Goodbye?
Greetings and salutations from the sand, sun and surf of Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and the cloudy, sullen, and rather depressed island of Nantucket! Great to be with you on this 11th day of February, 2015, a quiet one on the Hyannis/Hyannis Port Waterfront(s), a Wednesday to be sure, ‘hump day’ for all those working out there in whatever field of endeavor it may be, remembering the old saying–‘keep interested in your career, however humble in may be, for it IS a real possession in ever changing fortunes of time…’.
That could not be summed up any better than in what Kayla Mueller (young American aid worker), said in her last letter released after it became public that her death was official, another senseless death via evil, the defining ISIL trait. The optimistic U.S. aid worker was abducted roughly a year ago, only 26, (still not clear if a Jordanian air strike killed her or her captors). Either way, her death is on that brutal tribe of social misfits come to be known round the world as ISIL, who will, eventually, be eliminated from this earth, for the cancer that it truly is. Angels like Kayla are with Angels, as like attracts like. May there be a solution to this threat offered up by ‘leaders’ in Washington that does not involve the knee or the word ‘jerk’…
The news was also rocked yesterday, stunned really, when it was announced by NBC News that 11 year veteran anchor Brian Williams would be suspended (six months, without pay), for communicating some misguided ‘facts’ on “The Late Show, with David Letterman”, telling the helicopter story of February 2003, a story that involved him on said aircraft and it being hit by enemy fire. The sad truth is that this little, tiny, teensy fib (in the grand scheme of ‘things’), pales in comparison to what the former Bush administration did that same year–namely leading this country into a full blown war against another sovereign country who never posed a threat to US; a war that was based on a giant LIE, costing blood: 4400 plus American soldiers dead, 100,000 Iraqi soldiers/civilians dead, countless hurt, invisible or visible wounds. Plus treasure: $4.1 trillion when both the Afghanistan and Iraq military expenditures are totaled up and paid for, by said, ad naseum, “The American People!”.
Brain Williams put the “NBC Nightly News, with Brian Williams”, number one in that coveted ‘Walter Cronkite’ 6:30 p.m. time slot for ten years, and should not be remembered for this little misstep, a mistake made at the height of jingoistic pride and an unbridled, rather warped enthusiasm for war here in the U.S., indeed remaining that way for an entire decade, beginning with that spectacular, surreal attack by Jihadists in planes targeting the World Trade Towers in New York City, bringing them to the ground in a heap of dust, twisted metal and concrete, killing over 3000 of our fellow citizens. A day that seemed to change everything, forever. Many still wondering if terrorists destroyed America’s innocence that day, you know, won the day as it were. National security is big business thanks to that terror attack so many moons ago, and we have to ask ourselves the fundamental question, are we really any safer from terror? And if that answer is yes, then the larger, more important questions are offered up for your generational approval–“…can a group of mentally ill men destroy OUR collective LOVE for our fellow man?” Are WE going to let them kill our innocence? I think not, not ever. Alas, we do live in a completely different world than we did prior to that fateful day of September 11, 2001, a day that no one ever will forget.
But will we also remember what we had prior to said day?
At roughly the same hour yesterday, it was announced on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show”, with Jon Stewart, by Jon Stewart himself, that he would be stepping down, not today, but this year, moving on to greener pastures as it were. Mr. Jon Stewart has been bringing the ‘fake news’ to your living room/bedroom for over 17 years now, beginning in 1999 when he took over for Craig Kilborn, who was a former ESPN analyst like our friend Keith Olbermann (who gave up politics for his health, concluding that politics in general, like cigarettes, cause cancer and make your whole body/breath smell bad, taking a job at ESPN and hopefully extending his life for a long time to come!). Jon Stewart is not gone yet, so I will save my goodbyes till later in ‘the broadcast’, however, I agree with some of the fine folks on “Morning Joe” (MSNBC-weekday morning 6-9), who concluded that perhaps Jon, a friend of Brian’s, helped him out by ‘resigning’ now, as opposed to later, thus deflecting some of the hate coming in from all sides when it comes to this beleaguered NBC anchor, who, lets face it, will probably be happier in the long run not going into “30 Rock” everyday to talk about scum bags like ISIL, whose wicked ‘ideology’ of rampant killings and unspeakable brutality has no place on planet earth…
Good Luck to both Brian and Jon! Many of US, including this humble reporter from Sea Cape Cod, will miss you hope you visit the Cape & Islands this summer! WE will, as always, leave the LIGHT on for ya!
PRESERVE THE WILDERNESS! Peace~M
