"We exist in moments of gentle apocalypse"                       Roland Barthes      

 

25 Mar 06: Good night and Good luck

 

I have to admit that I became a little teary eyed on the flight from DWF in route back to Iraq.  For the first time they showed a movie that I wanted to see, Good Night and Good Luck

 

Preface: If I have failed to convey the following points, I reiterate...

 

  I love my country, or at least the philosophical concepts

 

  The people of this country are annoying me

 

  It is because I care that I try to follow the activities of our government via the available media to understand what is being done in our name, by those whose job it is to represent the nations interests.

 

  It is because I care that I am annoyed by what I consider to be a less than fully engaged populace.  If you are comfortable sending your fellow citizens to war, then you can at least be an informed populace.

 

The movie centers on the work of Edward R. Murrow and his work during the time of the McCarthy 'red scare.'  The episode of political populism led by McCarthy does seem a little too familiar.  I am glad Clooney made the movie, come to think of it, he makes enough good movies to balance out the Hollywood junk that pays the bills.

 

This prose of this film is excellent.  The irony is painful.  I was on a plane going to a war that I do not personally agree with but do so because I am a professional.  I reported to duty for said war out of civilian life of 3 years, when many many others had not.  They were not punished.

 

Early on in the war popular politics would paint you as unpatriotic if you were in disagreement with the motives of the present administration.

 

As it drags on, and the administration's credibility erodes, one hopes that the conventional wisdom has come to recognize that one can love the country, but not blindly support the military adventures devised by it's present leaders.

 

Let there be no question: support the soldiers, but consider deeply the facts and the necessity of the war; specifically our widows and orphans, and of the innocents which tend to suffer the most in the land where we elect to conduct our battles.