The Color of Blood

Such a grim topic for a wonderful spring day, but my yard work is done, and I am kicking back and drinking a beer, enjoying the fruits of my labor and my slice of the American Dream. My backyard is looking pretty sharp for a city girl, I've raked all of those nasty prickly balls into neat piles. I painted the plastic lawn chairs a bright orange red, the ivy has been removed, the tulips are just about to bloom. I'm sure that they are tulips, because the little plastic sign is still sticking up in the soil. I have turned the compost, but I'm not sure what else to do with it, or even if it's ready to be whatever compost becomes when it's done.

Life is perfect right? My mortgage is paid for this month. I have a cold six-pack in the fridge, the sun is shining, and I don't have to be at work until noon tomorrow. In the middle of this perfect day, there is something that gnaws at my sense of well-being. Maybe it's the bittersweet voice of Aimee Mann on my Ipod. I look down at my hands and rub at the red paint from the lawn chairs and it reminds me of blood.

While I enjoy the afternoon in the land of the free, there are those who are living in a war zone of my own creation, paid for by my own tax dollars. They don't have Ipods, or even electricity to power those little gadgets, they might not even have clean water. If they have jobs, they might worry that standing at the bus stop waiting for a ride might result in immediate death, or the loss of a few essential limbs. As much as I have protested the injustice of this unwarranted military action, it continues, and even the party that I intend to vote for in November will not call for the end of this monstrous act. It seems that there is no way for an ordinary citizen to absolve themselves from this sin, the act has taken on a life of it's own, like some biblical demon that goes on killing while we beg the people who represent us to put a stop to it.

Mea Culpa. Mea Maxima Culpa.

The color of blood is also the color of the people who have given President Bush his mandate to continue to perpetuate this crime in the name of every American. Those of you who continue to support this insane action have the deaths of young Americans to answer for, you are responsible for this mayhem that you proudly advocate. While you question the patriotism of great Americans like my friend Neil, it is you who have brought this shame on our nation, it is your vote that killed Cindy Sheehan's child, it is your bloody red state that is to blame for the blood on my hands. Every American soldier that dies in Iraq is a black mark on your soul, every innocent Iraqi civilian is a collateral sin, and there is not enough forgiveness in the world to absolve those who live in the red states and voted for death. Judgement Day is coming for the warmongers, and it's coming soon.

As the 2006 campaign gets into full swing, think about those Democrats running who believe that this war might still produce positive results, or who can't face the loss of our strategic bases, or the thought of having to pay six dollars per gallon when it will spell out the death of the American economy. Avoid voting for those candidates who think that something can still be salvaged from this folly, the time is past. Our penance for the sins of the red states is the loss of the easy life, and the American Dream. And if these Americans continue to delude themselves that we might prevail in Iraq, our troops who are still there might lose the best chance to escape with their lives.

Wash the blood from our hands. Vote against war.

| +Save/Share | |