Because Someone Has To ... - Democratic Underground

NanceGreggs

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Tue Jul-18-06 09:47 PM
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Because Someone Has To ...

Because Someone Has To …
By Nancy Greggs

At the present moment, there are people the world over, as well as here at home, who deserve an apology. I realize that an apology, as heartfelt as it may be, will never undo irreparable harm, will never restore what is irretrievably lost, will never resurrect lives that are forever gone.

I also realize that the people who truly owe these apologies are too arrogant, too self-centered, too willfully ignorant of their own deliberately misguided actions to speak the words, no less express the thoughts that should be inherent behind them.

So, as an American citizen, I will stand up and say I am truly sorry to those who deserve it, cognizant of the fact that I am NOT alone in my thoughts. I am confident that millions of my fellow citizens are with me.

I apologize for the world being a more dangerous place, due not only to the ineptitude of our president and his administration, but due to their financial and political agenda that has put not only my own countrymen, but my global fellow citizens, in jeopardy for decades to come.

I apologize to my fellow Americans in Lebanon for being victimized by the extortionists who hold themselves out as representing our government. You have been left in a life-or-death situation where your survival depends not on the fact that you are Americans in need, but on the money you are prepared to spend in order to survive. I apologize to the victims of Katrina, who also turned to their own government in time of need, not only to be rebuffed, but humiliated by a president who found it more important to make self-aggrandizing speeches than to see to their survival.

I apologize to our soldiers who have been sent into combat in Iraq and Afghanistan without sufficient equipment to keep you as safe as possible. I apologize for the fact you have had to carry the additional burden of knowing your government has utilized the time you have been away to cut funding to your benefits and pensions, and for the fact in the midst of such personal sacrifice, you live in fear of facing joblessness and homelessness upon your return.

I apologize to the attendees of the G-8 summit, and all other heads of state who have met with our president over the last few years, for his boorish behavior, his disengagement from serious discussion, and his inability to observe even the most minimal courtesies in your presence.

I apologize that so many of my fellow citizens are ignorant of the plight of others, due to an unethically biased media and so-called journalists who are too lazy and/or indifferent to accurately report the truthful events of the day.

I apologize to the Iraqi people for the death, violence and destruction we have brought to your country in the guise of liberation. I apologize for the chaos that has been unleashed in the name of spreading a democracy you were never truly destined to have. I apologize for your having to watch the dollars you were told would rebuild your nation being spent on the Saddam-like palace of a US Embassy being built in your midst, while you forage for enough food and clean drinking water to keep your own children alive – even if for just one more day.

I apologize to the innocent who are being tortured in Guantanamo, in Abu Ghraib, and in countless other places around the world in our name. I apologize to the mothers who cry with endless grief knowing their children are suffering; I apologize to those who once trusted us, only to be so bitterly betrayed.

I apologize to all of the citizens of the Middle East who are suffering at this moment, because my government’s leaders are too inept and uninterested to bring warring factions to the table, and engage them in discussion that could hopefully lead to some semblance of peace and conciliation.

I apologize to my fellow citizens who face a day-to-day struggle to stay alive without the drugs, the food, the medical coverage they need to sustain themselves, but can no longer afford.

I apologize to my fellow citizens who, due to our own government’s policies, will never come close to attaining the American Dream that has been snatched from their grasp, and those who will never enjoy the fullness of the rights and freedoms that are their birthright.

Most of all, I apologize to the future generations of the United States, as well as every country around the globe, for my country’s lack of stewardship of the environment and its natural resources, for our inability to put the needs of people before the needs of corporate profits, for our pursuit of profit-generating war above the pursuit of peace.

I apologize to those who will die needlessly in the future, because the boy who has the skill to find a cure for cancer will spend his life pumping gas, unable to afford the necessary education to fulfill his potential, because the girl who had the talent to find a cheap alternate source of energy was gunned down on a Baghdad street last month, because the team that was destined to perfect new ways of feeding the world died of starvation in Africa just an hour ago.

I sincerely apologize, because those who are knowingly and deliberately responsible for these things, NEVER will. And so I, a humiliated American citizen, will do so on their behalf.

And as I ask your forgiveness, I have the temerity to ask a favor as well. I ask that we, together, ignore the so-called leaders who declare war and violence as the only solution, while they send OUR children to die doing their bidding.

I ask that you look across the street and across the border, and see a face and not a flag. I ask that you look into the eyes of your global neighbor and judge him based on individual worth and not collective propaganda. I ask that you search the heart of those whom you have been taught to hate and find the commonality of your spirit and your goals.

I know it is a lot to ask. But it is our only hope of creating a world where apologies are no longer necessary.