Remembering Hiroshima�or the revenge of the disgruntled flower children?
August 07, 2004 ~ 4:56 a.m.
BOSTON, MA, U.S.A.�A good friend of mine, a budding columnist for my hometown newspaper, The Watertown TAB�which I was once a columnist for myself�has been active in town government for a year now, even helping to form his own politically oriented party.
He has just written a column�which I had the honor of helping to edit and add thoughts to while still being produced in �the studio� (his apartment)�about the Hiroshima remembrance demonstration held in the town square, which of course turned into a partisan anti-Bush, anti-Patriot Act, anti-Iraq War demonstration. You had to figure that the Lefties in town would disgrace the memory of more than 100,000 innocent Japanese victims by bringing up the damn Iraq War and their psychotic hatred of Bush, now wouldn�t you? (And, I swear, there was no-one between the ages of 30-50 in that crowd�they were all aged, disgruntled flower children over 50, pissed off at Bob Dylan for �selling out,� or young collegiate idealists younger than 25.)
We thought that the vigil they would hold, by floating candle boats in the Charles River, commemorating the Hiroshima horror, would be a great event to attend. My good friend and I are in agreement: we don�t ever want to see the nuclear bomb used AGAIN, ANYTIME, AGAINST ANYONE. The nuclear bomb is an evil thing. We trusted that those sponsoring this demonstration felt the same. Our trust was betrayed.
Now honoring the dead of Hiroshima (and Nagasaki) is taking things a bit out of context considering that the A-bombs ended the spectacularly, magnificently horrific event known as World War II. It brought imperialist Japan to its knees. And no-one, except for conspiracy-loving Lefties, seriously believe the Japanese approached us with a plan for peace before we dropped the bombs on their country.
But nonetheless, good-hearted people can agree that it�s a sad thing that innocent civilians were fried on August 6, 1945. The �40s wasn�t just all zoot suits and swing. That accursed decade also introduced to us to the ultimate horror which would go on to haunt and terrify an entire generation: the nuclear bomb. We are agreed on this point.
If the sponsors of this Hiroshima vigil�the Watertown Citizens for Environmental Safety�wanted to hold an event for innocent victims of A-bombs, then great. Only, those attending the event didn�t stick to that theme, for out came the �International Diplomacy Works,� �Bush is a Fraud,� �Jobs not Jails,� and �The Patriot Act is Un-American� signs.
Tell me, is this not disingenuousness at the highest level? The advertisement in the Watertown TAB described the occasion thusly:
Peace DayResidents are invited to join the Watertown Citizens for Environmental Safety in remembering the 59th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and recommitting to a future free of nuclear weapons on Friday, Aug. 6, in Watertown Square.
A vigil will be held in the square from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., following by singing and floating candle boats in the Charles River from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Again, I had no quarrel with the intent of this vigil. It is just and right that we, as Americans, commemorate, with a bit of humility, the awfulness we inflicted on Japanese citizens, even if it did end World War II in 1945, after six grueling, destructive years of battle. Let me reiterate�I am entirely sympathetic to those who mourn the innocent lives incinerated on that day, even if it is engaging in selective judgment with regard to the war in general.
What I cannot believe is that they would scandalize the vigil by bringing their obsession with Bush and the Patriot Act into the event. The Patriot Act has worked to prevent us from terror on our own soil since 9/11; therefore, as any reasonable person would conclude, it has saved us from terrorist atrocities since then. And as for Bush, please tell me what he has to do with Hiroshima. Harry Truman dropped the bomb on that city, not Bush! I really fail to see the connections here, except for the deceitful nature of the Left.
Why don�t they just contact Joni Mitchell�one of the few remaining �60s-era peace-and-love singers left who haven�t choked on their own alcohol-and-barbiturate initiated vomit yet�to join them for the singing of �Kumbaya,� �This Land is Your Land,� and �Puff the Magic Fuckin� Dragon� while they�re at it?
Cripes, it would be nice if we had a little honesty in advertising these days, wouldn�t it?
� M.E.M.
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Copyright � 2001-2007 by M.E. Manning. All material is written by me, unless explicitly stated otherwise by use of footnotes or bylines. Do not copy or redistribute without my permission.
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