Monsters and the Weak: A Response to Yesterday Morning’s “Small Town Soapbox”

I typically listen to KCountry 104.5 in the mornings on my way to work because they syndicate a morning show out of the northern suburbs of Atlanta from a man that I grew up listening to on Kicks 101.5, Moby in the Morning. I don’t remember him doing this ‘Small town Soapbox’ every morning when I was growing up, but it is a daily feature of his show now, and generally it is pretty good.

Yesterday morning’s, however, irked me a bit – which is something Moby admits is occasionally his intention.

It was entitled ‘Monsters and the Weak‘, and the first half of it is GREAT. It talks about a reporter stumbling upon an American sniper in Iraq, and the sniper doing his job and killing a man just before he can detonate a bomb on a crowded street 800 yards away. The reporter tells the sniper that he wants to put the sniper in the news, and the sniper tells the reporter that he was just doing his job. That the doorway next to where the dead bomber’s body lays used to be a grocery store, and the rubble across the street used to be a school – before another bomber came in and successfully blew it all away.

Let me pause here and say that I am personally grateful for all the sacrifices the members of our armed forces make. I know several personally who have served and are serving, and I myself was at one point within 12 hours of signing up for a trip to Parris Island before God/Fate/whatever you want to call it intervened and sent me down a different path.

Continuing: But then the poem starts talking about typical right-wing pro-War propaganda, and this is where my problem arises. Here is the quote of the relevant portion I have a problem with:

“As bad as all this is though,
it could be a whole lot worse,”
He swallowed hard,
the words came from his mouth just like a curse.

“Today the fight’s on foreign land,
on streets that aren’t my own,”
“I’m here today ’cause if I fail,
the next fight’s back at home.”

“And I won’t let my Safeway burn,
my neighbors dead inside,
don’t wanna get a call from school
that says my daughter died;

I pray that not a one of them
will know the things I see,
nor have the work of terrorists
etched in their memory.”

“So you can keep your trophies
and your fleeting bit of fame,
I don’t care if I make the news,
or if they speak my name.”

He glanced toward the camera
and his brow began to knot,
“If you’re looking for a story,
why not give this one a shot.”

“Just tell the truth of what you see,
without the slant or spin;
that most of us are OK
and we’re coming home again.

And why not tell our folks
back home about the good we’ve done,
how when they see Americans,
the kids come at a run.”

You tell ‘em what it means
to folks here just to speak their mind,
without the fear that tyranny
is just a step behind;

Describe the desert miles
they walk in their first chance to vote,
or ask a soldier if he’s proud,
I’m sure you’ll get a quote.”

He turned and slid the rifle
in a drag bag thickly padded,
then looked again with eyes of steel
as quietly he added;

“And maybe just remind the few,
if ill of us they speak,
that we are all that stands
between the monsters and the weak.”

You see, quite frankly I don’t buy the right wing propaganda of ‘we have to fight them over there because otherwise we’ll be fighting them over here’. We have ZERO business fighting other countries’ wars, which is EXACTLY what we are doing in Iraq and Afghanistan right now. We even have massive bases in Germany and other European countries left over from WWII that were used to fight the ‘Cold War’ – another ‘war’ I disagree with. We are still in Japan, also a remnant of WWII. We are still heavily patrolling the DMZ in Korea – another relic of the Korean Conflict/ Cold War. Between those bases, the various ‘peacekeeping’ missions we are STILL on, and the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, our Department of Defense has returned to its original name of Department of War. Yet the Department was NEVER meant to prosecute wars as part of entangling alliances – indeed, our Founding Fathers warned AGAINST such wars. Instead, the War/Defense Department was meant to secure our nation – which it CANNOT do at present.

But there are other issues I have with this portion of this poem, so I don’t want to get too sidetracked on DoD issues.

The poem states “You tell ‘em what it means/ to folks here just to speak their mind,/ without the fear that tyranny/ is just a step behind” – yet here in the United States of America, our freedom of speech is being increasingly infringed and monitored by the Department of ‘Homeland Security’. Yes, I’m referencing the MIAC/DHS reports a bit, which I’ve already discounted as not worth the panic that many have over them. But they ARE cause for concern, just not panic. I also point to the increasing ‘political correctness’ BS. More and more governments are beginning to regulate what you can and can’t say – even on your own private property, ala Tom’s issues with Albany’s sign ordinances.

Politicians and bureacrats at all levels are responsible for this, and THEY are the true ‘monsters’ – not those threats from without, because I believe if we pulled back our military to within our own borders, NOTHING could penetrate our borders without our consent. I truly and genuinely believe we have the strongest, most capable military on the planet, and I encourage all efforts to ensure this in perpetuity. But the ‘monsters’ we need to be worried about are politicians that think it is OK to give a tax ‘credit’ rather than simply cut the tax to begin with. The politicians that think government should provide health insurance for everyone and tax unhealthy foods to pay for it. The politicians that think government has a right to regulate adult relationships or tell a person what they can or can’t do with their own baby/child. The politicians that think it is OK for government to not allow you to make stupid decisions such as riding a motorcycle without a helmet. THOSE are the real monsters, and no military will stand against them. No, it is the people like us here at SWGA Politics, the people like the people of the Libertarian Party, Campaign for Liberty, and even the ACLU that will stand against these monsters.

WE are the ones telling the government to get the HELL out of our lives and STAY out.

WE are the ones standing between the monsters and the weak.