these kids and for our entire nation. It was without a doubt that single event that changed my world.
Years of campus unrest finally resulted in this American nightmare in a small town in Ohio. It also accelerated the will of the people to finally end supporting the war in Vietnam. Sadly, it took another four years to finally bring an end to the conflict. Nearly 60,000 American lives were lost, and many times that number of Vietnamese.
We are again experiencing disorder with such grave consequences. I am trying to find that thread of humor, with very little luck.
War Lords
War repeats itself, again and again.
Absolute folly brought by transitory leaders.
Our young lured by boisterous battle cries.
Such pain and grief as young people die.
For what reason, I ask again and again,
do we send our kids to their early graves?
Robert Bruce Adams