The Mad Hatters

By John H. St. John
Online Journal Contributing Writer
Mar 28, 2006
http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_636.shtml

In July I will be 85, if I live that long, and never in my life have I felt more like Lewis Caroll’s Alice as she stepped into the mirror and entered Wonderland.

It is not just that the corporations stole an election and gave us a mental defective for a president. It is a population that, pro or con, accepts the absurd idea that we are at war in Iraq. Even the bloody battles in Korea against Chinese and North Korean tanks were called a “police action.” The bloody attack shown to the world on television and proudly called “Shock and Awe” was done without any declaration of war. The present illegal occupation of Iraq is called a war and the moronic president is assuming all of the powers, and more, of a wartime president while Congress refuses his challenge to the Constitution.

There have been other illegal incursions and undeclared wars, Vietnam for example; but at least they were fighting a well-organized military organization.

Another example of Wonderland’s juggling of semantics is calling Iraqis who are resisting the occupation and punishing collaborators “insurgents.” When Boston and Philadelphia were occupied by British Redcoats and France was occupied by the Nazis we did not call those heroes who fought in the underground insurgents; we called them patriots.

Everyone from the war lovers to the peaceniks preface their remarks with “Our brave troops,” completely disregarding the reality that they are fighting civilians with AK-47s and no body armor with helicopter gunships and fighter planes. These are highly paid mercenaries promised college educations who do not have to dig slit trenches or do KP. When they come back in coffins or wheelchairs and with post traumatic stress syndrome even they are betrayed by this government run by our sociopath Mad Hatter president.

On the other side of the looking glass, the country of the slithy sloves is $9 trillion in debt. Over half of our tax money goes to the military industrial complex and we have 12 aircraft carrier groups roaming the oceans when there is no possible adversary.

Our kindly Jimmy Carter, (Peace Nobelist) has proudly helped launch another nuclear submarine called, what else? The Jimmy Carter. The war on terror desperately needs these weapons because if they happen to run across a terrorist, they have to nuke him or her. Like the westerner sentenced by Roy Bean to be hanged: “This will sure be a lesson to me, judge.”

When I was a teen-ager my father sarcastically said that “everyone else is crazy except you.” That was 70 years ago and I am even more convinced that is the case. After WWII I saw a psychiatrist for what is now called post traumatic stress syndrome. I quit him with the words: I don’t want to be adjusted to live in a world that is obviously crazier than I am. You do not have to look far to confirm my opinion. The headlines in this morning's paper should convince anyone: FBI terror boss never read Moussaoui memo. Patent case poses broader question for Supreme Court. Abu Ghraib dog handler guilty of tormenting. Documents reveal Hussein tried in ‘90s to show WMD gone. Bush says presence in Iraq will outlast his presidency. Conservatives get a turn at federal grants under Bush. False negatives seen in widely used genetic test for breast cancer risk. Bottled water slaking thirst of world’s poor. Court overturns conviction in stolen rock art case. Chemical plants may decide own security. Iraqi official, paid by CIA, raised questions on weapons program,

The only reason I get the newspaper is for the New York Times' crossword puzzle. I am suffering from information overload -- all of it wacko.