Yesterday was a winding down day. Unpacked, washed clothes, caught up with the Press of A.C. news, read this and that.
Was alarmed by a call from sister Betty telling me she totalled her car. Thank heavens she wasn't hurt, but this can't be good, especially as it's being considered her fault.
Another unwelcome call was from Fred D., my friend, Marge's husband. It turns out that Marge has indeed broken her coccyx in two places. She'll be in Health South Rehab in Toms River for eight to ten days. Asked Fred if I could call her, I did, and boy, she sounds so down and no wonder. Is still in some pain--I can't understand why this can't be controlled--and said the staff is very unresponsive. Told her I'd go see her on Tuesday; will ride with Fred. In the meantime, her daughter, son and their spouses have been with her.
Got a welcome Skype call from Ellen and we caught up with each other. Would love to see her in the summer.
Busier day today. I have to dismantle the library display window, then go to fashion show rehearsal, then Bob S. is coming at 3:00 to blow out my sprinklers. (Love that phrase--it sounds so provocative!)
WIDER: David Swanson on the killing of Bin Laden:
"(Regarding)...the morality of cheering for the killing of a human being. A decade ago that would not have seemed as natural...The automatic assumption would not have been that there could be no dissenters to that celebration. A decade ago torture was considered irredeemably evil. A decade ago we believed people should have fair trials before they are declared guilty or killed. A decade ago, if a president had announced his new power to assassinate Americans, at least a few people would have asked where in the world he got the power to assassinate non-Americans..."
He goes on: "As we put bin Laden behind us, can we put the degradation of our civil liberties and our representative government, and our honesty, accountability, and the rule of law behind us too? Can we recover the basic moral decency that we used to at the very least pretend and aspire to?
Not while we're dancing in the street to celebrate death."
It's so intensely disheartening to see the jubilation at the death of another human. It becomes more and more evident that we are a savage and blood-thirsty people. Those traits are not only noted, but celebrated, as the worship of the military is. I turn away from this unseemly joy often, I despair of my country. Where are we headed? To oblivion, I think, and sooner rather than later.
A question: Why, why, why, after this deed was done--if it was done--would the body be buried at sea? Will it not foster, now and forever, the belief that he's not really dead, just in hiding? And will not someone rise who purports to be his emissary? And won't he become even more of a prophet and a saint to his followers?
Idiotic decision and I wonder who made it. And why. Maybe to continue the carnage, our way of life, after all, as it has become.
No, I'm not celebrating.